Montserrat García-Closas, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Senior Investigator

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

NCI/DCEG

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9609 Medical Center Drive
Room SG/7E342
Rockville, MD 20850

240-276-7150

montserrat.garcia-closas@nih.gov

Research Topics

Dr. Montserrat García-Closas investigates the causes of cancer with the aim of understanding carcinogenic processes and improving risk assessment for precision prevention. She carries out a multidisciplinary research program on the molecular epidemiology of breast cancer and has made important contributions to the understanding of genetic susceptibility, etiologic heterogeneity and risk prediction for this malignancy. She is the principal investigator (PI) of the Polish Breast Cancer Study, the Ghana Breast Health Study, the Confluence Project and Connect for Cancer Prevention, a new prospective cohort study to study cancer etiology and its outcomes. Dr. Garcia-Closas also contributes to molecular epidemiology studies of bladder cancer.

Dr. García-Closas is a founder member of several large consortia. She served as the Chair of the Coordinating Committee for the International Consortium of Case-Control Studies of Bladder Cancer from 2005-2011, and since 2006 she co-Chairs the Pathology and Survival Working Group of the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). Dr. Garcia-Closas is also co-leading the EU-funded Breast CAncer STratification (BCAST) Project within BCAC. She is currently leading the Confluence Project that brings together multiple consortia for multi-ancestry genetic susceptibility studies of female and male breast cancer. She is an active member of the NCI Cohort Consortium, where she co-leads the U01 Multi-factorial Breast Cancer Risk Prediction Accounting for Ethnic and Tumor Diversity to develop a comprehensive tool to predict breast cancer risk, overall and by sub-types, across major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S.

Biography

Dr. García-Closas received her M.D. from the University of Barcelona, Spain, a Master of Public Health in quantitative methods, and a Doctorate of Public Health in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. She joined DCEG in 1996 as a postdoctoral fellow, became a tenure-track investigator in 1999 and a tenured senior investigator in 2007. From 2008-2010, she was a visiting scientist at the Department of Oncology and Strangeways Laboratory, Cambridge University, U.K. In 2010, she became a Professor of Epidemiology at the Division of Genetic and Epidemiology of the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), University of London, U.K. In 2015, she returned to DCEG as Deputy Director and senior investigator. She was appointed Interim Branch Chief for the Integrative Tumor Epidemiology Branch (ITEB) from 2016-2020, and in 2020 she was appointed Director of the Trans-Divisional Research Program (TDRP).

As Deputy Director for the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), and Director of the TDRP, Dr. García-Closas focuses not only on her own research interests, but also on the management of the broad scientific program of the Division.

