Biography

Dr. Dosemeci received a Ph.D. in occupational health from Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, in 1982. His doctoral research addressed industrial hygiene practices and occupational cancer epidemiology. Dr. Dosemeci conducted postdoctoral studies as a visiting scientist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He joined the NCI as an industrial hygienist in 1986. Dr. Dosemeci's research focuses on assessing historical workplace exposures and evaluating relationships between occupational exposures and cancer risk. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Annals of Occupational Hygiene.

Research Interests

Our research and development activities include: 1) assessing occupational exposures in cancer epidemiology, 2) evaluating dose response relationships between occupational exposures and cancer risk in interdisciplinary studies, 3) investigating methodologic issues related to exposure assessment and the effects of exposure misclassification on risk estimates, 4) developing new approaches for assessing the biologically effective dose of occupational exposures, and 5) designing user friendly programs for mortality analyses and occupational and industrial coding.

Exposure Assessment

Our major research efforts include: 1) developing quantitative exposure estimates on more than 50 pesticides for about 90,000 applicators and their spouses in the Agricultural Health Study; 2) assessing exposures to benzene, and toluene for about 600 benzene-exposed workers in a interdisciplinary biomarker study in China; 3) estimating retrospective occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) for about 1,500 participants in a multicenter case control study of brain cancer; and 4) assigning levels of exposures to diesel, PAH, aromatic amines, and chlorinated hydrocarbons among 3,000 subjects in the interdisciplinary case-control study of bladder cancer in Spain. In addition, individually based exposure estimates are being developed for a number of other projects, including a hospital based multi site case control study in Turkey, and a case control study of nasopharyngeal cancer in Taiwan.

NCI based job exposure matrices are also being used to develop exposure estimates on about 40 agents for 5,500 participants in a pooled analysis of six U.S. case control studies of pancreatic cancer; for 7.2 million decedents from a 24 state mortality data resource; for 75,000 women in a prospective cohort study in China; for 10 million people in the Swedish Cancer Environment Registry; and for 600 participants in case control studies of childhood and adult leukemia in China. In addition, a new approach for estimating a biologically effective dose is being used to assess internal doses of smoking exposure in a case control study of breast cancer in Buffalo.

Interdisciplinary Studies

A number of ongoing interdisciplinary studies involve complex exposure assessments. In Spain, we are conducting a collaborative case control study of bladder cancer (1,250 cases and 1,250 controls). Blood is being collected to evaluate genetic susceptibility markers, such as CYP1A1, NAT1, NAT2, GSTM1, DNA repair capacity, and mutagen sensitivity; toenail clippings will be assayed for arsenic and selenium exposure. A computer aided personal interview system is being used to assemble detailed information on cigarette smoking (black vs. blond tobacco), occupational and environmental exposures, medical history and drug use, family history, and diet. In 17 regions around St. Petersburg, Russia, an autopsy based case control study of lung cancer (500 cases and 500 controls) will evaluate risk factors after obtaining lifetime work and residential histories, assessing exposures to 285 occupational agents and 48 air and water pollutants, and collecting normal and tumor tissues for markers of genetic susceptibility.

Evaluation of Dose-Response Relationships

In a hospital based multi site case control study in Turkey (8,000 cancer cases) and a death certificate based study using occupational mortality data (7.2 million deaths) from 24 states, dose-response relationships are being evaluated between selected cancers and various occupational exposures, such as chlorinated hydrocarbons, metals, organic and inorganic dust, pesticides, acid mists, diesel exhaust, formaldehyde, acrylonitrile, nitrosamines, and electromagnetic fields. Other evaluations of dose-response relationships include: 1) combined effects of silica dust and other mineral exposures and lung cancer risk, 2) occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields and brain cancer risk, and 3) exposure to chlorinated hydrocarbons and gender differences in renal cell carcinoma risk.

Methodologic Activities

Ongoing methodologic activities include developing an exposure assessment procedure to estimate biological effective dose; using genetic susceptibility markers as potential modifying factors; selecting "optimum" exposure indices, such as intensity, duration, probability, or cumulative exposure, in studies of dose response relationships; investigating effects of exposure misclassification and confounders on risk estimates; and evaluating the reliability of self reported occupational exposures in studies of benzene, silica, and pesticides.

Resource Development

Major resource development activities include constructing a user friendly program for analyzing occupational risks from the study of 24 state mortality data, designing a code search program for assigning occupational and industrial codes in occupational epidemiology studies, and preparing job exposure matrices for a number of chemicals. These resources are available to intramural and extramural investigators in the United States and abroad.

