Faculty

Mandy Fretts

Associate Professor, Epidemiology

206-543-9236

Education

PhD Epidemiology, University of Washington, 2011
MPH Epidemiology, University of Washington, 2007

Contact

206-543-9236

University of Washington
Box 351619
Department of Epidemiology
Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, 873
Seattle, WA 98195

Bio

Dr. Fretts is a cardiovascular and nutritional epidemiologist with a focus on observational and interventional research aimed at improving cardio-metabolic health in underserved and rural communities (with a focus on American Indian communities). Her work aims to work with community partners to integrate observational and interventional research to mitigate obesity-related health disparities and improve health behaviors and health outcomes. Dr. Fretts’ research primarily focuses on nutrition, food insecurity, the food environment, physical activity, obesity, fatty acids, and diabetes. She is the Principal Investigator of the Dakotas field site for the Strong Heart Study, a large cohort study of heart disease and its risk factors in 12 American Indian communities in Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota, that has been on-going since 1988. She is also Principal Investigator of a community-based diet and cooking skills intervention (randomized trial) designed to improve blood sugar control and other cardiovascular risk factors for American Indians with type 2 diabetes. In addition to her work with American Indian communities, she is involved in several on-going projects related to fatty acids, diet, diet*gene interactions, diabetes, and cardiovascular outcomes in the Cardiovascular Health Study and the Fatty Acids and Outcomes Research Consortium (FORCE) consortium.

Research Interests

  • American Indian health
  • Diabetes
  • Interventions
  • Nutrition
  • Physical activity
  • Lifestyle
  • Social epidemiology
  • Health disparities
  • Obesity
  • Fatty acids
  • Cardio-metabolic disease prevention

Recent Publications (PubMed)

Association of Achievement of the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 Goals With Incident Cardiovascular Diseases in the SHFS.
(2024 Mar 19)
J Am Heart Assoc 13(6): e032918
Paing PY, Littman AJ, Reese JA, Sitlani CM, Umans JG, Cole SA, Zhang Y, Ali T, Fretts AM

Dyslipidemia in American Indian Adolescents and Young Adults: Strong Heart Family Study.
(2024 Mar 19)
J Am Heart Assoc 13(6): e031741
Reese JA, Roman MJ, Deen JF, Ali T, Cole SA, Devereux RB, Fretts AM, Howard WJ, Lee ET, Malloy K, Umans JG, Zhang Y

The social drivers of health for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth in the United States.
(2024 Mar)
Prev Med Rep 39(): 102658
Mokiao RH, Carlin K, Spencer MS, Young BA, Fretts AM

Genome-Wide Interaction Analysis With DASH Diet Score Identified Novel Loci for Systolic Blood Pressure.
(2024 Mar)
Hypertension 81(3): 552-560
Guirette M, Lan J, McKeown NM, Brown MR, Chen H, de Vries PS, Kim H, Rebholz CM, Morrison AC, Bartz TM, Fretts AM, Guo X, Lemaitre RN, Liu CT, Noordam R, de Mutsert R, Rosendaal FR, Wang CA, Beilin LJ, Mori TA, Oddy WH, Pennell CE, Chai JF, Whitton C, van Dam RM, Liu J, Tai ES, Sim X, Neuhouser ML, Kooperberg C, Tinker LF, Franceschini N, Huan T, Winkler TW, Bentley AR, Gauderman WJ, Heerkens L, Tanaka T, van Rooij J, Munroe PB, Warren HR, Voortman T, Chen H, Rao DC, Levy D, Ma J, CHARGE Gene-Lifestyle Interactions Working Group

Associations of plasma sphingolipids with measures of insulin sensitivity, β-cell function, and incident diabetes in Japanese Americans.
(2024 Mar)
Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 34(3): 633-641
Bae JC, Wander PL, Lemaitre RN, Fretts AM, Sitlani CM, Bui HH, Thomas MK, Leonetti D, Fujimoto WY, Boyko EJ, Utzschneider KM

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