Selected Publications

  1. García-Closas M, Malats N, Silverman D, Dosemeci M, Kogevinas M, Hein DW, Tardón A, Serra C, Carrato A, García-Closas R, Lloreta J, Castaño-Vinyals G, Yeager M, Welch R, Chanock S, Chatterjee N, Wacholder S, Samanic C, Torà M, Fernández F, Real FX, Rothman N. NAT2 slow acetylation, GSTM1 null genotype, and risk of bladder cancer: results from the Spanish Bladder Cancer Study and meta-analyses. Lancet. 2005;366(9486):649-59.
  2. Yang XR, Chang-Claude J, Goode EL, Couch FJ, Nevanlinna H, Milne RL, Gaudet M, Schmidt MK, Broeks A, Cox A, Fasching PA, Hein R, Spurdle AB, Blows F, Driver K, Flesch-Janys D, Heinz J, Sinn P, Vrieling A, Heikkinen T, Aittomäki K, Heikkilä P, Blomqvist C, Lissowska J, Peplonska B, Chanock S, Figueroa J, Brinton L, Hall P, Czene K, Humphreys K, Darabi H, Liu J, Van 't Veer LJ, van Leeuwen FE, Andrulis IL, Glendon G, Knight JA, Mulligan AM, O'Malley FP, Weerasooriya N, John EM, Beckmann MW, Hartmann A, Weihbrecht SB, Wachter DL, Jud SM, Loehberg CR, Baglietto L, English DR, Giles GG, McLean CA, Severi G, Lambrechts D, Vandorpe T, Weltens C, Paridaens R, Smeets A, Neven P, Wildiers H, Wang X, Olson JE, Cafourek V, Fredericksen Z, Kosel M, Vachon C, Cramp HE, Connley D, Cross SS, Balasubramanian SP, Reed MW, Dörk T, Bremer M, Meyer A, Karstens JH, Ay A, Park-Simon TW, Hillemanns P, Arias Pérez JI, Menéndez Rodríguez P, Zamora P, Benítez J, Ko YD, Fischer HP, Hamann U, Pesch B, Brüning T, Justenhoven C, Brauch H, Eccles DM, Tapper WJ, Gerty SM, Sawyer EJ, Tomlinson IP, Jones A, Kerin M, Miller N, McInerney N, Anton-Culver H, Ziogas A, Shen CY, Hsiung CN, Wu PE, Yang SL, Yu JC, Chen ST, Hsu GC, Haiman CA, Henderson BE, Le Marchand L, Kolonel LN, Lindblom A, Margolin S, Jakubowska A, Lubiński J, Huzarski T, Byrski T, Górski B, Gronwald J, Hooning MJ, Hollestelle A, van den Ouweland AM, Jager A, Kriege M, Tilanus-Linthorst MM, Collée M, Wang-Gohrke S, Pylkäs K, Jukkola-Vuorinen A, Mononen K, Grip M, Hirvikoski P, Winqvist R, Mannermaa A, Kosma VM, Kauppinen J, Kataja V, Auvinen P, Soini Y, Sironen R, Bojesen SE, Ørsted DD, Kaur-Knudsen D, Flyger H, Nordestgaard BG, Holland H, Chenevix-Trench G, Manoukian S, Barile M, Radice P, Hankinson SE, Hunter DJ, Tamimi R, Sangrajrang S, Brennan P, McKay J, Odefrey F, Gaborieau V, Devilee P, Huijts PE, Tollenaar RA, Seynaeve C, Dite GS, Apicella C, Hopper JL, Hammet F, Tsimiklis H, Smith LD, Southey MC, Humphreys MK, Easton D, Pharoah P, Sherman ME, Garcia-Closas M. Associations of breast cancer risk factors with tumor subtypes: a pooled analysis from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium studies. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2011;103(3):250-63.
