Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor is a professor of family and preventive medicine at the UCSD School of Medicine. An internationally recognized expert in epidemiology, Barrett-Connor's main focus is on the factors promoting a healthy old age. She is founder and director of the three-decade-old Rancho Bernardo Heart and Chronic Disease Study, which has produced data defining causal factors for diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis as well as cardiovascular disease. Her research focuses on healthy aging and gender differences in disease, with strong emphasis on women's health. She is principal investigator of the largest cardiovascular disease prevention trial ever conducted in women "- RUTH "- which also has breast cancer prevention as a co-primary outcome. As one of the first scientists to examine diabetes as a risk factor for heart disease, Barrett-Connor found that the blood-sugar metabolism disorder poses a greater risk to women than to men. She also was one of the first to question the validity of earlier observational studies, including her own, indicating that hormone replacement therapy protects the female heart. Her challenge to conventional wisdom -- ultimately validated by Women's Health Initiative findings that overall risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy outweigh benefits for chronic diseases -- reflects a career-long dedication to confirming epidemiological observations in randomized clinical trials.