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About DCEG

Sam Mbulaiteye, M.D.

Investigator

Location: Executive Plaza South, Room 7080
Phone: 301-594-7825
Fax: 301-402-0817
E-mail: mbulaits@mail.nih.gov

 Sam Mbulaiteye, M.D.

Biography

Dr. Mbulaiteye is a tenure-track investigator in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch (IIB) in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) at the national Cancer Institute (NCI). His research focuses on unraveling the role of infections, immunity, and genetic factors in the etiology of Burkitt lymphoma (BL) and Kaposi sarcoma (KS). BL and KS are endemic in Africa and their risk is substantially increased in the setting of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and/or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Dr. Mbulaiteye joined IIB (formerly the Viral Epidemiology Branch) as a Research Fellow in December 2000. He received his primary medical degree from Makerere University, Kampala (1990), and has advanced degrees in epidemiology and biostatistics (M Phil) from the University of Cambridge, U.K. (1994), and in internal medicine (M. Med) from Makerere University (1996). He began his research career at the Uganda Cancer Institute (1994-1997) by leading the fieldwork on a large case-control study to measure the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on cancer in children and adults. He transitioned to the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) where he tracked the population dynamics of HIV by measuring incidence and prevalence of HIV in a large rural general population in southwest Uganda in a study funded by the U.K. Medical Research Council.

He is a member of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences, the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), Darwin College Society, and Cambridge Common Wealth Trust, and is an adjunct lecturer at George Washington University School of Public Health. He is a member of the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Cancer, Frontiers in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, and Co-Editor-in-Chief, Infectious Agents and Cancer. At NCI, he currently serves on the DCEG Genotyping Review Committee (GRC), NIH Tenure-Track Investigators Committee. He is a recipient of the DCEG Outstanding Paper by a Fellow (2003), the NCI Directors Investigator Innovation Award (2008) and the NIH Award of Merit (2008), and was featured in an NCI Special Report: A Journey to Discovery, Journal of Minority Medical Students (2009).

Research Interests

Burkitt lymphoma (BL)

My BL studies fall within IIB’s research to understand risk factors for NHL (http://dceg.cancer.gov/iib/research/non-aids-lymphomas). Burkitt lymphoma is the most common childhood tumor in Africa, and infections with malaria and EBV at an early age are widely accepted risk factors. My studies seek to measure the association between malaria markers (parasite prevalence, load, and genotype), immunology (antibdies protective or not for severe clinical malaria), and co-infection (EBV, HIV, stool parasites) with BL. In addition, my studies of age-specific patterns of endemic, sporadic, and AIDS-related BL seek to identify etiological and/or biological factors associated with BL at different ages.Projects include:

  • Two completed case-control studies of BL conducted in Ghana (1965-1994) and Malawi (2001-2005) to explore novel hypotheses regarding the association of BL with markers of humoral immunity to malaria (protective or not protective for severe malaria), pro-inflammatory cytokines, and host genetic susceptibility factors.
  • An ongoing multi-year case-control study of 1500 cases and 3000 controls in three countries in east Africa (called EMBLEM) to evaluate: 1) the association between functional and tag SNPs in malaria-resistance genes with BL; 2) other host genetic polymorphisms associated with BL using genome-wide association methods; and the role of EBV genetic variants in BL.(http://emblem.cancer.gov).
  • A tissue-based study of BL in the United States to investigate viral (EBV, HIV) and molecular markers (Bcl-2, MYC, Bcl-6) associated with BL at different ages.
  • A pilot effort to better understand EBV genetic diversity through deep sequencing and the possible association between EBV variants and cancers including BL.

      • Kaposi Sarcoma

      Kaposi sarcoma: My research on KS falls within IIB’s research to understand environmental risk factors for KS and HHV8 (http://dceg.cancer.gov/iib/research/ks).I am pursuing studies to test the hypothesis that HHV8 and KS may be related to Th2-immunologic responses, perhaps due to widespread infection with helminthic parasites that leads to HHV8 viral reactivation, replication, infectiousness and dissemination within and among individuals. Projects include:

      • An investigation of the prevalence of HHV8 viremia and associated co-factors in a large nationally-representative population-based cohort from Uganda using data from the Uganda HIV/AIDS sero-Behavioral Survey (UHSBS) conducted in 2004 to 2005.

          • HIV/AIDS and Cancer

          HIV/AIDS and Cancer: Using record-linkage methods to investigate the risk of BL, KS, and other cancers in people with HIV infection in Uganda and other resource-poor settings (http://dceg.cancer.gov/iib/research/hivaids).