  3. Garcia-Closas M, Couch FJ, Lindstrom S, Michailidou K, Schmidt MK, Brook MN, Orr N, Rhie SK, Riboli E, Feigelson HS, Le Marchand L, Buring JE, Eccles D, Miron P, Fasching PA, Brauch H, Chang-Claude J, Carpenter J, Godwin AK, Nevanlinna H, Giles GG, Cox A, Hopper JL, Bolla MK, Wang Q, Dennis J, Dicks E, Howat WJ, Schoof N, Bojesen SE, Lambrechts D, Broeks A, Andrulis IL, Guénel P, Burwinkel B, Sawyer EJ, Hollestelle A, Fletcher O, Winqvist R, Brenner H, Mannermaa A, Hamann U, Meindl A, Lindblom A, Zheng W, Devillee P, Goldberg MS, Lubinski J, Kristensen V, Swerdlow A, Anton-Culver H, Dörk T, Muir K, Matsuo K, Wu AH, Radice P, Teo SH, Shu XO, Blot W, Kang D, Hartman M, Sangrajrang S, Shen CY, Southey MC, Park DJ, Hammet F, Stone J, Veer LJ, Rutgers EJ, Lophatananon A, Stewart-Brown S, Siriwanarangsan P, Peto J, Schrauder MG, Ekici AB, Beckmann MW, Dos Santos Silva I, Johnson N, Warren H, Tomlinson I, Kerin MJ, Miller N, Marme F, Schneeweiss A, Sohn C, Truong T, Laurent-Puig P, Kerbrat P, Nordestgaard BG, Nielsen SF, Flyger H, Milne RL, Perez JI, Menéndez P, Müller H, Arndt V, Stegmaier C, Lichtner P, Lochmann M, Justenhoven C, Ko YD, Gene ENvironmental Interaction and breast CAncer (GENICA) Network., Muranen TA, Aittomäki K, Blomqvist C, Greco D, Heikkinen T, Ito H, Iwata H, Yatabe Y, Antonenkova NN, Margolin S, Kataja V, Kosma VM, Hartikainen JM, Balleine R, kConFab Investigators., Tseng CC, Berg DV, Stram DO, Neven P, Dieudonné AS, Leunen K, Rudolph A, Nickels S, Flesch-Janys D, Peterlongo P, Peissel B, Bernard L, Olson JE, Wang X, Stevens K, Severi G, Baglietto L, McLean C, Coetzee GA, Feng Y, Henderson BE, Schumacher F, Bogdanova NV, Labrèche F, Dumont M, Yip CH, Taib NA, Cheng CY, Shrubsole M, Long J, Pylkäs K, Jukkola-Vuorinen A, Kauppila S, Knight JA, Glendon G, Mulligan AM, Tollenaar RA, Seynaeve CM, Kriege M, Hooning MJ, van den Ouweland AM, van Deurzen CH, Lu W, Gao YT, Cai H, Balasubramanian SP, Cross SS, Reed MW, Signorello L, Cai Q, Shah M, Miao H, Chan CW, Chia KS, Jakubowska A, Jaworska K, Durda K, Hsiung CN, Wu PE, Yu JC, Ashworth A, Jones M, Tessier DC, González-Neira A, Pita G, Alonso MR, Vincent D, Bacot F, Ambrosone CB, Bandera EV, John EM, Chen GK, Hu JJ, Rodriguez-Gil JL, Bernstein L, Press MF, Ziegler RG, Millikan RM, Deming-Halverson SL, Nyante S, Ingles SA, Waisfisz Q, Tsimiklis H, Makalic E, Schmidt D, Bui M, Gibson L, Müller-Myhsok B, Schmutzler RK, Hein R, Dahmen N, Beckmann L, Aaltonen K, Czene K, Irwanto A, Liu J, Turnbull C, Familial Breast Cancer Study (FBCS)., Rahman N, Meijers-Heijboer H, Uitterlinden AG, Rivadeneira F, Australian Breast Cancer Tissue Bank (ABCTB) Investigators., Olswold C, Slager S, Pilarski R, Ademuyiwa F, Konstantopoulou I, Martin NG, Montgomery GW, Slamon DJ, Rauh C, Lux MP, Jud SM, Bruning T, Weaver J, Sharma P, Pathak H, Tapper W, Gerty S, Durcan L, Trichopoulos D, Tumino R, Peeters PH, Kaaks R, Campa D, Canzian F, Weiderpass E, Johansson M, Khaw KT, Travis R, Clavel-Chapelon F, Kolonel LN, Chen C, Beck A, Hankinson SE, Berg CD, Hoover RN, Lissowska J, Figueroa JD, Chasman DI, Gaudet MM, Diver WR, Willett WC, Hunter DJ, Simard J, Benitez J, Dunning AM, Sherman ME, Chenevix-Trench G, Chanock SJ, Hall P, Pharoah PD, Vachon C, Easton DF, Haiman CA, Kraft P. Genome-wide association studies identify four ER negative-specific breast cancer risk loci. Nat Genet. 2013;45(4):392-8, 398e1-2.
