Nigussie A. Kassaw, PhD, MPH, MSc
- Academic Title: Post Doc Fellow
- Primary Appointment: Medicine
- Email: nkassaw@som.umaryland.edu
- Location: 670 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
- Phone (Primary): 2409198424
Education and Training
Jimma University, BSc, Public Health, 2007
Addis Ababa University, MPH, Reproductive and Family Health, 2011
Hawassa University, MSc, Applied Statistics, 2019
University of South Australia, PhD, Medical Sciences, 2025
Biosketch
Dr. Nigussie Kassaw is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He earned his PhD focusing on Genetic Epidemiology from the University of South Australia, a Master of Public Health from Addis Ababa University, and a Master of Science in Applied Statistics from Hawassa University.
Dr. Kassaw’s research investigates how genetic and environmental factors influence the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and their comorbidities, with a particular focus on multi-ancestry populations. His work integrates conventional epidemiological methods with genetic approaches, particularly Mendelian randomization and phenome-wide analyses, and incorporates multi-omics data, including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics. Through this integrative framework, he aims to uncover the causal pathways and the interplay of lifestyle factors, genetics, and the environment in disease development, progression, and prevention.
His scientific path is rooted in a commitment to advancing globally representative health research. Beginning his career in Ethiopia, Dr. Kassaw witnessed differences in health outcomes across multi-ancestry and understudied populations, which motivated him to pursue research that bridges public health and molecular science. During his doctoral work using UK Biobank data, he examined how genetics and environment jointly shape alcohol use and its impact on multiple diseases and mortality. Building on this experience, his current work seeks to generate causal and mechanistic insights that can guide targeted prevention strategies and advance precision public health.
With a strong interdisciplinary background in public health, biostatistics, and genetic epidemiology, Dr. Kassaw is passionate about collaborative research. His goal is to translate scientific discovery into meaningful preventive strategies that improve health outcomes across all population groups.
Research/Clinical Keywords
Epidemiology, Genetic epidemiology, Causal inference, Mendelian randomization, Phenome-wide analysis, Multi-omics, Epigenomics, Alcohol, Lifestyles, Diabetes, Cardiometabolic diseases, Multi-ancestry.