Eleventh Annual Summer Fellows Recognition and Poster Event

DCEG summer students and mentors at the Summer Fellows Recognition and Poster Event.

Every summer, DCEG hosts bright and talented students who gain experience conducting research in epidemiology, genetics, statistics, and related fields. Beginning last fall, Tess Lee, program assistant in the Office of Education (OE), began fielding inquiries for summer 2009 from interested students. From the more than 300 applications received, 30 summer fellows, ranging from high school to doctoral level, were selected to work with DCEG investigators on cancer research projects.

In acknowledgment of the summer fellows' work and an opportunity to present their research projects to DCEG staff, the Division hosted the 11th Annual Summer Fellows Recognition and Poster Event, organized by Kristin Kiser, M.H.A., M.S., fellowship coordinator, OE. The event featured posters by 24 students, who also participated in the NIH Summer Student Poster Session.

A photograph of Katherine McGlynn, Michael Cook, and Catherine Lerro at the NIH Summer Student Poster Session.

Katherine McGlynn, Michael Cook, and Catherine Lerro at the NIH Summer Student Poster Session. (Photograph credit: Alice Sigurdson)

The afternoon's celebration opened with a recognition ceremony and discussion in which invited speakers—Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr., M.D., DCEG Director, Shelia Hoar Zahm, Sc.D., DCEG Deputy Director, and Jackie Lavigne, Ph.D., M.P.H., Chief of OE—shared their perspectives about the future of cancer epidemiology research and scientific career paths.

Students interested in applying for 2010 summer fellowships at DCEG may submit an application to the NIH Summer Internship Program through the NIH Student Programs Web site (www.training.nih.gov/student/index.asp) starting in mid-November. Students who are specifically interested in cancer epidemiology and genetics are encouraged to learn more about DCEG research and complete a supplemental application at http://dceg.cancer.gov/fellowships/summerprogram.

—Kristin Kiser, M.H.A., M.S.

Posters by 2009 DCEG Summer Fellows

Alex Akman, Washington University in St. Louis. Analysis of linkage disequilibrium across the region defined by a prostate cancer susceptibility marker, rs10896449, and the MYEOV gene in chromosome 11q13. Mentor: Stephen J. Chanock, M.D., Chief of the Laboratory of Translational Genomics (LTG)

Mary Alice Anderson, University of Florida. Black and white differences in breast cancer incidence and the distribution of BMI and reproductive risk factors (1992–2006). Mentors: Ruth M. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., and William F. Anderson, M.D., M.P.H., both in the Biostatistics Branch (BB)

Bryan Bassig, Yale University, School of Public Health. Selected HLA class II polymorphisms and risk of adult glioma. Mentors: Alina V. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., and Ruth A. Kleinerman, M.P.H., both in the Radiation Epidemiology Branch (REB)

Rohini Bhatia, University of Rochester. Oral human papillomavirus (HPV) in healthy individuals: A systematic review of the literature. Mentor: Aimee R. Kreimer, Ph.D., Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch (IIB)

Madeleine Blank, University of Michigan. Dietary fat and risk of ovarian cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Mentor: Yikyung Park, Sc.D., Nutritional Epidemiology Branch (NEB)

Evan Busch, University of California, Berkeley. The relationship of bacterial translocation to increased incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in HIV+ patients. Mentors: Anil K. Chaturvedi, Ph.D., and Charles S. Rabkin, M.D. (both in IIB)

Maria Constanza Camargo, University of Illinois at Chicago. Determinants of Epstein-Barr virus-positive gastric cancer: An international pooled analysis. Mentors: Charles S. Rabkin, M.D., and Gwen Murphy, Ph.D., M.P.H. (both in IIB)

Jason Douglas, University of Michigan, School of Public Health. Serum IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-3, and IGF-I/IGFBP-3 molar ratio and risk of pancreatic cancer in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Mentor: Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, M.P.H., Ph.D. (NEB)

Alexander Fischer, University of Maryland, College Park. Urine mutagenicity in the New England Bladder Cancer Study. Mentor: Dalsu A. N. Baris, M.D., Ph.D., Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch

