Brooke N. Wolford

Brooke N. Wolford is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), affiliated with the Department of Public Health and Nursing within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. She leads the ProtectHearts and HUNT AI for Heart Health projects at the HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, while also contributing to the EU-funded INTERVENE project through the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine. Her work bridges statistical genetics, computational biology, and clinical applications to advance precision public health initiatives.

Dr. Wolford earned her PhD in Bioinformatics and Master's in Statistics from the University of Michigan, where she completed her dissertation on 'Genetic Discovery and Precision Medicine in Cardiovascular Diseases Using Electronic Health Record-linked Biobanks' under Dr. Cristen Willer and Dr. Michael Boehnke. Her undergraduate training includes a Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Biology with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Phi Beta Kappa honors graduate.

Her research program focuses on artificial intelligence-driven precision public health, particularly in cardiovascular disease prediction and prevention. By integrating genomics, proteomics, and clinical data from large biobanks like HUNT, UK Biobank, and FinnGen, she develops novel risk prediction models that address critical gaps in women's heart health and young adult disease prevention. Her work on polygenic risk scores and proteomic biomarkers aims to transform population-scale screening programs through explainable AI methodologies.

Dr. Wolford's recent publications demonstrate significant contributions to genetic epidemiology, with high-impact work in Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, and Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine. Her research outputs reveal consistent themes in cross-population polygenic score development, sex-specific disease mechanisms, and innovative biobank data integration approaches that enhance cardiovascular risk prediction across diverse populations.

• 2022/2023 Best Dissemination Award (K.G. Jebsen Centers)
• 2022 ASHG Trainee Research Excellence Award Finalist
• 2021 ASHG Trainee Research Excellence Award Semi-Finalist
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
• Genome Sciences Predoctoral Traineeship
• University of Michigan Program in Biomedical Sciences 20th Anniversary Award

As a dedicated mentor, Dr. Wolford supervises multiple graduate students across Master's and PhD programs at NTNU, focusing on proteomic risk prediction for diabetes, cardiovascular-Alzheimer's disease connections, and polygenic scoring for women's heart health. She actively promotes open science through R-ladies Trondheim leadership and develops educational resources like the Health AI in R workshop. Her ongoing projects with INTERVENE and ProtectHearts secure substantial European research funding for translational genomics initiatives.

Dr. Wolford co-leads the HUNT AI for Heart Health initiative and ProtectHearts project within the HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology. These teams integrate computational biologists, clinicians, and epidemiologists to develop explainable AI models that translate genomic discoveries into clinical prevention strategies, with particular emphasis on addressing health disparities in cardiovascular outcomes for women and younger populations.