Debra T. Silverman, Sc.D., Sc.M.

Dr. Debra Silverman dedicated her career to investigating occupational, environmental, and host factors associated with cancers of the bladder, lung, and pancreas. She has directed highly influential epidemiologic studies, yielding definitive answers on the causes of these malignancies. Her work resulted in the classification of diesel exhaust as a human lung carcinogen, which affected regulatory actions around the world, and identified arsenic contamination in drinking water as the cause of excess bladder cancer mortality in New England, leading to remediation efforts. She received numerous awards, including the Harvard School of Public Health Alumni Award of Merit for the scientific importance and public health impact of her research; the PHS Special Recognition Award for research on environmental determinants of bladder and other cancers; the American Occupational Medical Association Merit in Authorship Award for her contributions to a paper on a job/exposure linkage system; the NIH Director’s Award, the NCI Special Act Award, the NIOSH Alice Hamilton Science Award for Occupational Safety and Health, and the British Occupational Hygiene Society Award in recognition of her work on the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study; the NIH Merit Award for her contributions to pancreatic cancer research; and the DCEG Exemplary Service and Investigator Award. She was a finalist for the NIOSH Alice Hamilton Science Award for Occupational Safety and Health for her research on diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer in truck drivers. Dr. Silverman is an elected member of the American Epidemiological Society and a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology.

Dr. Silverman is a former senior investigator in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB) within the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI. She received an Sc.D. in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and an Sc.M. in biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland. She joined the NCI as a biostatistician in 1972 and has served as a cancer epidemiologist since 1983. Dr. Silverman retired after over 50 years of service and 16 years leading OEEB as Director, but will continue to serve the Division as a Scientist Emerita.