Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch

Improving health by conducting high impact epidemiological research on infectious agents and cancer

Investigators in the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch (IIB) conduct multidisciplinary studies of carefully selected domestic and foreign populations, with the goal of clarifying the relationship of infectious agents, especially viruses, to human cancer and other conditions.

Research Mission

IIB’s research mission is to discover infectious causes of cancer, to elucidate the determinants of malignancy for established oncogenic infections, to uncover novel infection-cancer associations, and to clarify how alterations in immunity and inflammation relate to cancer risk.

IIB investigators collaborate with researchers from a variety of disciplines in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to epidemiologic and clinical data, many IIB field studies include an extensive biological specimen collection component that allows for careful molecular testing to better define both exposures and outcomes of interest

Learn more about specific IIB research areas.

Fellowships

Working closely with tenured and tenure-track investigators, IIB fellows take lead responsibility for analyzing and summarizing previously collected data. Senior staff assist them in writing manuscripts and bringing these to publication in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Fellows become familiar with the entire IIB portfolio and are encouraged to participate in on-going and newly proposed studies within the Branch and throughout the Division. Meet the current IIB fellows and learn about research training opportunities in IIB.

Staff Spotlight

Sam Mbulaiteye from IIB has recently been highlighted in the Black Bag NCI Special Report/Journal of Minority Medical Students. View his interview here.