Carrie Karvonen-gutierrez PhD, MPH

Carrie A. Karvonen-Gutierrez is an epidemiologist with a scholarly niche focused on the impact of reproductive aging, chronological aging, and obesity on age-related health outcomes, including physical functioning, frailty, osteoarthritis, disability, and cardiometabolic dysfunction. As an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Midlife Science, she provides leadership as Principal Investigator for a rich research portfolio including the NIH U-19 funded Michigan site of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)-Aging and the Michigan Bone Health and Metabolism Study (MBHMS), both of which include 25+ years of health, symptom, demographic, and functioning data on women, followed from midlife through early old age. Dr. Karvonen-Gutierrez has expertise in the biology and pathophysiology of common etiologic factors that underlie many chronic diseases, including inflammation and metabolic dysfunction. She holds a wealth of experience in the analysis and interpretation of longitudinal data with a focus on the role of aging and inflammation as metabolic risk factors. In addition to SWAN and MBHMS, she is the MPI of the R01-funded PROTECT-Moms cohort, a study evaluating the impact of environmental toxicants on the endocrinologic and metabolic health of women post-partum, and the MPI of an R21 examining retinal imaging-based factors and their association with cognitive function.

Beyond her rich research portfolio, Dr. Karvonen-Gutierrez is the Director of the Center for Midlife Science at the University of Michigan, which includes faculty, staff, and students with expertise in data collection, data management, data analysis, and research dissemination in the conduct of longitudinal cohort studies. The Center works to build and maintain our longitudinal cohorts over the past 25 years and is a true partnership between investigators, staff, and participants.