• Biography
• Research Interests
• NCI Publications (text and abstracts from the DCEG publications database)
• Publications in PubMed

Biography

Dr. Silverman is chief of the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch within the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI. She received a Sc.D. in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health and a Sc.M. in biostatistics from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health. She joined the NCI as a biostatistician in 1972, and has served as a cancer epidemiologist since 1983. Dr. Silverman has received numerous awards, including PHS Special Recognition Award for research on environmental determinants of bladder and other cancers; the American Occupational Medical Association Merit in Authorship Award for her paper on a job/exposure linkage system; the NCI Special Act Award in recognition of her work on the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study; the NIH Merit Award for her contributions to pancreatic cancer research; the PHS Lucy Minnigerode Award; and the DCEG Exemplary Service and Investigator Award. She was a finalist for the CDC Alice Hamilton Science Award for Occupational Safety and Health for her research on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer in truck drivers. Dr. Silverman is an elected member of the American Epidemiological Society and a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology.

Research Interests

Occupational, Environmental and Host Determinants of Cancer

Dr. Silverman’s research involves the design and conduct of epidemiologic investigations to evaluate occupational, environmental, and host determinants of cancer. She and her colleagues closely monitor new findings from clinical observations, experimental studies, and descriptive and analytic epidemiology for leads as to causes of cancer. Her research focuses particularly on the etiology of cancers of the bladder and pancreas and on the carcinogenic effects of diesel exhaust.

Carcinogenicity of Diesel Exhaust

Diesel exhaust is a general airborne contaminant that is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a probable human carcinogen. Exposure is ubiquitous in cities and among commuters who regularly use highways. Occupational exposures are common among miners, transportation workers and other operators of diesel powered equipment. Some workers, such as miners who use diesel powered equipment underground, may experience high levels of exposure. Although at least 35 studies have examined lung cancer risk and diesel exhaust, few used quantitative exposure measurements of diesel exhaust directly in their analyses. As a consequence, the risk of lung cancer associated with diesel exhaust is still not well defined. In collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. Silverman is the NCI Project Director of the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS).

Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is recognized as an occupationally-related tumor. During the past three decades, scores of bladder cancer studies have suggested more than 40 high-risk occupations, yet the specific exposures responsible for most of the excess risks remain largely unknown. Known and suspect occupational bladder carcinogens include aromatic amines, diesel exhaust, oil mist, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aryl hydrocarbons, and their derivatives.

Dr. Silverman heads the New England Bladder Cancer Study, which was designed to determine the reasons for excess bladder cancer risk in northern New England. This complex multi-disciplinary investigation includes both an environmental component, with detailed exposure assessment for arsenic and disinfection by-products in drinking water, and a biologic component.

She is also the NCI Principal Investigator of a hospital-based case-control study of bladder cancer in Spain to clarify the etiologic role of suspected occupational carcinogens and to evaluate a variety of non-occupational exposures, including genetic susceptibility markers, and gene-environment interactions. Biologic specimens have been collected to examine genetic susceptibility in relation to risk of bladder cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer

Dr. Silverman has carried out numerous studies of pancreatic cancer to identify risk factors that play a role in the etiology of this malignancy. Her research has helped to establish the causal relationships for smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, obesity, diabetes, and family history of the array of tumors associated with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. In particular, her work has also focused on factors contributing to the high rates experienced by African Americans. She continues her research in this area by following up earlier case-control findings on obesity, diabetes, heavy alcohol consumption, smoking habits, and pesticide use.