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Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
February 7, 2000 |
Communication to Grantees
From G. Iris Obrams, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Director
Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program
The staff of the Epidemiology and Genetics Research Program (EGRP) wish
you a happy and successful year 2000.
This information is being sent to you by means of a new LISTSERV that
we will be using to communicate with you periodically. The service is
being launched with the e-mail addresses of active EGRP grantees for whom
we have addresses. You are automatically subscribed, but the list is open
to all researchers who would like to receive our news. Information on
how to subscribe is in item seven.
Myriad Genetics and NCI Forge Agreement on BRCA Gene Research Testing
Myriad Genetics, Inc., has entered into an agreement with the National
Cancer Institute (NCI) to provide testing of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes
at a reduced cost as a service to all National Institutes of Health (NIH)
scientists and grantees. The agreement greatly reduces the cost of sequencing
gene samples in research protocols, allowing scientists to more aggressively
pursue their investigations of these important susceptibility genes. The
agreement applies to genetic testing for research purposes only, not the
delivery of health care services to patients. Use of this mechanism is
not mandatory, nor in any sense is it a precondition for NCI sponsorship
of research activities. The mechanism may be considered whenever investigators
believe it to be advantageous and appropriate for their research programs.
If your institution has a pre-existing agreement with Myriad Genetics,
it can be amended to extend to you the same terms and conditions of the
agreement, including price. The agreement is not intended to impede collaborations
in any way. It places no limits on separate agreements between institutions
and private industry related to intellectual property or other important
rights. For further information, contact James Hanson, M.D., Acting Chief,
Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch (CGERB); telephone:
301-435-6612; fax: 301-435-5477; e-mail: jh350g@nih.gov.
Remember Gender and Minority Reporting Requirements
The Public Health Service (PHS) and NIH require certain reporting on
human subjects by gender and minority group in all research applications.
Briefly, statistics on gender and minority participation are required
for both planned and accrued study populations. Also required is information
on: enrollment as of date (i.e., date for which enrollment applies), the
status of enrollment (i.e., pending but not begun, open, or closed/completed),
and the dates enrollment began and ended. We appreciate that this may
mean additional work for you, but not providing the information, will
necessitate us contacting you to get the information and may slow or prevent
funding of an award.
The data are to be reported using the formats and tables provided in
application form PHS 398 (competing applications, latest version 4/98)
or PHS 2590 (non-competing applications, latest version 4/98). Complete
information is available at these Web sites:
NIH Grants Policy
Statement, NIH Forms
and Gender
and Minority Reporting.
New Program Announcements Issued
Since our last bulletin, three Program Announcements (PA) have been issued
in which EGRP is participating: Mechanisms Underlying Individual Variations
in Drug Responses, Occupational Safety and Health Research, and Research
Methods for Occupational Cancer. Refer to item six for more information
on these and other PAs. Later this year, NCI plans to issue a PA to encourage
investigators to submit proposals for studies to refine geographic information
systems (GIS) and related methodologies and to use the technology for
cancer research. The PA is to facilitate collaboration among researchers
to use GIS to explore leads identified by cancer mapping; foster appropriate
use of GIS for epidemiologic, behavioral, and cancer surveillance research;
and facilitate integration of types and levels of data in program planning,
implementation, and evaluation.
EGRP Workshop Held
Last November, EGRP had a program workshop with outside experts to help
prepare for the review of all NCI extramural programs. The team of ten
scientists from the fields of epidemiology, clinical cancer and genetic
epidemiology, and biobehavioral and communications research reviewed EGRP's
portfolio and scope of activities, and made some suggestions about future
directions. Nancy Mueller, Sc.D., Harvard School of Public Health, chaired
the workshop. The review was a great way to begin a new century - with
a fresh look at what we're doing and suggestions about how we can do even
more to support research in cancer epidemiology.