        Keywords

        Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), Epstein-Barr virus, Malaria, Kaposi sarcoma, lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, AIDS, immunosuppression, chimerism, epidemiology, genetic risk, Africa

        Selected Publications

        • Guech-Ongey M, Yagi M, Palacpac NM, Emmanuel B, Talisuna AO, Bhatia K, Stefan DC, Biggar RJ, Nkrumah F, Neequaye J, Tougan T, Horii T, Mbulaiteye SM. Antibodies reactive to Plasmodium falciparum serine repeat antigen in children with Burkitt lymphoma from Ghana. Int J Cancer. May 31. doi: 10.1002/ijc.26203.
        • Guech-Ongey M, Simard EP, Anderson WF, Engels EA, Bhatia K, Devesa SS, Mbulaiteye SM. AIDS-related Burkitt lymphoma in the United States: what do age and CD4 lymphocyte patterns tell us about etiology and/or biology? Blood. 2010 Dec 16;116(25):5600-4. Epub 2010 Sep 2.
        • Mbulaiteye SM, Anderson WF, Bhatia K, Rosenberg PS, Linet MS, Devesa SS. Trimodal age-specific incidence patterns for Burkitt lymphoma in the United States.Int J Cancer 2010, 126:17329.
        • Biryahwaho B, Dollard SC, Pfeiffer RM, Shebl FM, Munuo S, Amin MM, Hladik W, Parsons R, Mbulaiteye SM. Sex and geographic patterns of human herpesvirus 8 infection in a nationally representative population-based sample in Uganda. Int J Cancer 2010, 202:1347-53.
        • Shebl FM, Dollard SC, Pfeiffer RM, Biryahwaho B, Amin AM, Munuo S, Parsons R, Hldaik W, Graubard BI, Mbulaiteye SM. Sexual behavior and human herpesvirus 8 seropositivity among adults in a nationally- representative population-based study in Uganda. PLoS One 2011, 6(6):e21286 .
        • Ogwang MD, Bhatia K, Biggar RJ, Mbulaiteye SM. Incidence and geographic distribution of endemic Burkitt lymphoma in northern Uganda revisited. Int J Cancer 2008, 123:2658-63.
        • Guech-Ongey M, Engels EA, Goedert JJ, Robert RJ. Biggar and Mbulaiteye SM. Risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the conjunctiva and other ocular cancers among adults with AIDS in the United States. Int J Cancer 2008,122:2590-3.
        • Mbulaiteye, SM, Katabira, ET, Wabinga, H, Parkin, DM, Virgo, P, Ochai, R, Workneh, M, Coutinho, A, and Engels, EA. Spectrum of cancers among HIV-infected persons in Africa: the Uganda AIDS-Cancer Registry Match Study. Int J Cancer 2006, 118: 985-990.
        • Carpenter LM, Newton R, Casabonne D, Ziegler J, Mbulaiteye S, Mbidde E, Wabinga H, Jaffe H, Beral V. Antibodies against malaria and Epstein-Barr virus in childhood Burkitt lymphoma: a case-control study in Uganda. Int J Cancer 2008,122:1319-23.
        • Mbulaiteye SM, Biggar, RJ, Bakaki, PM, Pfeiffer, RM, Whitby, D, Owor, A M, Katongole-Mbidde, E, Goedert, JJ, Ndugwa, CM, Engels, EA. Human herpesvirus 8 infection and transfusion history in children with sickle-cell disease in Uganda. J Natl Cancer Inst 2003,95: 1330-1335

        Collaborators

        DCEG Collaborators

        • James J. Goedert, M.D., Ruth M. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., Steven Chanock, M.D. Kishor Bhatia, Ph.D., FRC Path, Eric A. Engels, M.D., Charles S. Rabkin, M.D., William F. Anderson,M.D., Susan S. Devesa, Ph.D., Philip S. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Barry I. Graubard, Ph.D., Allan Hildesheim, Ph.D.

        Other Scientific Collaborators

        • Corey Casper, MD, MPH, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle
        • Robert Newton, MBchB, Ph.D., University of York, York, UK
        • Wendy Cozen, M.D., University of Southern California, Los Angeles
        • Sheeja Pulkart, M.D., University of California and Los Angeles, Los Angeles
        • Ronald Mitsuyasu, M.D., University of California and Los Angeles, Los Angeles
        • Martin D. Ogwang, St. Mary’s Hospital, Lacor, Gulu, Uganda
        • Henry Wabinga, MB ChB, Kampala Cancer Registry, Kampala, Uganda
        • Martin M. Nsubuga, MRCP, Nsambya Hospital, Kampala, Uganda
        • Esther Kawira, M.D., Shirati Health Education and Development Foundation, Shirati,Tanzania
        • Nestory Masalu, Bugando Medical Center, Mwanza, Tanzania
        • Glen R. Brubaker, M.D., Interchurch Mission/Shirati Hospital, Tanzania
        • Mohammed R. Moosa, M.D., University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa
        • Johann Schneider, M.D., University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa
        • Patrick Kerchan, MBchB, Kuluva Hospital, Arua, Uganda
        • Constance Tenge, MBchB, M.Med, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
        • Robert Kuremu Tenge, MBchB, M.Med, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
        • Walter Nalyanya, MBchB, M.Med, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
        • Pamela Akinyi Were, RN, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
        • Peter Odada Sumba, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya
        • Sheela Godboole, M.D., National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, India
        • Francis Nkrumah, Noguchi Memorial Institute, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana