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Walter C. Willett

Walter C. Willett

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Best Scientists
2025
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Medicine
USA
2026

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Best Scientists

D-Index
411
Citations
632098
World Ranking
1
National Ranking
1

Medicine

D-Index
417
Citations
651120
World Ranking
1
National Ranking
1

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Medicine in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Medicine in United States Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Medicine in United States Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Medicine in United States Leader Award
  • 2007 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2001 - Charles S. Mott Prize, General Motors Cancer Research Foundation
  • 1998 - Member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM)

Overview

Walter C. Willett is affiliated with Harvard University in the United States. Their research contributions are primarily within the field of Medicine, including extensive work in Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Physiology, Oncology, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Ecology.

The topics covered in their research reflect a focus on Nutritional Studies and Diet, Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet, Diet and Metabolism Studies, Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling, Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact, Cancer Risks and Factors, and Nutrition and Health in Aging.

Prominent venues where Willett has frequently published include the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Journal of Nutrition, BMJ, Diabetes Care, and Nutrients.

Key recent papers authored or coauthored by Willett include:

  • Risk of COVID-19 among front-line health-care workers and the general community: a prospective cohort study (2020, The Lancet Public Health)
  • The Mediterranean diet and health: a comprehensive overview (2021, Journal of Internal Medicine)
  • Healthy lifestyle and life expectancy free of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort study (2020, BMJ)
  • Risk of COVID-19 among frontline healthcare workers and the general community: a prospective cohort study (2020, bioRxiv [Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory])
  • Coffee, Caffeine, and Health (2020, New England Journal of Medicine)

Willett has collaborated extensively with several frequent coauthors, including Frank B. Hu, A. Heather Eliassen, Yanping Li, Edward L. Giovannucci, and Eric B. Rimm.

The scientist has been recognized with various awards such as:

  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2007
  • Charles S. Mott Prize, General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, 2001
  • Member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), 1998

Best Publications

  • Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems

    Walter Willett;Johan Rockström;Johan Rockström;Brent Loken;Marco Springmann

  • REPRODUCIBILITY AND VALIDITY OF A SEMIQUANTITATIVE FOOD FREQUENCY QUESTIONNAIRE

    Walter C. Willett;Walter C. Willett;Laura Sampson;Meir J. Stampfer;Meir J. Stampfer;Bernard Rosner

  • Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

    Ashkan Afshin;Patrick John Sur;Kairsten A. Fay;Leslie Cornaby

  • TOTAL ENERGY INTAKE: IMPLICATIONS FOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC ANALYSES

    Walter Willett;Walter Willett;Meir J. Stampfer

  • Diet, lifestyle, and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in women

    Frank B. Hu;Joann E. Manson;Meir J. Stampfer;Graham Colditz

  • Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective

    M Marmot;T Atinmo;T Byers;J Chen

  • Adjustment for total energy intake in epidemiologic studies

    Walter C. Willett;Geoffrey R. Howe;Lawrence H. Kushi

  • Estimation of optimal serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D for multiple health outcomes

    Heike A Bischoff-Ferrari;Edward Giovannucci;Walter C Willett;Thomas Dietrich

  • Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits

    Marco Springmann;Michael Clark;Daniel Mason-D’Croz;Daniel Mason-D’Croz;Keith Wiebe

  • Vitamin E Consumption and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Men

    Eric B. Rimm;Meir J. Stampfer;Alberto Ascherio;Edward Giovannucci

  • Body weight and mortality among women

    JoAnn E. Manson;Walter C. Willett;Meir J. Stampfer;Graham A. Colditz

  • Weight Gain as a Risk Factor for Clinical Diabetes Mellitus in Women

    Graham A. Colditz;Walter C. Willett;Andrea Rotnitzky;JoAnn E. Manson

  • Changes in Diet and Lifestyle and Long-Term Weight Gain in Women and Men

    Dariush Mozaffarian;Tao Hao;Eric B. Rimm;Walter C. Willett

  • Lack of effect of long-term supplementation with beta carotene on the incidence of malignant neoplasms and cardiovascular disease.

    C H Hennekens;J E Buring;J E Manson;M Stampfer

  • Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating

    Walter C. Willett;Frank Sacks;Antonia Trichopoulou;Greg Drescher

  • Postmenopausal estrogen therapy and cardiovascular disease. Ten-year follow-up from the nurses' health study.

    Meir J. Stampfer;Graham A. Colditz;Walter C. Willett;JoAnn E. Manson

  • Vitamin E consumption and the risk of coronary disease in women.

    Meir J. Stampfer;Charles H. Hennekens;JoAnn E. Manson;Graham A. Colditz

  • Body-Mass Index and Mortality among 1.46 Million White Adults

    Amy Berrington De Gonzalez;Patricia Hartge;James R. Cerhan;Alan J. Flint

  • Obesity, Fat Distribution, and Weight Gain as Risk Factors for Clinical Diabetes in Men

    June M Chan;Eric B Rimm;Graham A Colditz;Meir J Stampfer

  • Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Risk of Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes: A meta-analysis

    Vasanti S. Malik;Barry M. Popkin;George A. Bray;Jean Pierre Després

Frequent Co-Authors

Meir J. Stampfer
Meir J. Stampfer Harvard University
Frank B. Hu
Frank B. Hu Harvard University
Graham A. Colditz
Graham A. Colditz Washington University in St. Louis
Eric B. Rimm
Eric B. Rimm Harvard University
Bernard Rosner
Bernard Rosner Harvard University
JoAnn E. Manson
JoAnn E. Manson Harvard Medical School
Susan E. Hankinson
Susan E. Hankinson University of Massachusetts Amherst
David J. Hunter
David J. Hunter Harvard University
Frank E. Speizer
Frank E. Speizer Harvard University
Donna Spiegelman
Donna Spiegelman Yale University

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