Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, & Occupational health, McGill University
Orientation Session for the 2012-13 Academic Year
Division or Unit?
We are:
A Division in the Department of Oncology (Division of Cancer Epidemiology)
A Unit in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
(Cancer Epidemiology Unit)
Our Official Name:
The Cancer Research Society Division of Epidemiology
Our Mission:
»To conduct epidemiologic research on the etiology and prognosis of cancers of global public health importance with an emphasis on proposing preventive strategies.
»To provide advanced training in cancer epidemiology and prevention to graduate students and health professionals.
»To provide epidemiologic oversight and expertise to clinical collaborators in oncology.
»To provide advice to governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in cancer control policy.
»To advise pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in developing cost-effective agents and tools for cancer prevention and screening.
Present Students and Fellows
New Students and Fellows in 2012 (fall)
• Hani Al-Marzouki (MSc, 2011-, Otolaryngology) • Joseph Tota (PhD, 2008-) • Sandra Isidean (PhD, 2011-) (CIHR’s Banting and Best Graduate Scholarship) • Fabiano Santos (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2012-) (McGill MICRTP Fellowship) • Ziad El-Khatib (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2011-) (McGill MICRTP Fellowship)
• Karolina Louvanto (Post-doctoral Fellow) (Sigrid Juselius Foundation Fellowship) • Eileen Shaw (MSc)
Visiting Professors on Sabbatical
• Edson D. Moreira Jr. (Fed. Univ. Bahia, FIOCRUZ, 2011-12) • Jacinto C. Silva-Neto (Fed. Univ. Pernambuco, 2012, 2013-14)
Past Students and Fellows (at McGill) Graduate Students, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
• Alexandra de Pokomandy (MSc, 2005-09) (Dean’s Honour List) • Amin Andalib (MSc, 2010-12) • Andrea Schaffer (MSc, 2001-04) • Andrea Spence (PhD, 2001-12) • Anita Koushik (PhD, 1999-04) (CIHR and NCIC scholarships) • Ann Burchell (PhD, 2003-09) (Tomlinson and NCIC scholarships) • Candace Sirjoosingh (MSc, 2008-10) (Max E. Binz Fellowship) • Carmen Victoria (Tory) Atwood (MSc, 2002-06) • Colin Sharpe (MSc, 1993-94) • Cara Flamer (MSc, did not complete, 2001-04) • Harriet Richardson (MSc, 1993-96; PhD, 1997-03) (MRC scholarship) • Hela Makni (MSc, 1998-99) • Javier Pintos (Diploma, 1991-92; MSc, 1993-96; PhD, 1997-02) • J. João Mansure (MSc, co-supervision, 2009-12) • Julie Bruneau (MSc, 1998-03) • Jun Chen (MSc, 1999-02)
Past Students and Fellows (at McGill) (cont’d) Graduate Students, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics
• Keira Robinson (MSc, 2002-04) • Lyndsay Richardson (MSc, 2009-11) (Faculty of Medicine Gershman Memorial Fellowship) • Maaike deVries (MSc, 2009-12) (NSERC Graduate Fellowship) • Marie-Claude Rousseau (MSc, 1995-97; PhD, 1998-03) (MRC scholarship) (2x Dean’s
Honour List) • Marie Hélène Mayrand (PhD, 2002-07) (FRSQ and NCIC scholarships) (Principal’s
Dissertation Award) • Myriam Chevarie-Davis (MSc, 2010-12) (RAMQ Clinical Investigator Fellowship) • Nader Sadeghi (MSc, did not complete, 1996-98) • Nicolas Schlecht (PhD, 1999-02) (MRC scholarship) (Dean’s Honour List) • Rhea Ferguson (MSc, 2008-10) (CIHR’s Banting and Best Graduate Scholarship) • Saleh Al-Nasser (MSc, 2010-12, Surgery) • Seungmi Yang (MSc, 1999-02) • Sophie Kulaga (MSc, 1996-97) • Steven Ades (MSc, 2002-05) • Susan Brogly (MSc, 1998-99; PhD, 1999-02) (NHRDP scholarship) (Dean’s Honour List,
MSc) • Suzie Lau (MSc, 2001-08, part-time) • Tam Dang-Tan (PhD, 2002-08) (CIHR scholarship)
Past Students and Fellows (at McGill)
• Abdissa Negassa (1997-98) • Belinda Nicolau (jointly with Dentistry) (2002-05) • Ghislain Lugoma (2000-01, 2003-04) • Helen Trottier (2004-08) • Paul Allison (jointly with Dentistry) (1998-99) • Salah Mahmud (2002-05) • Tam Dang-Tan (2008-09) • Ann Burchell (2009)