The review team was impressed with EGRP's portfolio, which when the information
was assembled and organized by research thrust, cancer site, and in other
ways, is even richer than they thought. The reviewers suggested making
this information available to investigators to consider when contemplating
new research ideas, and we will place the information on DCCPS' Web site
this year. The reviewers were also impressed with the variety of cohort
studies being supported, which number more than 100. DCCPS Deputy Director
Robert Hiatt, M.D., Ph.D., who convened the workshop, presented a concept
for increasing the power of what can be learned from cohort studies by
pooling their data in a consortium and collecting additional biospecimens
when necessary. The concept will undergo further discussion and receive
advisory input by the Cancer Genetics Working Group. A welcome suggestion
was that the Program staff try to do more to facilitate research that
brings together biobehavioral and epidemiologic cancer research. Both
fields can benefit more from one another, reviewers said. They also suggested
more attention be given to functional genomics, the effects of aging on
cancer development, exposures during infancy and childhood as risk factors
for adult cancers, and to life course research. Dr. Hiatt and DCCPS Director
Barbara Rimer, Dr.P.H., will be considering the reviewers' suggestions
and comments in the coming months.
EGRP supported more than 400 grantees in 1999 in the areas of clinical
and genetic epidemiology; diet, nutrition, and cancer; smoking and its
health effects; molecular/environmental epidemiology; infectious disease
and AIDS-malignancy epidemiology; geographic information systems (GIS);
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Technology Transfer
Research (STTR) Programs; and social and behavioral epidemiology research.
Staff Appointments Made
Sandra L. Melnick, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., has been named Chief of the Analytic
Epidemiology Research Branch (AERB). Dr. Melnick received her training
in both chronic and infectious disease epidemiology at the University
of Alabama at Birmingham and completed postdoctoral work in HIV/AIDS at
the University of Washington, Seattle. She has had more than a decade's
experience in the creation and management of multi-agency, multicenter
epidemiologic studies such as the NIH Women's Interagency HIV Study. The
primary focus of Dr. Melnick's research has been the natural history and
manifestations of HIV and associated cancers, particularly among women.
Since coming to the NCI from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID) and the NIH Office of AIDS Research in 1996, she has
served as Program Director for AIDS and Infectious Disease Epidemiology,
AERB, and for the past year, as acting chief of AERB.
A relatively new AERB staffer, Ms. Vaurice Starks, has assumed duties
as co-Program Director for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases with
Dr. Melnick. Ms. Starks has had several years' experience in the administration
and management of extramural research at the NIH, particularly in HIV/AIDS
and other infectious diseases. Her undergraduate degree is in microbiology,
and she is currently pursuing graduate studies in cancer epidemiology.
Previously, Ms. Starks worked at NIAID's Division of AIDS and NCI's Laboratory
of Tumor Cell Biology.
Carol Kasten-Sportes, M.D., joined CGERB in January to assist in development
of the Cancer Genetics Network (CGN) and related cancer genetics research
programs of the branch. Dr. Kasten-Sportes' background in clinical, biochemical,
and molecular genetics, and her past experience working in both intramural
and extramural research programs at NIH will be assets to the branch.
Most recently, she was Lecturer in Biochemical Genetics at the University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She completed her undergraduate and medical school
education, as well as a pediatric residency, at the University of Michigan.
At NIH, she worked in the Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Biology,
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK),
and the Division of Heart and Vascular Diseases, National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute (NHLBI). She may be reached by telephone at 301-402-8212;
fax: 301-435-5477; e-mail: ck168@nih.gov.
Bulletin Receipt Difficulties?
We try to keep news items brief in these EGRP bulletins in order to minimize
problems with compatibility among e-mail systems. If you have problems
receiving this communication, please contact Ms. Dorothy Sanders, telephone:
301-402-7199; e-mail: ds36u@nih.gov, and provide your fax number so that
we can get the information to you while we try do determine the problem.
If your e-mail address or other contact information has changed, please
contact Ms. Sanders.
Following is more news and information from EGRP:
- JNCI Monograph Published on Innovative Study Designs and Analytic
Approaches to Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer
- More Publications Available: Bypass Budget, U.S. Cancer Atlas, Secondhand
Smoke
- Research Funded Through RFA on Regional Variations in Breast Cancer
Rates
- Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer Research Funded Through RFA, Consortium
Formed
- Hepatitis C and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Research Funded Through RFA
6
- Update on Program Announcements Sponsored by EGRP
- New LISTSERV Launched for FRIENDS-OF-EGRP-L
- NCRR Issues RFA for Construction Support (Feb. 25 Deadline)
- EGRP Program Directors Available to Provide Advice (Contacts by Research
Topic)
________________
1. JNCI Monograph Published on Innovative Study Designs and Analytic
Approaches to Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer
The proceedings of the conference "Innovative Study Designs and Analytic
Approaches to the Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer" are now available as
a monograph of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (no.
