Jose A Luchsinger, MD, MPH

Internal Medicine
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Overview

Jose Alejandro Luchsinger received his MD degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas. He completed an internal medicine residency program including one year as chief medical resident at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City. He also completed a General Medicine Fellowship at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and obtained an MPH in epidemiology from the Mailman School of Public Health at CUIMC. He has been a faculty member since 1999.

Dr Luchsinger accomplishments include contributing to the early knowledge base relating diabetes, insulin resistance, and vascular risk factors with Alzheimer’s disease, being part of the team that first reported an association between the Mediterranean diet and a lower risk of cognitive disorders, conducting a research program examining the effects of metformin on cognitive impairment, and conducting a research program in research on dementia caregiving including the first trial ever comparing two caregiver interventions.

Academic Appointments

  • Robert F. Loeb Professor of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Medical Center

Administrative Titles

  • Vice-Chair for Clinical and Epidemiologic Research, Department of Medicine
  • Director, Section of Geriatrics, Gerontology, and Aging

Hospital Affiliations

  • NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Gender

  • Male

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Insurance Accepted

Cigna

  • EPO
  • Great West (National)
  • HMO
  • POS
  • PPO

Local 1199

  • Local 1199

MagnaCare (National)

  • MagnaCare

Medicare

  • Railroad
  • Traditional Medicare

Multiplan

  • Multiplan

RiverSpring

  • Special Needs

UnitedHealthcare

  • Compass (Exchange)
  • Empire Plan
  • HMO
  • POS
  • PPO

*Please contact the provider’s office directly to verify that your particular insurance is accepted.

Credentials & Experience

Education & Training

  • Central University of Venezuela
  • Residency: St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
  • Fellowship: Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY

Board Certifications

  • Internal Medicine

Research

Dr. Luchsinger's research has focused on the relation of vascular, metabolic, and dietary on aging outcomes, primarily cognition, in diverse populations. He conducts cohort studies and clinical trials. He is the director of the Center on Aging and Health Disparities (CAHD) in the Division of General Medicine. The CAHD is the home for the Northern Manhattan Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Health Disparities at Columbia University, funded by NIMHD, and various research projects in aging, minority health, and health disparities. He also works with the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain analyzing data from a prospective cohort study of aging.

He also conducts epidemiological, translational, and intervention research in various areas of aging and Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD), These areas include research in risk factors and prevention of ADRD and cognitive impairment including observational studies and clinical trials, research in the health of caregivers of persons with ADRD including observational studies and clinical trials, aging and brain outcomes of diabetes and related metabolic conditions including human and animals studies, detection of cognitive impairment in primary care and community settings, and health disparities in aging and ADRD.

Research Interests

  • Relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and cognition
  • Relationship between diet and cognition

