Daniela Seminara, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Senior Scientist and Scientific Consortia Coordinator

Photo of Daniela Seminara

Contact Information

National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute
Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences
9609 Medical Center Drive, Rm. 4E130, MSC 9763
Bethesda, MD 20892
(For express delivery, use Rockville, MD 20850)

telephone: (240) 276-6748
fax: (240) 276-7921
e-mail: seminard@mail.nih.gov

Interest Areas

Genomic epidemiology of cancer, including gene-gene and gene-environment interactions; Application of genomic epidemiology to public health, disease prevention, and therapy; Cross-disciplinary knowledge synthesis in cancer and other complex diseases; Familial cancer registries; Collaborative research through interdisciplinary cancer consortia, including data sharing policies

Degrees

Ph.D. - Molecular Biology
University of Rome

M.P.H. - Epidemiology and Public Policy
University of California, Berkeley

Biography

Dr. Seminara is Senior Scientist and Scientific Consortia Coordinator for the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program (EGRP). As EGRP's Scientific Consortia Coordinator, Dr. Seminara has designed, implemented and fostered a thriving network of more than 40 interdisciplinary and translational cancer epidemiology consortia with national and international reach. She designed and implemented the Breast and Colon Cancer Family Registries and made substantial contributions to the development of NCI and NIH policies related to genome-wide association studies (GWAS), such as data sharing. Dr. Seminara co-leads the Genetic Associations and Mechanisms in Oncology (GAME-ON): A Post-Genome Wide Association Initiative, a multi-million dollar initiative aimed at the translation of genomic data into preventive and therapeutic applications.

Dr. Seminara's recent membership in NCI and NIH committees include NCI's Biorepository Coordinating CommitteeExternal Web Site Policy, the NIH Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI) Genetics ProgramExternal Web Site Policy, the Board of Scientific Governors for the Center for Inherited Disease ResearchExternal Web Site Policy, the Human Variome ProjectExternal Web Site Policy, and the Public Health Genomics Interest Group (PHGIG).

Dr. Seminara has more than 20 years of experience in NIH's intramural and extramural programs and she initiated NCI's extramural genetic epidemiology program, for which she received an NIH Merit Award. Before coming to NIH, Dr. Seminara was Associate Professor and Associate Director for the Center for Inborn Metabolic Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics of the Catholic University Medical School in Rome.

Selected Publications

West C, Rosenstein BS, Alsner J, Azria D, Barnett G, Begg A, Bentzen S, Burnet N, Chang-Claude J, Chuang E, Coles C, De Ruyck K, De Ruysscher D, Dunning A, Elliott R, Fachal L, Hall J, Haustermans K, Herskind C, Hoelscher T, Imai T, Iwakawa M, Jones D, Kulich C; EQUAL-ESTRO, Langendijk JH, O'Neils P, Ozsahin M, Parliament M, Polanski A, Rosenstein B, Seminara D, Symonds P, Talbot C, Thierens H, Vega A, West C, Yarnold J. Establishment of a Radiogenomics ConsortiumExternal Web Site Policy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 Apr;76(5):1295-6.

Liu P, Yang P, Wu X, Vikis HG, Lu Y, Wang Y, Schwartz AG, Pinney SM, de Andrade M, Gazdar A, Gaba C, Mandal D, Lee J, Kupert E, Seminara D, Minna J, Bailey-Wilson JE, Spitz M, Amos CI, Anderson MW, You M. A second genetic variant on chromosome 15q24-25.1 associates with lung cancerExternal Web Site Policy. Cancer Res. 2010 Apr 15;70(8):3128-35.

Kohonen-Corish MR, Al-Aama JY, Auerbach AD, Axton M, Barash CI, Bernstein I, Béroud C, Burn J, Cunningham F, Cutting GR, den Dunnen JT, Greenblatt MS, Kaput J, Katz M, Lindblom A, Macrae F, Maglott D, Möslein G, Povey S, Ramesar R, Richards S, Seminara D, Sobrido MJ, Tavtigian S, Taylor G, Vihinen M, Winship I, Cotton RG; Human Variome Project Meeting. How to catch all those mutations--the report of the third Human Variome Project Meeting, UNESCO Paris, May 2010External Web Site Policy. Hum Mutat. 2010 Dec;31(12):1374-81.

Janssens AC, Ioannidis JP, Bedrosian S, Boffetta P, Dolan SM, Dowling N, Fortier I, Freedman AN, Grimshaw JM, Gulcher J, Gwinn M, Hlatky MA, Janes H, Kraft P, Melillo S, O'Donnell CJ, Pencina MJ, Ransohoff D, Schully SD, Seminara D, Winn DM, Wright CF, van Duijn CM, Little J, Khoury MJ. Strengthening the reporting of Genetic RIsk Prediction Studies (GRIPS): explanation and elaborationExternal Web Site Policy. J Clin Epidemiol. 2011 Mar 10. [Epub ahead of print]

Liu P, Vikis HG, Lu Y, Wang Y, Schwartz AG, Pinney SM, Yang P, de Andrade M, Gazdar A, Gaba C, Mandal D, Lee J, Kupert E, Seminara D, Minna J, Bailey-Wilson JE, Amos CI, Anderson MW, You M. Cumulative effect of multiple loci on genetic susceptibility to familial lung cancer.External Web Site Policy Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010 Feb;19(2):517-24.

Boffetta P, Colditz GA, Potter JD, Kolonel L, Robson PJ, Malekzadeh R, Seminara D, Goode EL, Yoo KY, Demers P, Gallagher R, Prentice R, Yasui Y, O'Doherty K, Petersen GM, Ulrich CM, Csizmadi I, Amankwah EK, Brockton NT, Kopciuk K, McGregor SE, Kelemen LE. Cohorts and consortia conference: a summary report (Banff, Canada, June 17-19, 2009)External Web Site Policy. Cancer Causes Control. 2011Mar;22(3):463-8. Epub 2011 Jan 4.