26, 1999). The papers focus on discussion of the usefulness, practical
feasibility, potential advantages, and pitfalls of the most recently developed
study designs and analytic methods in cancer gene discovery and characterization,
and consideration of integrated approaches where possible. Four areas
are covered: gene discovery, gene characterization, integration of methodologies,
and evaluation of applications of approaches used in ongoing studies.
The 1998 conference was sponsored by NCI and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center and was held in Seattle, Wash. It was co-chaired by Lue
Ping Zhao, M.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Daniela Seminara,
Ph.D., M.P.H., CGERB and scientific editor of the monograph. Panel chairs
were: Daniel Schaid, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and Ken Buetow,
Ph.D., NCI, Rockville, Md., on gene discovery; Duncan Thomas, Ph.D., University
of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., on gene characterization;
and Alice Whittemore, Ph.D., Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., and
Dr. Zhao, on integration of methodologies.
To purchase the monograph, which is titled the same as the name of the
conference, contact Oxford University Press, 1-800-852-7323 (U.S.A. and
Canada), or 919-677-0977; fax: 919-677-1714. Outside the Americas, call
+44(0)1865 267907, or fax: +44 (0)1865 267485. (If you are a JNCI
subscriber, you may be able to obtain a copy without charge.)
2. More Publications Available: Bypass Budget, U.S. Cancer Atlas,
Secondhand Smoke
These three new NCI publications also may be of interest to you:
- The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research: A Budget Proposal for
Fiscal Year 2001, also known as "the Bypass Budget," is now available
on the Web and in print. The report describes ongoing research programs
conducted and supported by NCI, and the current distribution of monies
to these programs and among various funding mechanisms. Six Extraordinary
Opportunities for Investment - areas where focused research efforts
and increased resources can produce dramatic progress toward reducing
the burden, are described: (1) genes and the environment; (2) cancer
imaging; (3) defining the signatures of cancer cells: detection and
diagnosis; (4) molecular targets of prevention and treatment; (5) research
on tobacco and tobacco-related cancers; and (6) cancer communications.
Also, a "Challenge" section identifies areas of investment that will
enable translation of research findings from the laboratory into practical
solutions. Access the report. (The
Web-based version offers the advantage of links to related information.)
The report also may ordered via NCI's on-line Publications
Locator Service, or by calling the Cancer Information Service (CIS)
at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
- Atlas of Cancer Mortality in the United States, 1950-94 shows
the geographic patterns of cancer death rates in over 3,000 counties
across the country over more than four decades. Maps are presented for
both white and black populations. The atlas is available on the Web
as well as in print. With the Web version, the maps, text, tables, and
figures from the hard copy can be downloaded, and it is possible to
customize maps. Access the atlas,
with accompanying press release and question-and-answer series, or order
a printed copy via the Publications
Locator Service, or by calling the CIS at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
- The monograph Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco
Smoke: The Report of the California Environmental Protection Agency
links secondhand smoke not only to lung cancer, but with heart disease,
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), nasal sinus cancer, and a host
of other diseases in adults and children. This is the most comprehensive
report to be conducted on the health risks of secondhand smoke, also
known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The
monograph is available, along with some of NCI's earlier monographs
on smoking and tobacco control, or may be ordered via the Publications
Locator Service, or by calling the CIS at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
3. Research Funded Through RFA on Regional Variations in Breast Cancer
Rates
NCI, in collaboration with the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS), has funded five grants in response to the RFA on Regional
Variations in Breast Cancer Rates in the U.S. (CA-98-107). The principal
investigators are:
- James Goodwin, M.D., University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston,
Texas, is using SEER-Medicare linked data to examine variation in breast
cancer incidence, survival, and mortality by health service area within
NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program sites.
- Patrick Remington, M.D., M.P.H., University of Wisconsin Comprehensive
Cancer Center, Madison, Wisc., is conducting a population-based study
to investigate established and potential risk factors that may be responsible
for long-standing regional variations in breast cancer rates within
Wisconsin.
- Peggy Reynolds, Ph.D., California Department of Health Services, Emeryville,
Calif., is studying factors that may be responsible for regional differences
in breast cancer incidence rates within California. The project includes
use of a GIS and grouped data sources to evaluate the potential influences
of sociodemographic factors, environmental agents, and established risk
factors
- Joseph Sheehan, Ph.D., University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington,
Conn., is studying regional variations in breast cancer incidence rates
within Massachusetts to determine if the differences are random, or
if there are causal factors that may be identified.
