He is currently the Eugene Braunwald Professor of Medicine at Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he directs the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.

[6] Ridker’s translational research combines the tools of epidemiology, vascular biology, and randomized clinical trials to determine the root causes of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

[12] Critical proof of the inflammation hypothesis of atherosclerosis came when Ridker and his international collaborators focused on the NLRP3 to Interleukin-1b to Interleukin-6 pathway of innate immunity and its role in coronary disease.

Toward this end, in 2010, Ridker obtained parallel funding from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and from the pharmaceutical industry to design and conduct two multi-national cardiovascular inflammation reduction trials known as CANTOS[13] and CIRT.

[16][17] In contrast, the federally funded CIRT (Cardiovascular Inflammation Reduction Trial) showed no benefit to low-dose Methotrexate but also no evidence of lowering Interleukin-1b, Interleukin-6 nor CRP.

Work from CANTOS has also demonstrated the potential human benefits of targeted Interleukin-1 therapy on anemia, renal failure, and large joint osteoarthritis.