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Sallie Rosen Kaplan Fellows Join the Division
Tamra Meyer and Meredith Shiels.
Tamra Meyer, Ph.D., and Meredith Shiels, Ph.D., recently joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) and the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch (IIB), respectively, as the Division's newest Sallie Rosen Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellows.
The Sallie Rosen Kaplan Fellowship for Women Scientists in Cancer Research is awarded through an annual competition for postdoctoral fellows who wish to train in the NCI Intramural Research Program. Made possible by a bequest from Ms. Kaplan to the Foundation for NIH, fellows receive a supplement to their first-year stipend.
Dr. Meyer comes to HREB from the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, where she earned an M.P.H. in disease control and a Ph.D. in epidemiology under the guidance of Dr. Eric Boerwinkle. At DCEG, she will pursue her interests in molecular epidemiology, particularly the role of inflammation and genetic susceptibility as they relate to hormonal cancers. She is working with HREB investigator Ann W. Hsing, Ph.D., in collaboration with Biostatistics Branch investigators Kai Yu, Ph.D., Qizhai (James) Li, Ph.D., Philip S. Rosenberg, Ph.D., and Idan Menashe, Ph.D., in applying cutting-edge statistical tools to identify the origins of prostate cancer. Toward this end, Dr. Meyer is using genome-wide association data for prostate cancer from the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility Study to evaluate gene-environment interactions in 800 inflammation-related genes, as well as serum androgen levels, using the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. She is also using data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study to evaluate the relationship between the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the risk of cancer.
In addition to her research in prostate cancer, Dr. Meyer is working with Dr. Hsing on the Shanghai Biliary Tract Cancer Study to assess the role of genetic and other risk factors for both biliary cancer and gallstones. "It is exciting to be a part of the DCEG team of scientists," Dr. Meyer remarked. "The environment here is ideal for fostering the collaborative science that is necessary to understand, prevent, and treat complex diseases like prostate cancer."
Dr. Shiels received her undergraduate degree in biobehavioral health from Pennsylvania State University, followed by an M.H.S. and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She studied the relation of genetic variants to tobacco smoking for her master's thesis, before focusing her doctoral research on the epidemiology of cancer among people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) under the guidance of Dr. Stephen Cole.
During her postdoctoral fellowship in IIB, Dr. Shiels will pursue research relating to the role of infections, inflammation, and immunodeficiency in the development of cancer. She will continue her work on HIV-related cancers by using data from the HIV/AIDS Cancer Match Study to evaluate the overall burden of cancer among HIV-infected people in the United States. According to Dr. Shiels, "DCEG is the ideal place to build upon my doctoral research on cancer among HIV-infected individuals. I feel very fortunate to be working with investigators who are experts in the study of HIV and cancer, and to have access to data from the HIV/AIDS Cancer Match Study."
In addition, Dr. Shiels will use the PLCO study to evaluate the risk of lung cancer associated with serum markers of pulmonary fibrosis and scarring, along with genetic variants in the inflammation and innate immunity pathways.
Dr. Shiels's primary mentor is Eric A. Engels, M.D. (IIB); she will also work closely with Anil K. Chaturvedi, Ph.D., and James J. Goedert, M.D., both of IIB.