Keywords

agricultural exposures, benzene, bladder cancer, case-control studies, chlorinated hydrocarbons, cigarette smoking, diesel, electromagnetic fields, epidemiologic methods, exposure assessment, formaldehyde, industrial exposures, interdisciplinary studies, job exposure matrices, leukemia, lung cancer, misclassification, occupational cancer, occupational epidemiology, pesticides, prostate cancer, renal cell carcinoma, silica, tobacco smoking.

Selected Publications

• Dosemeci M, et al. "An alternative test for trend in exposure response analysis." J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 1998; 8:10-16.
• Dosemeci M, et al. "Gender differences in risk of renal cell carcinoma and occupational exposures to chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons." Am J Ind Med 1999; 36:54-9.
• Dosemeci M. "Retrospective exposure assessment in large occupational cohort studies in China: advantages and concerns." Ann Occup Hyg 1999; 43:377-379.
• Elci OC, et al. "Occupations and the risk of laryngeal cancer in Turkey." Scand J Work Environ Health 2001; 27:233-239.

Collaborators

DCEG Collaborators

• Michael Alavanja, Dr.P.H..; Dalsu Baris, M.D., Ph.D.; Erin Bell, Ph.D.; Aaron Blair, Ph.D.; Kenneth Cantor, Ph.D.; Wong Ho Chow, Ph.D.; Joseph Coble, Sc.D.; Annaclaire De Roos, Ph.D.; Susan Devesa, Ph.D.; Omur Cinar Elci, M.D., Ph.D.; Larry Engel, Ph.D.; Michal Freedman, Ph.D.; Montserrat Garcia Closas, M.D., Dr.P.H.; Gloria Gridley, M.S.; Richard Hayes, D.D.S., Ph.D.; Allan Hildesheim, Ph.D.; Peter Inskip, Sc.D.; Bu Tian Ji, M.D., Dr.P.H.; James Lacey, Ph.D.; Qing Lan, M.D.; Martha Linet, M.D.; Jay Lubin, Ph.D.; Nathaniel Rothman, M.D.; Claudine Samanic, M.S.P.H.; Tammy Shields, M.P.H.; Debra Silverman, Sc.D.; Rashmi Sinha, Ph.D.; Patricia Stewart, Ph.D.; Mary Ward, Ph.D.; Roel Vermeulen, Ph.D., Sholom Wacholder, Ph.D.; Heng Xie, M.D.; Shelia Zahm, Sc.D.

Other NCI Collaborators

• Louise Wideroff, Ph.D.

Other NIH Collaborators

• Jane Hoppin, Ph.D.; Andy Rowland, Ph.D.; Dale Sandler, Ph.D., National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Other Scientific Collaborators

• Christine Ambrosone, Ph.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
• Tye Arbuckle, Ph.D., Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada
• Michael Attfield, Ph.D., National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, WV
• Jacques Benichou, M.D., Ph.D., University of Rouen, Rouen, France
• Paolo Boffetta, M.D., International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
• Robert Branch, M.D., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
• Surasak Buranatrevedh, M.D., Thammasat University, Patumtanee, Thailand
• Sue Carozza, Ph.D., Texas State Health Department, Austin, TX
• Laura Catalina, M.S., Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• Harvey Checkoway, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Pierluigi Cocco, M.D., University of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
• Larry Figgs, Ph.D., St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO
• Inci Gokmen, Ph.D., Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
• Shelley Green, Ph.D. University of California at Davis, Davis, CA
• Ahmedin Jemal, Ph.D., D.V.M., American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA
• Oleg Khmelnitsky, M.D., Post Graduate Medical Academy, St. Petersburg, Russia
• Manolis Kogevinas, M.D., Ph.D., Institut Municipal d'Investigacio Medica, Barcelona, Spain
• Anjali Lamba, Ph.D., George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
• Nancy Lightfoot, Ph.D., Northern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre, Ontario, Canada
• Charles Lynch, Ph.D., University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
• Esther Johns, Northern California Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA
• David Mage, Ph.D.; Kent Thomas, Ph.D., Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC
• Tahereh Moradi, M.D.; Anna Norman, M.D., Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
• Stephen Rappaport, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
• Carol Rice, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
• Deodutta Roy, M.D., University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL
• Paul Schulte, M.D.; Kyle Steenland, Ph.D.; James T. Walker, Ph.D., National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH
• Peter Shields, M.D., Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• Martyn Smith, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
• Susan Sutherland, Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC
• Kay Teschke, Ph.D., University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• Maria Tretiakova, M.D., University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• Lu Wei, M.D., Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China
• Margaret Wrensch, Ph.D., University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
• Song Nian Yin, M.D., Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Beijing, China