- Tongzhang Zheng, M.D., Sc.D., Yale University, New Haven, Conn., is
conducting a case-control study in Connecticut to examine the association
between genetic variability in three major GST genes (GSTM1, GSTT1 and
GSTP1) and increased risk for breast cancer, and to determine if these
genes modify the association between environmental factors and risk
for the cancer.
4. Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer Research Funded Through RFA, Consortium
Formed
NCI, in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging (NIA), has
funded five grants in response to the RFA on Interdisciplinary Studies
in the Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer (CA-98-018). These projects, working
together as a consortium with three related NCI-funded projects, will
be cooperating on common research themes and infrastructure needs. The
principal investigators and projects funded under the RFA are:
- Marianne Berwick, Ph.D., M.P.H., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center,
New York, N.Y., is investigating melanoma as a model for genetic susceptibility
in a large, international population-based case-control study. Included
in the study are germline mutations and polymorphisms in the cell cycle
genes CDKN2A and CDK4, polymorphisms in the melanocortin receptor gene
(MC1R), DNA repair genes, and analysis of interactions among genetic
variants that are associated with the development of melanoma and their
associations with solar UV radiation.
- Jonine Bernstein, Ph.D., M.S., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New
York, N.Y., is investigating the interaction between of radiation exposure,
the ATM gene, and breast cancer. She is establishing a repository of
epidemiologic risk factor information and biologic specimens from women
with asynchronous bilateral breast cancer and women with unilateral
breast cancer, who will be ascertained through six population-based
tumor registries in the United States and Denmark.
- Sanford Markowitz, M.D., Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University and
University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio, is working to identify a gene
whose polymorphisms within the American population determine the risk
of developing colon polyps and cancers among average adults. This will
be accomplished by identifying and collecting DNA from a cohort of pairs
of siblings in which the two members of each sibship have each developed
colon neoplasia by age 65 or younger.
- Kathy Helzlsouer, M.D., M.H.S., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,
Baltimore, Md., is conducting a population-based cohort study to examine
the broad impact of genetic variation in candidate genes and their interaction
with environmental exposures on cancer incidence and survival specifically,
and health and aging more generally. Participants of two blood and data
specimen banks CLUE I and II comprise the Odyssey Cohort.
- Alice Whittemore, Ph.D., M.A., Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.,
is identifying 300 of the families who are participants in the Gilda
Radner Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry and have two or more verified
ovarian cancers in first- or second-degree relatives, for linkage analysis
and study of gene-environment interactions. Affected and unaffected
members of each identified family will be asked to provide epidemiological
and pedigree data and biological specimens for genetic analysis.
The three related research projects and their investigators are:
- Marshall W. Anderson, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati,
Ohio, is creating a registry of high-risk families for genetic linkage
studies of lung cancer, and will seek to identify a lung cancer susceptibility
locus (loci) through linkage analysis of familial lung cancer pedigrees.
- Robert Haile, Dr.P.H., University of Southern California, Los Angeles,
Calif., is conducting a large, international family study to determine
whether individuals who are heterozygotes for a mutation in the gene
identified as a cause of ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) have a higher than
expected risk of cancer, with a primary focus on breast cancer.
- Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., University of Michigan Health System,
Ann Arbor, Mich., is conducting a population-based case-control study
to examine the contribution of genetic sequence variation and environmental
factors to the development of colorectal cancer in an Ashkenazi Jewish
population. The overall objective is to examine how environmental factors
may modify genetic risk.
5. Hepatitis C and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Research Funded Through
RFA
NCI, in collaboration with NIDDK, has funded two grants in response to
the RFA on Hepatitis C: Natural History, Pathogenesis, Therapy and Prevention
(DK-98-017). The principal investigators are:
- Christopher Loffredo, Ph.D., University of Maryland, Baltimore, Md.,
is studying the interrelationships of viral, genetic, and environmental
risk factors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and non Hodgkin's
lymphoma. This project has an international component which includes
study participants from two medical centers in Cairo, Egypt.
