Biography

Dr. Cross received a B.Sc. in Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, U.K. in 1997 and a Ph.D. in nutrition and cancer from the University of Cambridge, U.K. in 2002. She joined the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) of NCI as a post-doctoral fellow in 2003 and became a research fellow in 2005 and an investigator in 2006. Dr. Cross is a member of the DCEG Committee for Technical Evaluation of Protocols and principal investigator to the CONCeRN study. Since joining NCI, she has received the DCEG award for Outstanding Research Paper by a Fellow, the DCEG Fellowship Achievement award for outstanding accomplishments and the NIH Fellows award for research excellence; in addition, she received the Molecular Epidemiology Group and the American Association for Cancer Research Scholar-in-Training award.

Research Interests

• Meat and meat-mutagens, including heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and N-nitroso compounds, as risk factors for cancers of the colorectum, prostate and pancreas
• The role of iron in the carcinogenic process
• Improvement of methodology used to assess meat consumption, capturing meat preservatives and cooking methods
• Exploring potential meat-related biomarkers, such as metabolites in biospecimens and DNA adducts

Keywords

Colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, meat, N-nitroso compounds, heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, DNA adducts

Selected Publications

• Cross AJ, Greetham HL, Pollock JRA, Rowland IR, Bingham SA. "Variability in fecal water genotoxicity, determined using the comet assay, is independent of endogenous N-nitroso compound formation attributed to red meat consumption." Environ Molecular Mutagenesis 2006; 47(3): 179-184.
• Cross AJ, Gunter MJ, Wood R, Pietinen P, Taylor PR, Virtamo J, Albanes D, Sinha R. "Iron and colorectal cancer risk in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study." International Journal of Cancer 2006; 118 (12): 3147-52.
• Cross AJ, Ward MH, Schenk M, Kulldorff M, Cozen W, Davis S, Colt JS, Hartge P, Cerhan J, Sinha R. "Meat and meat-mutagen intake and risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: Results from a NCI-SEER case-control study." Carcinogenesis 2006; 27: 293-297.
• Lewin MH, Bailey N, Bandaletova T, Cross AJ, Pollock JRA, Shuker DEG, Bingham SA. "Red meat enhances the colonic formation of O6-carboxymethyl guanine, a DNA adduct specific for the presence of N-Nitroso compounds: implications for red meat and colorectal cancer risk." Cancer Research 2006; 66(3): 1859-65.
• Cross AJ, Peters U, Kirsh VA, Andriole GL, Reding D, Hayes RB, Sinha R. "A prospective study of meat and meat-mutagens and prostate cancer risk." Cancer Research 2005; 65(24):11779-84.
• Sinha R, Cross AJ, Curtin J, Zimmerman T, McNutt S, Risch A, Holden J. "Development of a Food Frequency Questionnaire Module and Databases for Compounds in Cooked and Processed Meats." Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. 2005 Jul;49(7):648-55.
• Cross AJ, Pollock JRA, Bingham SA. "Haem, not protein or inorganic iron, is responsible for endogenous N-nitrosation arising from red meat." Cancer Research 2003; 63:2358-60.

Collaborators

DCEG Collaborators

• Mary Ward, Ph.D., Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, Ph.D., Michael Alavanja, Dr.P.H., Richard Hayes, D.D.S., Unhee Lim, Ph.D., Rashmi Sinha, Ph.D., Arthur Schatzkin, M.D., Dr.P.H., Christian Abnet, Ph.D.

Other NCI Collaborators

• Amy Subar, Ph.D., Fran Thompson, Ph.D., Victor Kipnis, Ph.D.

Other Scientific Collaborators

• Richard Wood, Tufts University
• Volker Mai, Ph.D., University of Maryland
• Andrew Flood, Ph.D., University of Minnesota
• Philip Schoenfeld, M.D., University of Michigan
• Brooks D. Cash, M.D., FACP, National Naval Medical Center
• James Harnly, Ph.D., U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Marc Gunter, Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY

International Collaborators

• Sheila Bingham, Ph.D., MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit / University of Cambridge, U.K.
• Denis Corpet, National Veterinary School, Toulouse, France
• Françoise Guéraud, French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Toulouse, France
• Fabrice Pierre, National Veterinary School, Toulouse, France
• Cinzia Stella, Ph.D., Imperial College, London, U.K.
• David Shuker, Ph.D., Open University, U.K.
• Max Bingham, Ph.D., University of Reading, U.K.
• Glenn Gibson, University of Reading, U.K.