epidemiology

Decoding Cancer’s Genetic Blueprint

IRP’s Stephen Chanock Elected to National Academy of Medicine

Dr. Stephen Chanock

IRP senior investigator Stephen J. Chanock, M.D., grew up on the NIH campus, spending many weekends hanging around his father’s lab. Robert M. Chanock, M.D., worked at NIH for 50 years, during which he identified the human respiratory syncytial virus and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) for his discoveries. Now, following in his dad’s footsteps, the younger Dr. Chanock has been elected to the NAM for his contributions to our understanding of how inherited genetic variation and environmental factors contribute to the risk of developing cancer.

Welcoming NIH’s Four Newest Lasker Scholars

IRP Program Boosts Careers of Promising Physician-Scientists

clockwise from top-left: Dr. Lisa McReynolds, Dr. Chris Grunseich, Dr. Samira Sadowski, and Dr. Andrea Lisco

Many scientists have a seemingly single-minded focus on their research, but there are considerable benefits to having one foot in the lab and the other in the clinic. Working with patients gives researchers a daily reminder of the people they are working so hard to help and allows them to investigate the effects of promising but still experimental treatments in willing volunteers. That’s one of the main reasons why the IRP’s Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program is designed to accelerate the careers of promising early-career physician-scientists. 

This year, four NIH researchers began receiving support from the Lasker program, allowing them to dramatically expand their cutting-edge research. From investigating the roots of muscle-weakening genetic conditions to probing the mysteries of rare, hormone-producing tumors, these individuals will use the leg up provided by the Lasker Program to make new discoveries that could one day improve their patients’ lives. Read on to learn more about the exciting research the latest crop of Lasker Scholars is pursuing.

Comparing Two Ways to Blast Tumors

IRP Study Is Examining the Long-Term Effects of Treatments for Children With Cancer

cancer cell being destroyed by a high-energy beam

Not long after German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen identified X-rays in 1895, doctors began using them to treat cancer. They soon realized, however, that this new ‘radium’ therapy — the forebearer of modern-day radiation therapy — could also cause cancer. Today, we know that radiation therapy poses much greater risks to children than adults because their cells are dividing more rapidly than those of adults, making the cells more sensitive to radiation. Children also have more years of life ahead of them during which a cancer instigated by their treatment might develop.

Symposium Spotlights Promising Female Scientists

Annual Event Recognizes Three Young Researchers’ Scientific Accomplishments

Dr. Jennifer Zink

For decades, NIH has been working to solve the problems that have long stymied the careers of many young women interested in becoming scientists. As that essential effort continues, it’s important to shine a spotlight on some of the talented female researchers who are contributing to our knowledge of human health and biology right now.

One way the IRP does that is through the annual NIH Women Scientists Advisors (WSA) Scholar Award Symposium, which each year gives three early-career female scientists working in NIH labs the opportunity to present their work to the entire IRP community. At this year’s symposium, which took place April 29, the most recent group to be named WSA Scholars by NIH’s Women Scientists Advisors committee discussed their efforts to probe pollution’s impact on health, improve immunotherapy for cancer, and examine how screen time affects kids. Read on to learn more about their award-winning research.

Gender Differences in Emotional Responses May Start in the Womb

Research Suggests Hormonal Exposures In-Utero Influence Mental Health

illustration of connections in the brains of a man and a woman

Over the past few decades, broad stereotypes about how men and women behave have given way to a more nuanced understanding of the many factors that contribute to sex differences. While culture and environment undoubtedly play a huge role, it’s becoming increasingly clear that biological influences shape male and female brains differently starting at the very beginning of life. Recent IRP research sheds additional light on this age-old question by revealing that women exposed to higher levels of certain hormones in-utero had emotional responses to the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic that more closely matched those of men.