- Donald Strickland, M.D., St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis,
Tenn., has assembled a scientific team of collaborators to conduct a
longitudinal natural history study of hepatitis C infection in a cohort
of childhood cancer survivors. The overall objective of this research
is to define the risk of progression to clinically significant liver
disease in this cohort.
6. Update on Program Announcements (PA) Sponsored by EGRP
Since our last bulletin, three new PAs have been issued that NCI is cosponsoring
through EGRP:
In addition, EGRP continues to sponsor the following PAs:
7. New LISTSERV Launched for FRIENDS-OF-NCI-EGRP-L
We've established a LISTSERV called "FRIENDS-OF-NCI EGRP-L" through which
to send you EGRP bulletins and announcements. This is the first news bulletin
to be sent via the new LISTSERV. All EGRP active grantees for whom we
have e-mail addresses have been placed in the LISTSERV, but membership
is open to all researchers who would like to be included. You are welcome
to tell others about "FRIENDS." To subscribe, access the NIH
LISTSERV. Click the "Browse" button, and click on "Access unlisted
lists." Type "FRIENDS-OF-NCI-EGRP-L" and follow the prompts.
8. NCRR Issues RFA for Construction Support
NIH's National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) has issued a RFA
for support of construction and renovation of facilities for biomedical
and behavioral research and research training. The needs of smaller and
developing institutions will be given special consideration. The application
receipt date is February 25, 2000. NCI is not involved with this RFA,
but we thought it may be of interest to you and your institution.
9. EGRP Program Directors Available to Provide Advice
Our Program Directors are available to provide advise and consult with
you about NIH and NCI funding and scientific review policies and procedures,
preparation of grant applications, and about funding instruments that
relate to EGRP's mission. Your contacts according to research topic are:
Analytic Epidemiology Research Branch (AERB)
Dr. Sandra Melnick, Branch Chief
Telephone: 301 435-4014; fax: 301-402-4279; email: sm33k@nih.gov
- Biometry
Mr. Burdette Erickson
telephone: 301-435-4913
fax: 301-402-4279
e-mail: be13u@nih.gov
- Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer
Dr. A.R. (Joe) Patel
telephone: 301-435-4910
fax: 301-402-4279
e-mail: ap39f@nih.gov
- Geographic Information Systems as Tools in Cancer Epidemiology
Mr. Burdette Erickson
telephone: 301-435-4913
fax: 301-402-4279
e-mail: be13u@nih.gov
- Infectious Disease and AIDS-Malignancy Epidemiology Programs
Ms. Vaurice Starks
telephone: 301-402-9375
fax: 301-402-4279
e-mail: vs38j@nih.gov
- Molecular/Environmental Epidemiology Programs
Dr. Kumiko Iwamoto
telephone: 301-435-4911
fax: 301-402-4279
e-mail: ki6n@nih.gov
- Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Technology
Transfer Research (STTR) Programs
Mr. Burdette Erickson
telephone: 301-435-4913
fax: 301-402-4279
e-mail: be13u@nih.gov
- Tobacco Research
Dr. A.R. (Joe) Patel
telephone: 301-435-4910
fax: 301-402-4279
e-mail: ap39f@nih.gov
Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch (CGERB)
Dr. James Hanson, Acting Branch Chief
telephone: 301-435-6612;
fax: 301-435-5477;
e-mail: jh350g@nih.gov
- Cancer Genetics Network
Dr. James Hanson;
telephone: 301-435-6612;
fax: 301-435-5477;
e-mail: jh350g@nih.gov, and
Dr. Susan Nayfield
telephone: 301-594-7344
fax: 301-435-5477
e-mail: sn15c@nih.gov
- Clinical Epidemiology Program
Dr. Susan Nayfield
telephone: 301-594-7344
fax: 301-435-5477
e-mail: sn15c@nih.gov
- Genetic Epidemiology Program and Cancer Family Registries for Breast
and Colon Cancer
Dr. Daniela Seminara
telephone: 301-496-9600
fax: 301-435-5477
e-mail: ds79k@nih.gov
- Clinical, Social, and Behavioral Epidemiology Research in Genetics
Dr. Susan Nayfield
telephone: 301-594-7344
fax: 301-435-5477
e-mail: sn15c@nih.gov
(You may be referred to Dr. Michael Stefanek, Basic Biobehavioral Research
Branch, also in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
(DCCPS); telephone: 301-496-8776; fax: 301-435-7547; e-mail: ms496r@nih.gov.)
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