Selected Publications

  1. Luchsinger JA, Tang MX, Shea S, Mayeux R. Antioxidant vitamin intake and risk of Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol. 2003 Feb;60(2):203-8. doi: 10.1001/archneur.60.2.203. PMID: 12580704.
  2. Luchsinger JA, Tang MX, Shea S, Mayeux R. Caloric intake and the risk of Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol. 2002 Aug;59(8):1258-63. doi: 10.1001/archneur.59.8.1258. PMID: 12164721.
  3. Posner HB, Tang MX, Luchsinger J, Lantigua R, Stern Y, Mayeux R. The relationship of hypertension in the elderly to AD, vascular dementia, and cognitive function. Neurology. 2002 Apr 23;58(8):1175-81. doi: 10.1212/wnl.58.8.1175. PMID: 11971083.
  4. Maurer MS, Luchsinger JA, Wellner R, Kukuy E, Edwards NM. The effect of body mass index on complications from cardiac surgery in the oldest old. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002 Jun;50(6):988-94. doi: 10.1046/j.1532-5415.2002.50251.x. PMID: 12110056.
  5. Luchsinger JA, Pablos-Méndez A, Knirsch C, Rabinowitz D, Shea S. Relation of antibiotic use to risk of myocardial infarction in the general population. Am J Cardiol. 2002 Jan 1;89(1):18-21. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9149(01)02156-7. PMID: 11779516.
  6. Luchsinger JA, Pablos-Mendez A, Knirsch C, Rabinowitz D, Shea S. Antibiotic use and risk of ischemic stroke in the elderly. Am J Med. 2001 Oct 1;111(5):361-6. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9343(01)00871-3. PMID: 11583638.
  7. Luchsinger JA, Burgio L, Mittelman M, Dunner I, Levine JA, Hoyos C, Tipiani D, Henriquez Y, Kong J, Silver S, Ramirez M, Teresi JA. Comparative Effectiveness of 2 Interventions for Hispanic Caregivers of Persons with Dementia. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2018 Aug 7. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15450. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30084133.
  8. Luchsinger JA, Ma Y, Christophi CA, Florez H, Golden SH, Hazuda H, Crandall J, Venditti E, Watson K, Jeffries S, Manly JJ, Pi-Sunyer FX; Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Metformin, Lifestyle Intervention, and Cognition in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study. Diabetes Care. 2017 Jul;40(7):958-965. doi: 10.2337/dc16-2376. Epub 2017 May 12. PubMed PMID: 28500216; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5481986.
  9. Luchsinger JA, Perez T, Chang H, Mehta P, Steffener J, Pradabhan G, Ichise M, Manly J, Devanand DP, Bagiella E. Metformin in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: Results of a Pilot Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial. J Alzheimers Dis. 2016;51(2):501-14. doi: 10.3233/JAD-150493. PubMed PMID: 26890736; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5079271.
  10. Palmas W, Findley SE, Mejia M, Batista M, Teresi J, Kong J, Silver S, Fleck EM, Luchsinger JA, Carrasquillo O. Results of the northern Manhattan diabetes community outreach project: a randomized trial studying a community health worker intervention to improve diabetes care in Hispanic adults. Diabetes Care. 2014 Apr;37(4):963-9. doi: 10.2337/dc13-2142. Epub 2014 Feb 4. PubMed PMID: 24496805; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3964489.
  11. Scarmeas N, Luchsinger JA, Schupf N, Brickman AM, Cosentino S, Tang MX, Stern Y. Physical activity, diet, and risk of Alzheimer disease. JAMA. 2009 Aug 12;302(6):627-37. doi: 10.1001/jama.2009.1144. PubMed PMID: 19671904; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2765045.
  12. Biggs ML, Mukamal KJ, Luchsinger JA, Ix JH, Carnethon MR, Newman AB, de Boer IH, Strotmeyer ES, Mozaffarian D, Siscovick DS. Association between adiposity in midlife and older age and risk of diabetes in older adults. JAMA. 2010 Jun 23;303(24):2504-12. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.843. PubMed PMID: 20571017; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3047456.
  13. Fitzpatrick AL, Kuller LH, Lopez OL, Diehr P, O'Meara ES, Longstreth WT Jr, Luchsinger JA. Midlife and late-life obesity and the risk of dementia: cardiovascular health study. Arch Neurol. 2009 Mar;66(3):336-42. doi: 10.1001/archneurol.2008.582. PubMed PMID: 19273752; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3513375.
  14. Scarmeas N, Stern Y, Tang MX, Mayeux R, Luchsinger JA. Mediterranean diet and risk for Alzheimer's disease. Ann Neurol. 2006 Jun;59(6):912-21. PubMed PMID: 16622828; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3024594.
  15. Luchsinger JA, Reitz C, Honig LS, Tang MX, Shea S, Mayeux R. Aggregation of vascular risk factors and risk of incident Alzheimer disease. Neurology. 2005 Aug 23;65(4):545-51. PubMed PMID: 16116114; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1619350.
  16. Luchsinger JA, Tang MX, Shea S, Mayeux R. Hyperinsulinemia and risk of Alzheimer disease. Neurology. 2004 Oct 12;63(7):1187-92. PubMed PMID: 15477536.

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov