DCEG Staff Win NIH Merit Awards

At the annual NIH Awards Ceremony in October, NCI Director John E. Niederhuber, M.D., presented NIH Merit Awards to the following DCEG staff members in recognition of their accomplishments:

Mark E. Sherman, M.D., Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB), for his leadership in incorporating molecular pathology components into epidemiologic investigations of breast and gynecologic malignancies, helping those studies provide unique etiologic insights.

Rachael Z. Stolzenberg-Solomon, M.P.H., Ph.D., Nutritional Epidemiology Branch (NEB), for her sustained and innovative work in elucidating nutritional, genetic, infectious, and other determinants of pancreatic cancer.

William F. Anderson, M.D., M.P.H., Biostatistics Branch (BB), for providing new insights into cancer etiology through descriptive studies of cancer heterogeneity and racial disparities and for innovative use of the SEER Residual Tissue Repository.

Mark H. Greene, M.D., Chief of the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB), for his leadership in forming GOG-0199, a unique intramural/extramural collaboration that creates a national research resource.

Sam M. Mbulaiteye, M.D., Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch (IIB), for developing an innovative program of research in Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and other malignancies in Uganda.

Kiyohiko Mabuchi, M.D., Dr.P.H., Radiation Epidemiology Branch (REB), for his long-standing contributions to a continuing cohort study of atomic bomb survivors, which has provided epidemiological insights into long-term cancer risk from radiation and other exposures.

Arthur Schatzkin, M.D., Dr.P.H., Chief of NEB, for his research, mentoring, and direction of the Branch.

Kristin Kiser, M.H.A., Office of Education (OE), for her leadership in facilitating DCEG’s annual training related to the U.S. Public Health Service Policy on Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research.

The NCI-Shanghai Biliary Tract Cancer Study investigators: Stephen J. Chanock, M.D., Director of the Core Genotyping Facility and Chief of the Laboratory of Translational Genomics, Gabriella Andreotti, Ph.D., Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB), Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr., M.D., DCEG Director, Ann W. Hsing, Ph.D. (HREB), Shelley Niwa (Westat), and Philip S. Rosenberg, Ph.D. (BB), for notable discoveries that have elucidated lifestyle and genetic risk factors for biliary tract cancer.

The Multidisciplinary Study of Breast, Endometrial, and Ovarian Cancers in Poland team: Aaron E. Blair, Ph.D., M.P.H. (OEEB), Louise A. Brinton, Ph.D., Chief of HREB, Dr. Chanock, Montserrat García-Closas, M.D., Dr.P.H. (HREB), Dr. Sherman, Patricia Stewart, Ph.D. (OEEB), and Rose Yang, Ph.D., M.P.H., Genetic Epidemiology Branch (GEB), for successfully conducting a multidisciplinary study of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers in Poland that enabled new insights into the etiologic heterogeneity of these tumors.

The NCI Special Studies Institutional Review Board (SSIRB) members: Michael C.R. Alavanja, Dr.P.H. (OEEB), James J. Goedert, M.D. (IIB), Maureen C. Hatch, Ph.D. (REB and Chair of SSIRB), Larissa A. Korde, M.D., M.P.H. (CGB), and Susan Privot, Office of the Director, along with Joan L. Becker (NCI Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences [DCCPS]), Dr. Michael Greene, Dr. Sarah C. Kobrin (DCCPS), Dr. Celia Maxwell (Howard University), Dr. Isis S. Mikhail (DCCPS), Dr. Nancy A. Potischman (DCCPS), Lynn Sayers, and Jack Schwartz (Maryland Attorney General’s Office), for developing new policies for protocol review that address the human subject considerations specific to genome-wide association studies.

The DCEG Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers Research Group: Christian C. Abnet, Ph.D., M.P.H. (NEB), Wong- Ho Chow, Ph.D. (OEEB), Sanford M. Dawsey, M.D. (NEB), Neal D. Freedman, Ph.D., M.P.H. (NEB), Farin Kamangar, M.D., Ph.D. (NEB), Jill Koshiol, Ph.D. (GEB), Mark J. Roth, M.D. (NEB), and Philip R. Taylor, M.D., Sc.D. (GEB), for 25 years of leadership in research on the etiology, early detection, and prevention of upper gastrointestinal tract cancers.

In addition, Jackie Lavigne, Ph.D., M.P.H., Chief of OE, received an NCI Outstanding Mentor Award for her contribution to a critical element of DCEG’s mission—training the next generation of scientists. Richard B. Hayes, D.D.S., Ph.D. (OEEB), received a Mentor of Merit Award.

Barry I. Graubard, Ph.D. (BB), Qing Lan, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. (OEEB), and Dr. Taylor were Outstanding Mentor Merit Award nominees. Nominations for these awards are written by NCI postdoctoral fellows.

A photograph of the Individual Merit Winners: Kiyohiko Mabuchi, Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, William Anderson, Arthur Schatzkin, Mark Greene, Kristin Kiser, and Sam Mbulaiteye. (Not shown: Mark Sherman.).

Individual Merit Winners: Kiyohiko Mabuchi, Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, William Anderson, Arthur Schatzkin, Mark Greene, Kristin Kiser, and Sam Mbulaiteye. (Not shown: Mark Sherman.)

A photograph of the Group Merit Winners: (front) Rose Yang, Jill Koshiol, Farin Kamangar, Gabriella Andreotti, Ann Hsing, Louise Brinton, Maureen Hatch, Wong-Ho Chow, Christian Abnet, Philip Taylor, and Susan Privot; (back) James Goedert, Mark Sherman, Philip Rosenberg, Neal Freedman, and Mark Roth. (Not shown: Michael Alavanja, Aaron Blair, Stephen Chanock, Sanford Dawsey, Joseph Fraumeni, Montserrat García-Closas, Larissa Korde, and Patricia Stewart.).

Group Merit Winners: (front) Rose Yang, Jill Koshiol, Farin Kamangar, Gabriella Andreotti, Ann Hsing, Louise Brinton, Maureen Hatch, Wong-Ho Chow, Christian Abnet, Philip Taylor, and Susan Privot; (back) James Goedert, Mark Sherman, Philip Rosenberg, Neal Freedman, and Mark Roth. (Not shown: Michael Alavanja, Aaron Blair, Stephen Chanock, Sanford Dawsey, Joseph Fraumeni, Montserrat García-Closas, Larissa Korde, and Patricia Stewart.)