Education
PhD Epidemiology, University of Washington, 2011
MPH Epidemiology, University of Washington, 2007
Contact
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 Areas
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)
(2026)
Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res 33(2): 30-53
Chen M, Willmott H, Eisele M, Sharaf AA, Oelsner EC, Balte P, Cole SA, Umans JG, Ali T, Fretts A, Janitz A, Anderson M, Zhang Y
(2026 Oct 29)
Diabetes
Wang H, Nagarajan P, Miller CL, Bentley AR, Noordam R, Westerman KE, Brown MR, Kraja AT, O'Connell JR, Schwander K, Li C, Sanghvi MM, Song Y, Bartz TM, Braunack-Mayer V, Chen L, Du J, Dunca D, Feitosa MF, Gudmundsdottir V, Guo X, Harris SE, Highland HM, Huang Z, Kang C, Lakka TA, Lefevre C, Luan J, Lyytikäinen LP, Missikpode C, Morrison JL, Palmer ND, Richmond A, Shahisavandi M, Tang J, van der Most PJ, Weiss S, Yu C, Zhu W, Abu Yusuf Ansari M, Anugu P, Aschard H, Ashok K, Attia JR, Bazzano LA, Cade BE, Campbell A, Dimitrov LM, Do A, Faquih T, FinesilverSmith SL, Fisher-Hoch SP, Fretts AM, Gharib SA, Goodarzi MO, Graff M, Gu C, Hanson P, He J, Heikkinen S, Hixson J, Hsu S, Kähönen M, Kho M, Kim H, Komulainen P, Launer LJ, Lemaitre RN, McNeil JJ, McCormick JB, Nolte IM, Raffield LM, Raitakari OT, Ramírez J, Riha RL, Risch M, Risch L, Russ TC, Sarnowski C, Schram MT, Scott RJ, Sofer T, Sun Q, Völker U, Völzke H, Wang Y, Willems van Dijk K, Wood AC, Young KL, Zhang R, Zhu X, Below JE, Conen D, Cox SR, Fox ER, Franceschini N, Ghanbari M, Grabe HJ, Gudnason V, Hayward C, Holliday EG, Jaquish CE, Lacaze P, Lee S, Lehtimäki T, Liu CT, Morrison AC, North KE, Peyser PA, Province MA, Psaty BM, Rauramaa R, Rosendaal FR, Rotter JI, Snieder H, Wagenknecht LE, Wareham NJ, Giri A, Kelly TN, Munroe PB, Gauderman J, Winkler TW, de Vries PS, Rao DC, Manning AK, Chen H, de Las Fuentes L, Redline S, Meigs JB, Lifelines Cohort Study
(2026 Oct 6)
J Am Heart Assoc 15(19): e048758
Paing PY, Reese JA, Sitlani CM, Zhang Y, Umans JG, Mokiao R, Allison M, Fretts AM
(2026 Sep 2)
Clin J Am Soc Nephrol
Hill CM, Feinberg A, Rebholz CM, Lemaitre R, Fretts AM, Wiggins KL, Sotoodehnia N, Floyd JS, Lidgard B, Bansal N, Psaty BM, Kim H
(2026 Aug 11)
J Am Coll Cardiol 88(6): 670-684
Dardari ZA, Yao Z, Zhang J, Bakoyannis G, Nan H, Staten LK, Jha KK, Tasdighi E, Jelwan Y, Burka S, Matsushita K, Lima JAC, Psaty BM, Fretts AM, Lemaitre RN, Cohen DL, Appel LJ, Khera A, Shah AM, Hall ME, Judd SE, Safford MM, Cole SA, Vasan RS, Benjamin EJ, Cawthon PM, Orwoll E, LaMonte MJ, Eaton CB, El Khoudary SR, Jackson EA, Janssen I, Lotufo PA, Bensenor IM, Bittencourt MS, Bhatt AS, Ricardo AC, Blaha MJ
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