Dr. Pletcher received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and his Master's degree in public health (Epidemiology) from the University of California, Berkeley. He completed an Internship, Residence, and Clinical Research Fellowship at UCSF in the Division of General Internal Medicine, and the Advanced Training in Clinical Research Certificate Program through the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics prior to joining the faculty. He maintains a secondary appointment and an active clinical practice in the Department of Medicine.

Dr. Pletcher is currently a Principal Investigator, along with Dr. Stephen Hulley, of the SFCC, for a multi-center randomized controlled trial and observational follow-up study (VEST-PREDICTS), for improving clinical care for persons at risk of sudden death from heart arrhythmias.

Research Interests

• Risk prediction and clinical decision-making
• Atherosclerosis and prevention of coronary heart disease
• Prediction of ventricular arrhythmia and prevention of sudden death
• Proteomics, telomeres, and biomarker research
• Pain, prescription opioid abuse, and clinical decision-making in treatment of pain

Selected Publications

1. Pletcher MJ, Lazr L, Bibbins-Domingo K, Moran A, rodondi N, Coxson P, Lightwood J, Williams L, Goldman L. Comparing impact and cost-effectiveness of primary prevention strategies for lipid-lowering. Ann Intern Med. 2009 Feb 17;150(4):243-54.
2. Pletcher MJ, Bibbins-Domingo K, Lewis CE, Wei GS, Sidney S, Carr JJ, Vittinghoff E, McCulloch CE, Hulley SB. Prehypertension during young adjulthood and coronary calcium later in life: The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Annals of Internal Medicine 2008; 149(2):91-9.
3. Pletcher MJ, Kertesz SG, Kohn MA, Gonzales R. Trends in opioid prescribing by race/ethnicity for patients seeking care in US emergency departments. JAMA 2008;299(1):70-78.
4. Bibbins-Domingo K, Coxson P, Pletcher MJ, Lightwood J, Goldman L. Adolescent overweight and future adult coronary heart disease. New England Journal of Medicine 2007;357(23):2371-9.
5. Pignone M, Earnshaw S, Pletcher MJ, Tice JA. Aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in women: a cost-utility analysis. Archives of Internal medicine 2007;167:290-5.
6. Pletcher MJ, Hulley BJ, Houston T, Kiefe CI, Benowitz N, Sidney S. Menthol cigarettes, smoking cessation, atherosclerosis, and pulmonary function. The coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Archives of Internal Medicine 2006;166:1915-22.
7. Pignone M, Earnshaw S, Tice JA, Pletcher MJ. Aspirin, statins, or both drugs for the primary prevention of CHD events: A cost-utility analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine 2006;144(5):326-336.
8. Pletcher MJ, Kiefe C, Sidney S, Carr JJ, Lewis CE, Hulley SB. Cocaine use in young adults and subsequent coronary calcification in THE CARDIA Study. American Heart Journal 2005;150(5):921-6.
9. Pletcher MJ, Tice JA, Pignone M, McCulloch C, Callister TQ, Browner WS. What does my patient's coronary artery calcium score mean? Combining information from standard risk factors and the coronary artery calcium score to estimate coronary heart disease risk. BMC Medicine 2004;2:31.
10. Pletcher MJ, Tice JA, Pignone M, Browner WS. Using coronary artery calcification, as measured by electron beam computed tomography, to predict coronary heart disease event: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of Internal medicine 2004;164:1285-92.