Heather Baer, SCD

Dr. Heather J. Baer is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and an associate epidemiologist in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She received her ScD in Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2005.

Dr. Baer’s research focuses on the role of lifestyle factors in the etiology and prevention of chronic disease. She has conducted a number of studies to examine how factors such as obesity, diet, and physical activity affect risk of breast and ovarian cancer and overall mortality in women. Her most recent work also examines strategies for addressing lifestyle factors in clinical settings. She currently is the Principal Investigator of a study funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to evaluate the effectiveness of an online weight management program integrated with support from primary care practices.

In addition, Dr. Baer is actively involved in a variety of teaching activities. She is an associate director of the Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology course during the Summer Program in Clinical Effectiveness and the leader of the academic-year Master of Public Health (MPH) in Clinical Effectiveness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also is the lead instructor for Analytic Methods in Epidemiology and the Chair of the Practicum Committee for the new blended MPH in Epidemiology. Dr. Baer received a Teaching Citation from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2013, and she received the Roger L. Nichols Excellence in Teaching Award in 2017. At Harvard Medical School, she teaches in the HMS-Portugal program, the Global Clinical Scholars Research Training program, and the Introduction to Clinical Research Training course.