Dr. O’Donnell's research is focused on discovery of the causes of complex cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD risk factors, that together comprise the leading causes of death and disability in men and women.  Dr. O'Donnell's long-term ambition in the marriage of genomic science with large-scale, well-designed studies in human populations is to understand the etiology of CVD and to discover new targets, in order to translate these discovies into therapies for patients to prevent, pre-empt and treat unmet need in CVD.  More specifically, Dr. O’Donnell has focused on the genetic and genomic epidemiology of clinical and subclinical forms of atherosclerosis, heart failure, and metabolic disease. Dr. O'Donnell has served in multiple leadership roles in the NIH and the Veteran's Administration as well as member of the faculty of Harvard Medical School. As a Tenured Scientist in the NIH Intramural Research Program and Associate Director of the Framingham Heart Study, he served as a director of genomics research programs and leader of multiple genomics consortia supported by the NHLBI before serving as Co-PI and Chief Scientist of the VA Million Veteran Program and a member of the All of Us Research Program Executive Committee.  Dr. O’Donnell’s group has identified many genetic variants associated with atherosclerosis, CVD risk factors, aortic valve disease and obesity.  In his current research position, he oversees a large portfolio of early stage clinical trials and provides leadership in translational genomics research as Global Head, Translational Medicine for Cardiovascular and Metabolism in Novartis Biomedical Research.