Vaurice Starks

Biography

Vaurice Starks is a program director in the Environmental Epidemiology Branch (EEB) of the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program (EGRP) in NCI's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). She oversees a research portfolio focused on examining and understanding how modifiable risk factors influence the onset and progression of cancers. Specifically, with an emphasis on the complex relationship between viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections and their contributions to the risk and progression of various cancers with an infectious etiology.

Ms. Starks is a member of EGRP's Infectious Agents and Cancer Workgroup, which provides a forum for discussing ideas to advance the understanding of infectious agents and cancer research. Ms. Starks is the co-founder of the Trans-NCI Extramural Awareness Group (TEAG) and is the ex-officio representative for DCCPS. She is a member of the eGrants Working Group and provides input on how to use and improve the eGrants system. Ms. Starks also is an NCI mentor.

Prior to joining EGRP, Ms. Starks worked in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' (NIAID) Division of AIDS as a co-program officer of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) and Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), which are co-funded with NCI. As co-program officer, she was a member of both the MACS and WIHS Executive Committees and served on several working groups. Ms. Starks also worked in NCI's intramural Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology as a microbiologist characterizing the role of erbB-3, a novel epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor-like transmembrane protein isolated in the laboratory. She used eukaryotic expression vectors transfected into fibroblasts and epithelial cells to study the biological effects of in vitro overexpression of the erbB-3 protein. She constructed chimera molecules of known biological and biochemical properties to determine the functions of individual domains of erbB-3, including tyrosine kinase and ligand-binding domains.

Select Publications

Vedham V, Divi RL, Starks VL, Verma M. Multiple infections and cancer: implications in epidemiology. Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2014 Apr;13(2):177-94.

Ramos EM, Din-Lovinescu C, Bookman EB, McNeil LJ, Baker CC, Godynskiy G, Harris EL, Lehner T, McKeon C, Moss J, Starks VL, Sherry ST, Manolio TA, Rodriguez LL. A mechanism for controlled access to GWAS data: experience of the GAIN Data Access Committee. Am J Hum Genet. 2013 Apr 4;92(4):479-88.

Hoffman AC, Starks VL, Gritz ER. The impact of cigarette smoking on HIV/AIDS: urgent need for research and cessation treatment. AIDS Educ Prev. 2009 Jun;21(3 Suppl):1-2.