  4. Garcia-Closas M, Rothman N, Figueroa JD, Prokunina-Olsson L, Han SS, Baris D, Jacobs EJ, Malats N, De Vivo I, Albanes D, Purdue MP, Sharma S, Fu YP, Kogevinas M, Wang Z, Tang W, Tardón A, Serra C, Carrato A, García-Closas R, Lloreta J, Johnson A, Schwenn M, Karagas MR, Schned A, Andriole G Jr, Grubb R 3rd, Black A, Gapstur SM, Thun M, Diver WR, Weinstein SJ, Virtamo J, Hunter DJ, Caporaso N, Landi MT, Hutchinson A, Burdett L, Jacobs KB, Yeager M, Fraumeni JF Jr, Chanock SJ, Silverman DT, Chatterjee N. Common genetic polymorphisms modify the effect of smoking on absolute risk of bladder cancer. Cancer Res. 2013;73(7):2211-20.
  5. Mavaddat N, Pharoah PD, Michailidou K, Tyrer J, Brook MN, Bolla MK, Wang Q, Dennis J, Dunning AM, Shah M, Luben R, Brown J, Bojesen SE, Nordestgaard BG, Nielsen SF, Flyger H, Czene K, Darabi H, Eriksson M, Peto J, Dos-Santos-Silva I, Dudbridge F, Johnson N, Schmidt MK, Broeks A, Verhoef S, Rutgers EJ, Swerdlow A, Ashworth A, Orr N, Schoemaker MJ, Figueroa J, Chanock SJ, Brinton L, Lissowska J, Couch FJ, Olson JE, Vachon C, Pankratz VS, Lambrechts D, Wildiers H, Van Ongeval C, van Limbergen E, Kristensen V, Grenaker Alnæs G, Nord S, Borresen-Dale AL, Nevanlinna H, Muranen TA, Aittomäki K, Blomqvist C, Chang-Claude J, Rudolph A, Seibold P, Flesch-Janys D, Fasching PA, Haeberle L, Ekici AB, Beckmann MW, Burwinkel B, Marme F, Schneeweiss A, Sohn C, Trentham-Dietz A, Newcomb P, Titus L, Egan KM, Hunter DJ, Lindstrom S, Tamimi RM, Kraft P, Rahman N, Turnbull C, Renwick A, Seal S, Li J, Liu J, Humphreys K, Benitez J, Pilar Zamora M, Arias Perez JI, Menéndez P, Jakubowska A, Lubinski J, Jaworska-Bieniek K, Durda K, Bogdanova NV, Antonenkova NN, Dörk T, Anton-Culver H, Neuhausen SL, Ziogas A, Bernstein L, Devilee P, Tollenaar RA, Seynaeve C, van Asperen CJ, Cox A, Cross SS, Reed MW, Khusnutdinova E, Bermisheva M, Prokofyeva D, Takhirova Z, Meindl A, Schmutzler RK, Sutter C, Yang R, Schürmann P, Bremer M, Christiansen H, Park-Simon TW, Hillemanns P, Guénel P, Truong T, Menegaux F, Sanchez M, Radice P, Peterlongo P, Manoukian S, Pensotti V, Hopper JL, Tsimiklis H, Apicella C, Southey MC, Brauch H, Brüning T, Ko YD, Sigurdson AJ, Doody MM, Hamann U, Torres D, Ulmer HU, Försti A, Sawyer EJ, Tomlinson I, Kerin MJ, Miller N, Andrulis IL, Knight JA, Glendon G, Marie Mulligan A, Chenevix-Trench G, Balleine R, Giles GG, Milne RL, McLean C, Lindblom A, Margolin S, Haiman CA, Henderson BE, Schumacher F, Le Marchand L, Eilber U, Wang-Gohrke S, Hooning MJ, Hollestelle A, van den Ouweland AM, Koppert LB, Carpenter J, Clarke C, Scott R, Mannermaa A, Kataja V, Kosma VM, Hartikainen JM, Brenner H, Arndt V, Stegmaier C, Karina Dieffenbach A, Winqvist R, Pylkäs K, Jukkola-Vuorinen A, Grip M, Offit K, Vijai J, Robson M, Rau-Murthy R, Dwek M, Swann R, Annie Perkins K, Goldberg MS, Labrèche F, Dumont M, Eccles DM, Tapper WJ, Rafiq S, John EM, Whittemore AS, Slager S, Yannoukakos D, Toland AE, Yao S, Zheng W, Halverson SL, González-Neira A, Pita G, Rosario Alonso M, Álvarez N, Herrero D, Tessier DC, Vincent D, Bacot F, Luccarini C, Baynes C, Ahmed S, Maranian M, Healey CS, Simard J, Hall P, Easton DF, Garcia-Closas M. Prediction of breast cancer risk based on profiling with common genetic variants. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2015;107(5).

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This page was last updated on Wednesday, January 19, 2022