2014 Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention
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2014 Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention..............................3 Knowledge Exchange and Public Health Advocacy .........10 Nutrition....................................................................14 Public Health Methods...................................................25 Social Determinants of Health and Inequalities.............39 Statistical and Econometric Modelling...........................50 2 Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention 3 Dr Marie Cantwell Senior Lecturer [email protected] Co-Investigator: UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health NI Keywords: nutrition; cancer epidemiology; colorectal cancer; breast cancer; oesophageal cancer Marie is a senior lecturer in Nutritional Epidemiology and has published extensively on the role of diet and lifestyle on oesophageal carcinoma risk within the Factors Influencing Barrett’s Oesophagus, Reflux Oesophagitis and Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (FINBAR) study, a population-based case-control study in Ireland. Marie is a member of the Pooling Group for the international collaboration BEACON (Barretts Esophagus and Adenocarcinoma Consortium. Marie has collaborations with researchers at the National Cancer Institute from the Prostate Lung Colorectal Ovarian screening trial, the NIH American Association for Retired Persons (NIH-AARP) cohort and the Polyp Prevention Trial and has published extensively on the role of diet and lifestyle and cancer risk. She is principle investigator on a study to develop a Northern Ireland colorectal polyp register to determine factors associated with polyp recurrence and progression to colorectal cancer. She is also principle investigator on a 6 month randomised controlled trial of a diet and physical activity intervention in prostate cancer patients treated with androgen deprivation therapy. More recently Marie has begun to examine the relationship between nutritional exposures and breast cancer survival using data from the DietCompLyf study a UK cohort of 3000 breast cancer patients. Dr Helen Coleman Lecturer / CRUK Fellow [email protected] Co-Investigator: UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health NI Funder: QUB / CRUK (PI: Marie Cantwell) Keywords: cancer epidemiology; colorectal cancer; Barrett’s oesophagus; endometrial cancer; nutritional epidemiology My general research interests are in cancer epidemiology, particularly risk factors for progression from pre-cancerous conditions to cancer and factors associated with recurrence or survival after a cancer diagnosis. Cancer site-specific interests include colorectal polyps and colorectal cancer, Barrett’s oesophagus and oesophageal cancer, endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer. My research mostly investigates modifiable risk factors and cancer progression, particularly the role of nutrition, and I am increasingly interested in how these interact with molecular and genetic factors to influence cancer risk and survival. For example, I am currently investigating vitamin D receptor and vitamin D related genetic variants in relation to colon cancer survival as part of a Cancer Research UK Population Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. 4 Mr Conan Donnelly Affiliated Visiting Research Fellow (secondment) and PhD student (p/t) [email protected] Supervisors: Anna Gavin, Liam Murray Title: Identifying targets for intervention to promote earlier diagnosis of cancer Funder: Self-funded Keywords: colon cancer; lung cancer; prostate cancer; cancer incidence; cancer survival; ICBP I am currently on secondment from NISRA and in my second year of a PhD of a National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI) investigating factors associated with early death in lung and colon cancer with a view to developing early diagnosis strategies. This nested case control study involves note review of patients diagnosed with lung and colon cancer (2005-10) to identify patient, clinical, service and disease factors associated with dying within 3 months of diagnosis. I have also had a coordinating role in the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) in NI, a work programme that involves 6 partner countries and aims to explain differences in international cancer survival with the focus largely on diagnostic delay. I also have interests in other health services research including quality of life among prostate cancer patients and am part of a team about to embark on a UK wide study of quality of life among prostate cancer patients, I will lead on a normative component that will provide matched comparisons to estimate any quality of life deficits among patients. I also lead for the production of official statistics on cancer incidence and survival in Northern Ireland. Miss Blanaid Hicks Affiliated PhD Student [email protected] Supervisors: Chris Cardwell, Liam Murray Title: The effect of commonly used medications and smoking on colorectal and breast cancer progression Funder: DEL Keywords: pharmacoepidemiology; smoking; cancer survival; colorectal cancer; breast cancer After graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science at Queen’s University Belfast, I began a PhD programme under the supervision of Dr Chris Cardwell and Professor Liam Murray. I am currently in my second year of my PhD which aims to investigate the effects of modifiable factors on cancer progression. This includes investigations on the effects of commonly used medications and smoking on cancer survival. I have a keen interest in both pharmacoepidemiology and cancer epidemiology and I am an active member of the Cancer Epidemiology and Health Sciences Research Group. 5 Mr Andrew Kunzmann PhD Student [email protected] Supervisors: Marie Cantwell, Liam Murray, Helen Coleman Title: Risk factors (including biomarkers) for colorectal cancer development and prognosis Funder: UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health NI Keywords: colorectal cancer; pharmacoepidemiology; nutrition; aspirin; vitamin D; fruits and vegetables; dietary fibre I completed a degree in Psychology at the University of York, before undertaking an MMedSci in Human Nutrition at the University of Sheffield, after becoming interested in the effects of food on health. This led to me wanting to study the impact of nutrition and other modifiable lifestyle factors on cancer. I am now in my third year of a PhD at Queen’s University Belfast studying “Risk factors (including biomarkers) for colorectal cancer development and progression” funded by the Centre of Excellence for Public Health NI. My main areas of interest are modifiable risk factors for colorectal cancer development and prognosis, particularly nutritional or pharmacological risk factors. Dr Úna Mc Menamin Affiliated Research Fellow [email protected] Title: Pharmacoepidemiology (PI: Chris Cardwell, Liam Murray) Funder: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Keywords: cancer epidemiology; pharmacoepidemiology; breast cancer; colorectal cancer I have recently completed my PhD in cancer pharmacoepidemiology within the Centre for Public Health at QUB, having previously undertaken a Masters in Public Health at the University in 2010. My PhD primarily investigated the association between commonly prescribed medications and cancer survival among breast and prostate cancer patients using large UK population-based databases. I was also involved in the establishment of a Northern Irish breast cancer cohort for the conduct of future population-based studies of drug exposures and cancer outcomes. My primary research interests relate to the utilisation of routinely collected data sources for the identification of modifiable factors for cancer progression. I have recently been appointed to a research fellow position within the Centre for Public Health and am currently investigating the impact of anti-diabetic medications on survival outcomes among colorectal cancer patients. Miss Charlene McShane Affiliated PhD Student [email protected] Supervisors: Lesley Anderson, Liam Murray Title: Prior medical history and medication usage and risk of multiple myeloma Funder: DEL Keywords: cancer epidemiology; pharmacoepidemiology; haematological malignancies; immunology; 6 I graduated from University College Dublin in 2011 with a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical, Health and Life Sciences. In October 2011, I began my PhD at Queens University Belfast investigating aetiological risk factors associated with the development and progression of the plasma cell disorders, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and multiple myeloma (MM). During this time I have utilised large population-based databases including the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and the USA SEER-Medicare datasets to explore the impact of exposure to chronic antigenic stimulation (for example, infections and autoimmune disease) and exposure to commonly prescribed drugs on the development of MGUS, MM and lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma/waldenströms macroglobulinemia (LPL/WM). I am also overseeing the AiMS (Assessing the Impact of MGUS) study, a mixed methodology project aiming to investigate the impact of an MGUS diagnosis on a patient’s psychological wellbeing and the care pathway for MGUS individuals within Northern Ireland. My general areas of interest are cancer epidemiology with a particular focus on risk factors associated with progression of pre-malignant conditions of haematological origin. I am an active member of the Cancer Epidemiology and Health Services Research Group and co-coordinate the weekly meetings and journal clubs Professor Liam Murray [email protected] Co-Investigator: UKCRC Centre of Excellence