Behind the microphone with Framingham
I didn’t know anything about the town of Framingham one year ago. But as I rode in a cab with a colleague on the way to our Marlborough offices from the Boston airport, we drove under the road sign that said: “Framingham.”
Conor said: “You know about the Heart Study, right?”
No, I didn’t know about the world’s longest-running study of heart health. 70 years strong — and the reason we know that what we eat makes a difference to our tickers. Seemed like a good topic for our podcast, Discovery Matters.
You can listen on Apple or Spotify for the story of the study. I want to share with you what didn’t make it into those 17 minutes.
Podcasting is my passion and I readily play the wide-eyed ignoramus so we get to the — ahem — heart of what matters. So as soon as I knew there would be another business trip to Massachusetts, I got in touch with the good people at the Heart Study.
Maria at the Boston University School of Medicine answered my email immediately and booked time with the current leader of the study, Vasan Ramachandran, and a participant. I showed up with my handy Zoom recorder and a pocket full of questions.
I felt like I was headed back to school. There are bulletin boards on every wall. Framingham (and rightly so) celebrates its heritage and its continued influence on health studies.
Vasan and the participant, Tom, greeted me with huge smiles, open minds, and fun facts. Framingham was a great spot to start a study because it was oddly representative of the population of the US at the time. Also, Framingham residents were totally excited about participating. Vasan has been with the study for 25 years. Devoted!
But then I met Tom Grassia, a healthy not-so-retired participant. He’s the kind of person one hopes to be at his age. Funny, relaxed, and dedicated to his part in contributing to society by participating in the study. He’s been involved for 40 years!
It made me think about accountability and community involvement. There was something special happening in Framingham 70 years ago, when scientists started to talk to people and measure their heart health against a number of parameters. Today, there’s still something special happening with dedicated people like Tom and Vasan.
I hope you listen and like the episode!