Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson

Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson

Epidemiology, Health Policy and Management 
School of Public Health and Health Sciences
410 Arnold House
715 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003-9292

(413) 577-1672

www.umass.edu/public-health-sciences/about/directory/elizabeth-bertone-johnson

Professor of Epidemiology

Over the past two decades my research has focused on the epidemiology of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). As many as 20% of premenopausal women experience clinically-significant PMS, defined as the cyclic occurrence of physical, affective and behavioral symptoms in the luteal phase that are severe enough to affect normal life activities and interpersonal relationships. PMS has an impact comparable to other major mental disorders, resulting in an average loss of 3.8 years to disability. Despite a high prevalence and level of morbidity, relatively little etiologic research on PMS has been undertaken and treatment options are limited. Effective non-pharmaceutical strategies for preventing and treating PMS are needed. A long term goal of my work is to identify modifiable risk factors for PMS and thereby provide affected women better options for improving quality of life. I have directed research efforts on PMS in the NHS2, establishing the PMS Sub-Study in 2004. This work has been funded by four research grants, including two awards from the NIH, and led to 21 published papers. To date, we have identified multiple factors associated with higher risk of PMS, including: low dietary intakes of calcium, vitamin D, thiamine, riboflavin, and non-heme iron; high body mass index; cigarette smoking; low alcohol intake; and early life physical and sexual abuse. In contrast, we did not find risk to be associated with dietary intakes of caffeine, fat, protein, carbohydrates or physical activity. These are among the only prospective studies of PMS in existence. Our work has thus contributed substantially to understanding the etiology of PMS and expanding treatment options. My etiologic research on PMS has raised new questions about potential relations between PMS and health conditions developing later in life, including menopausal vasomotor symptoms, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. In the NHS2, we observed a significant 40% higher rate of developing hypertension over the next 20 years among women with clinically-significant PMS compared to women with few menstrual symptoms. Consistent with this observation, we have also observed mean diastolic blood pressure to be significantly higher in young women with PMS compared to controls. We are currently investigating mechanisms underlying these relations, including shared risk factors including smoking and adiposity, chronic inflammation, and micronutrient deficiencies. To our knowledge, these are among the first studies to suggest that PMS may be a sentinel for future CVD risk. Our novel findings may help identify a population of young women who would benefit from regular screening and early intervention.

Current Research
I have over 20 years of experience conducting population-based research in reproductive and mental health. I have led numerous analyses of biochemical and behavioral factors in large prospective studies of women including the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), the NHS2, and the Women’s Health Initiative. I have served as PI multiple NIH grants, including most recently R01HD078517: “Predictors of Early Menopause”, which evaluated how biochemical, dietary and lifestyle factors are associated with the onset of menopause among members of the NHS2. Additionally, I have developed multiple studies of reproductive and mental health that required de novo data collection. Through these projects I have developed expertise in questionnaire design, participant recruitment and follow-up, assessment of biochemical markers in epidemiology, and longitudinal data analysis. Additionally, I am the founding director of the UMass Center for Program Evaluation, which provides collaborative mixed-methods evaluation services to gather data, improve data utilization, increase knowledge, enhance decision making, and strengthen policy development. My current federally-funded projects focus on suicide prevention in vulnerable populations and improving service delivery in community mental health centers.

Academic Background

2025 (exp) M.S. University of Massachusetts, Boston (Mental Health Counseling) 
2000-2001 Postdoctoral Fellow in Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Boston, MA 
1999-2001 Research Associate in Medicine, Harvard Medical School (HMS), Boston, MA 
1999 S c.D. Harvard School of Public Health (Epidemiology and Nutrition) 
1996 S .M. Harvard School of Public Health (Epidemiology) 
1994 A .B.mcl. Harvard College (Biological Anthropology)

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