DCEG News Updates
The latest news and research findings from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics.
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In March 2021, Christian Abnet and Lindsay Morton were elected to the prestigious American Epidemiological Society, an honorary society dedicated to epidemiology.
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Dr. Castle was reinstated with scientific tenure by the NIH and rejoined DCEG as a senior investigator in the Clinical Genetics Branch.
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Dr. Kitahara investigates the etiology of thyroid cancer and cancer risk in patients and medical personnel exposed to diagnostic and therapeutic medical radiation. She is now a senior investigator in the Radiation Epidemiology Branch.
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A multi-year process of expert review resulted in new rule specifications for the interpretation of germline genetic variants in TP53, reducing the number of clinically-relevant discrepancies and decreasing reports of variants of uncertain significance from 28% to 12%, compared with the original guidelines.
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Jackie Lavigne, Ph.D., Diane Wigfield, and Cara Murray of the Office of Education have supported fellows during the work-from-home order. They have bridged the distance inflicted by COVID-19 through virtual events, on-line and telephone support, providing virtual professional development workshops, and more.
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Christian Abnet, Ph.D., chief of the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch (MEB) and colleagues, found gastroesophageal reflux disease was associated with a two-fold increased risk of esophageal or laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas, using data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.
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Investigators have uncovered important differences in mortality patterns over the course of the pandemic, identified a novel isoform of ACE2, launched a hub to monitor seroprevalence, evaluated risks for cancer patients, and possible late effects of COVID-19, and more.
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Dr. Amundadottir, senior investigator in the Laboratory of Translational Genomics, and Dr. Efsun Arda from the NCI Center for Cancer Research, are collaborating on a project to characterize cell type resolved effects of genetic variation on pancreas cancer risk.
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Researchers in DCEG have applied their expertise to address various aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, from volunteering in the NIH staff testing program to investigations of the underlying biology of coronavirus infections. Read about some of those activities and the work of other NCI scientists on the Cancer Currents blog.
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Over the years, DCEG has trained hundreds of epidemiologists who have contributed to advancements in public health. Investing in mentorship and training has been essential to the Division’s success and longevity as a premier research program of cancer epidemiology and genetics. Past and present mentor-mentee pairs describe their training and mentoring experience at DCEG.
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Sara Schonfeld, Ph.D., in the Radiation Epidemiology Branch (REB) and colleagues, find that survivors of hereditary retinoblastoma have an increased long-term risk of certain subsequent epithelial cancers and of developing multiple subsequent cancers.
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Aimée Kreimer, Ph.D., senior investigator in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch, was elected Women Scientist Advisor in January 2021 for a three-year term.
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Gretchen Gierach, Ph.D., M.P.H., was appointed as Chief of the Integrative Tumor Epidemiology Branch (ITEB) in January 2021. Dr. Gierach is an expert in the etiology of hormone-related female malignancies, with particular focus on breast cancer.
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Several DCEG staff were honored at the 2020 NCI Director’s Awards ceremony for their efforts in assessing radiation-related cancer risk at the Trinity site in New Mexico; for development of a suite of tools to streamline business processes in DCEG; and for years of continued service to the NCI.
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Six DCEG postdoctoral fellows have received the 2021 William G. Coleman Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award for projects addressing disparities in cancer survivorship, breast cancer treatment, and exposure to air pollution.
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I Am Intramural Blog describes DCEG research to develop artificial intelligence to create a fast, inexpensive, and easy to use method of identifying possible signs of cervical cancer using nothing more than a smartphone.
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An international team of scientists, known collectively as the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), conducted an analysis of more than 113,000 women to define the genes that are most clinically useful for inclusion in panel testing and provide precise risk estimates for genetic counseling.
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Dr. Sabine Naudin of the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch was selected for the 2021 NCI Career Development Program. The program seeks to provide NCI postdoctoral trainees with the tools necessary to develop as leaders in independent academic research careers.
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Katelyn Connelly, Ilona Argirion, and Daniela S. Gutierrez Torres were selected for the 2021 Sallie Rosen Kaplan Fellowship program. The program helps prepare female postdoctoral fellows for the transition to independent biomedical research careers.
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The mission of the TDRP is to conduct and facilitate trans-divisional research on cancer epidemiology, genetics, and prevention across DCEG. The Program is expected to increase cross-branch research initiatives, data sharing and analytics capacity.