Alison Glassman, University of Kentucky, School of Public Health. Dietary fiber intake and endometrial cancer risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Mentor: Yikyung Park, Sc.D. (NEB)

Alpana Kaushiva, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Correlation between expression of alternative splicing forms of Notch2 gene and genotypes of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) breast cancer associated SNP rs11249433 in tumors and blood of patients. Mentor: Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Ph.D. (LTG)

Peter Kirk, Colby College. Risk of cervical cancer based on HPV infection type. Mentor: Mark Schiffman, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB)

Dorothy Kwok, Yale University, School of Public Health. Genetic variation on 8q24 and serum vitamins D and E among Caucasian males. Mentors: Tamra Meyer, Ph.D., and Ann W. Hsing, Ph.D., both in the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB)

Catherine Lerro, Yale University, School of Public Health. Body size and risk of testicular cancer: A meta analysis. Mentors: Michael B. Cook, Ph.D., and Katherine A. McGlynn, Ph.D., M.P.H. (both in HREB)

Luyang Liu, Barnard College, Columbia University. Analysis of fusion transcripts of the JAZF1 gene associated with susceptibility to prostate cancer. Mentor: Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Ph.D. (LTG)

Shannon Lynch, University of Pennsylvania. Mitochondrial DNA copy number and pancreatic cancer risk in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Study. Mentor: Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, M.P.H., Ph.D. (NEB)

Camille Madsen, Brigham Young University. Environmental correlates of classic Kaposi sarcoma in Sicily. Mentor: James J. Goedert, M.D. (IIB)

Hazel Nichols, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Contralateral breast cancer in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, 1974–2006. Mentors: Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, D.Phil. (REB), and James V. Lacey, Jr., Ph.D. (HREB)

Natalia Orduz, University of Maryland, Shady Grove. Allelic expression imbalance in a 3' UTR HLA-DPA1 single nucleotide polymorphism in human tissues. Mentor: Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Ph.D. (LTG)

Anushi Shah, St. Matthews School of Medicine. Study of copy number variation within GWAS-associated region on chr 1p11.2 in DNA from blood of breast cancer patients. Mentor: Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Ph.D. (LTG)

Douglas Stram, University of California, Berkeley. A prospective analysis of DNA damage and repair capacity and lung cancer risk: A report from the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial. Mentors: Alice J. Sigurdson, Ph.D., and Preetha Rajaraman, Ph.D. (both in REB)

Min Tang, University of Maryland, College Park. Bone fractures in monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance: A population based study. Mentor: Ruth M. Pfeiffer, Ph.D. (BB)

Wenting Wang, Florida State University. A Bayesian Cox model for simultaneously evaluating the association between lung cancer survival time and a large number of genetic markers. Mentor: Kai Yu, Ph.D. (BB)

Jason Ya, Thomas Jefferson High School. Clinical conditions associated with Th1/Th2 imbalance. Mentor: James J. Goedert, M.D. (IIB)

Reflections from 2009 DCEG Summer Fellows

"I had no idea it was possible to have so much fun and learn so much in just a couple of months. Best of all, the people here are even more incredible than the work they are doing: knowledgeable, whip-smart, yet endlessly friendly and helpful." —Evan Busch

"As a returning summer student, I found it an especially rewarding experience to build on the work that I started last summer and to see it progress toward completion." —Alexander Fischer

"My summer at DCEG has not just been about learning the ropes of epidemiology, but also about growing as a researcher. It’s been a unique experience where I have learned that interactions with peers and the ability to look critically at research facilitate the transfer of knowledge and the birth of new ideas." —Rohini Bhatia

"The breadth of scientific projects, opportunities to network with distinguished scientists, and the enthusiasm and knowledge of my mentors have contributed to a very enriching research experience at DCEG. My experiences this summer have helped to shape my future research interests and have provided me with a better understanding of the finer points of epidemiologic research." —Bryan Bassig

"Whenever my friends ask me about my summer experience at NCI, I always say I love the research work I have been doing here. My mentor is so great and I have learned a lot from her. My experience at NCI will be a great treasure for my future career." —Min Tang