Breaking Down the Meat We Eat

IRP Research Explores the Health Effects of Specific Dietary Components

examining a raw steak with a magnifying glass

When Hippocrates said, “Let food by thy medicine and medicine thy food,” he was on to something. That’s why National Nutrition Month, celebrated every March, calls attention to the important link between health and diet. To commemorate Nutrition Month this year, we spoke with IRP senior investigator Rashmi Sinha, Ph.D., about her efforts to tease out not only which foods help or harm out bodies, but why they do so.

Determining the health effects of different foods has long been a holy grail in research, but with so many variables, our knowledge remains vague at best. Some foods — processed meats, certain fats, sugar — clearly have negative effects when eaten in large amounts, while others like green vegetables and legumes are helpful. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unknowns in between.

The Heartache of Discrimination

Allana T. Forde Unpacks Racial Disparities in Heart Health

black man having chest pains

Discrimination comes in many forms, and people experience it and cope with it in different ways. The accumulation of stress arising from discrimination can lead to wear and tear on the body in a process called ‘weathering’, which ultimately harms cardiovascular health. This is one of the key reasons Black Americans have a higher rate of cardiovascular disease than all other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. and are much more likely to die from cardiovascular conditions than other racial and ethnic groups.

NIH Stadtman Investigator Allana T. Forde, Ph.D., M.P.H., hopes to reduce these startling health disparities by examining how psychosocial stressors, including discrimination, affect the cardiovascular health of subgroups of the Black population, including Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, and African American individuals. She also endeavors to identify the protective and adaptive factors that impact the relationship between discrimination and cardiovascular health. In honor of American Heart Month, I spoke with Dr. Forde about her research on discrimination and cardiovascular health in Black Americans, as well as how her research might improve cardiovascular health and inform cardiovascular disease prevention strategies.

Delivering on Maternal Health

IRP’s Katherine Grantz Develops Tools to Predict Pregnancy Complications

pregnant woman in hospital

Advancements in medicine have reduced the risk of childbearing dramatically, but rates of maternal death have been creeping up in recent years. The reasons are varied. Older first-time parents, greater health concerns like obesity and hypertension, and lack of access to maternity care are important factors.

In observance of Maternal Health Awareness Day on January 23, we spoke with Katherine Grantz, M.D., a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and senior investigator at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). She is trying to improve health for pregnant people and their babies experiencing complications like gestational diabetes and hypertension, as well as reduce preterm deliveries and unnecessary C-sections.

Postdoc Profile: Where the Climate Meets Community Health

Dr. Richard Remigio Studies the Health Repercussions of Changing Environmental Conditions

Dr. Richard Remigio

Summer 2023 started off on an ominous note. On June 7th, New Yorkers woke up to a deep orange skyline over Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, resembling a scene from a dystopian novel. Air quality indices there reached ‘code maroon,’ warning that being outdoors was dangerous even for healthy people. Americans and Europeans would subsequently endure some of the highest summer temperatures on record, and in August, wildfires devastated the Hawaiian island of Maui.

These and many other recent events have made it clear how much climate change already affects people’s lives. One of the people trying to combat those consequences is Richard Remigio, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Examining Genetic Influences on Lung Cancer

IRP Research Investigates Disease’s Roots Beyond Smoking

magnifying glass examining DNA in the lungs

Today is World Lung Cancer Day, bringing increased awareness to a disease most commonly associated with smoking tobacco products. Yet even though cigarette smoking rates have decreased over the past few decades, this deadly disease remains responsible for more deaths than any other type of cancer — more than 125,000 per year in the U.S. alone. In fact, between 10 and 25 percent of lung cancers occur in people who never smoked.

IRP Stadtman Investigator Jiyeon Choi, Ph.D., has always been curious about how our DNA influences the traits we have and our risk for diseases. When it comes to genes’ contribution to cancer risk, the stakes are particularly high, but Dr. Choi noticed a gap in research when it came to understanding the role genetic variation plays in lung cancer risk. She and her research team aim to fill this gap using a battery of high-tech genomic studies to root out the genes and molecular processes that make some people more susceptible to the disease.