Epidemiology

The Cancer Training Program in the Department of Epidemiology is home to two NCI-funded training grants. The first, a T32 program, is a collaboration among the School’s Departments of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health Sciences. The second is an R25 program to train pre- and postdoctoral fellows in cancer-related population science. The two programs include a total of fourteen trainees, half predoctoral and half postdoctoral, all engaged in cancer-related studies and research. Weekly seminars bring all the participants together for presentations by the trainees, and the diversity of the group leads to significant cross-fertilization and sharing of ideas.

Research projects include studies in molecular, lifecourse, and global cancer epidemiology; the projects capitalize on the resources of numerous local and international epidemiologic studies that include risk-factor data on nearly 1,000,000 individuals and large biorepositories of blood, urine, and tissue specimens of breast, lung, liver, and several other cancers. A large research group is also studying health services and outcomes research in cancer, racial disparities, and treatment issues. Several faculty members work on cancer prevention, including lifestyle and vitamin supplements, as well as cancer survivorship and palliative care. Emphasis is placed on learning clinical and pathologic principles of cancer, as well as an appreciation of advanced biostatistical methods.