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National Cancer Institute U.S. National Institutes of Health www.cancer.gov
About DCEG

Mahboobeh Safaeian, Ph.D.

Investigator

Location: Executive Plaza South, Suite 7086
Phone: 301-594-2934
Fax: 301-402-0817
E-mail: safaeianm@nih.gov

 Mahboobeh Safaeian,Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Safaeian received a Ph.D. in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2006. Subsequently, she joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch in DCEG as a Sally Rosen Kaplan Fellow, where she focused her research on viral and host co-factors for cervical carcinogenesis. In 2008, Dr. Safaeian joined the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch as a tenure-track investigator. In addition to studying the viral and host co-factors associated with HPV infection and cervical carcinogenesis, she has expanded her research to the study of the immunological responses to HPV natural infection and HPV vaccination.

Research Interests

  • Natural history studies of the sero-epidemiology of HPV infections
  • Sero-epidemiology of HPV infection after vaccination
  • Evaluation of cross-protective immune responses in women vaccinated with HPV16/18 vaccine
  • Association of viral variants with cervical precancer and cancer
  • Role of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) with cervical precancer and cancer among HPV-positive women

It is well established that HPV is a necessary but not sufficient cause of cervical cancer. While infection with carcinogenic HPV types is a necessary cause of cervical cancer, infection with carcinogenic types of HPV is extremely common relative to cancer incidence. It is postulated that exposure to co-factors might increase the risk of HPV-infected cells progressing to precancer and invasive cancer. Dr. Safaeian is involved in evaluating the host and viral co-factors for cervical precancer and cancer by examining rigorously the role of Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct), and inflammation in cervical carcinogenesis among HPV-infected individuals. Additionally, she is involved in evaluating the role of HPV types and variants, and exploring their relative carcinogenicity using molecular epidemiology. The other major area of research Dr. Safaeian is pursuing focuses on host innate and humoral immune responses to HPV infection pre and post vaccination. She is building a comprehensive program of research on the serologic response to HPV natural infection and HPV vaccination.

Keywords

Human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV vaccination, HPV natural history, HPV serology, cervical cancer, molecular epidemiology.

Selected Publications

  • Mahboobeh Safaeian, Roni T Falk, Ana Cecilia Rodriguez, Allan Hildesheim, Troy Kemp, Marcus Williams, Lidiana Morera, Manuel Barrantes, Rolando Herrero, Carolina Porras, Ligia Pinto. Factors Associated with Immune Marker Fluctuations at the Cervix During the Menstrual Cycle. J Infect Dis. 2009 February;199(3):455-463.
  • Safaeian M, Kiddugavu M, Gravitt P, Gange S, Ssekasanvu J, Murokora D, Sklar M, Serwadda D, Wawer MJ, Shah KV, Gray R. Determinants of incidence and clearance of carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in rural Rakai, Uganda, using self-collected vaginal swabs. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 June;17(6):1300-7.
  • Carolina Porras, Mahboohbeh Safaeian, Paula González, Allan Hildesheim, Sandra Silva, Mark Schiffman, Ana Cecilia Rodríguez, Sholom Wacholder, Enrique Freer, Koen Quint, Concepción Bratti, Albert Epinoza, Bernal Cortes, Rolando Herrero, for the Costa Rica HPV Vaccine Trial (CVT) Group. Epidemiology of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection among young women in Costa Rica. Sex Transm Dis. 2008 May;35(5):461-468.
  • Safaeian M, Kiddugavu M, Gravitt P, Gange S, Ssekasanvu J, Murokora D, Sklar M, Serwadda D, Wawer MJ, Shah KV, Gray R. Determinants of prevalence, and risk factors for carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in rural Rakai, Uganda, using self-collected vaginal swabs. Sex Transm Infect. 2008 August;84(4):306-11. Epub 2008 Apr.
  • Safaeian M, Kiddugavu M, Gravitt P, Ssekasanvu J, Murokora D, Sklar M, Serwadda D, Wawer MJ, Shah KV, Gray R. Comparability of self-collected vaginal swabs and physician-collected cervical swabs for detection of human papillomavirus infections in Rakai, Uganda. Sex Transm Dis. 2007 July; 34(7:429-36.
  • Safaeian M, Herrero R, Hildesheim A, Quint W, Freer E, Van Doorn LJ, Porras C, Silva S, González P, Bratti MC, Rodriguez AC, Castle P, For the CVT Group. Comparison of the SPF10/LIPA System to the HC2 assay for detection of carcinogenic HPV genotypes among 5683 young women in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. J Clin Microbiol. 2007 May; 45(5):1447-1454.
  • Safaeian M, Solomon D, Wacholder S, Schiffman M, Castle PE. Risk of pre-cancer and management strategies for women with HPV-negative ASCUS. Obstet Gynecol. 2007 June; 109(6):1325-31.

Collaborators

DCEG Collaborators

  • Allan Hilldesheim; Ligia Pinto; Hormuzd Katki; Mark Schiffman; Troy Kemp; Roni Falk; Sophia Wang