Post-doctoral fellows, Division of Cancer Epidemiology
• Eduardo Franco (James McGill Professor and Director) • Agnihotram Ramanakumar (Assistant Professor)
• Laurent Azoulay (Assistant Professor, joint part-time appointment) • Raghu Rajan (Associate Professor, joint part-time appointment) • Celia Greenwood (Associate Professor, joint part-time appointment)
• Candida Pizzolongo (Administrative Coordinator) • Nathalie Slavtcheva (Research Nurse, to July 2011) • Natalia Morykon (Research Nurse) • Amelia Rocamora (Research Nurse, to February 2012) • Beth McCallum (Research Nurse) • Melissa Cartillone (Research Nurse) • Allita Rodrigues (Medical Research Coordinator) • Jennifer Selinger (Epidemiologic Clerk) • Mengzhu Jiang (Epidemiologic Clerk, to August 2012) • Michael Antwi (Epidemiologic Clerk, to July 2012)
Research and academic staff
Portfolio of Studies by the Division of Cancer Epidemiology, McGill University
Areas of Concentration in the past 17 years: • Cervical cancer and HPV-associated
malignancies • Upper aero-digestive tract cancers • Childhood malignancies (Wilms’ tumour) • Prostate cancer • Inflammation and cancer etiology and prognosis • Other Cancers: endometrial, esophageal, lung • Methods • HIV epidemiology
CIHR team in HPV infection and associated diseases E. Franco (PI), F. Coutlee (co-PI), P. Brassard, Z. Rosberger, M. Roger, J.
Archambault, H. Trottier, M. Brisson
Glandular cells line
the endocervical canal
Transformation
zone: 2 cell
types meet
Squamous cells
line the ectocervix
Two types of cervical cancer
Courtesy of Dr. Ray Apple
• Squamous cell carcinomas: 75%-80% of all cervical cancers.
• Adenocarcinomas: 20%-25% and incidence continues to increase.
How we collect our specimens:
Natural history of HPV infection and cervical carcinogenesis
4-24 months 2-20 years Adapted from: Wright and Schiffman, NEJM 2003; Franco and Harper, Vaccine 2005
Cofactors: Host-related (polymorphisms in HLA and other genes), behavioural (smoking), hormonal/reproductive (OC use, parity), STI-related (HSV, Chlamydia),
nutritional, immunosuppression (HIV, transplantation), HPV-related (variants)
HPV and Cervical Cancer Studies
Etiology, Natural History, and Transmission:
• Ludwig-McGill cohort (NIH, CIHR, NCIC) A. Negassa, H. Makni, M.C. Rousseau, N. Schlecht, S. Yang, S. Kulaga, S. Mahmud, S. Lau, H. Trottier, A. Ramanakumar, R. Ferguson, M. Chevarie-Davis
• McGill-Concordia cohort (CIHR) H. Richardson, K. Robinson, S. Mahmud, H. Trottier, A. Ramanakumar, R. Ferguson, M. Smith
• HITCH cohort (CIHR, Merck, NIH) A. Burchell
• BCCR (CIHR) and other case-control and lab studies (CIHR, NCIC) A. Koushik, A. Schaffer, S. Ades, H. Trottier, R. Ferguson
• Inuit cohort (FRSQ, CIHR) (led by P. Brassard)
HPV and Cervical Cancer Studies Screening: • Newfoundland primary screening Study (NHRF) co-led by S.
Ratnam
• Kinshasa (Congo) Screening Study (PATH) G. Lugoma, S. Mahmud, A. Ramanakumar
• CCCaST Trial (CIHR, Merck) M-H Mayrand
• PICCS study: Psychosocial impact of HPV screening results (CIHR) (led by Z. Rosberger)
• BC RCT (HPV-Focal) (CIHR) led by A. Coldman, G. Ogilvie
• PEACHS: Pap Efficacy And Cervical HPV Status Study Consortium L. Richardson, A. Ramanakumar
HPV and Cervical Cancer Studies HPV vaccination: • Analysis of GSK’s phase 2b trial data and natural history
studies (GSK) H. Trottier, A. Ramanakumar, S. Mahmud
• RCT of Transmission Reduction and Prevention Using HPV Vaccine (TRAP-HPV study) (Merck) Z. El-Khatib, A. Ramanakumar, A. Burchell, T. Dang-Tan
• Epidemiologic Approach to Evaluate the Potential for HPV Type Replacement Post-Vaccination (GOC) J. Tota
Other preventive strategies: • RCT of carrageenan-containing vaginal gel to prevent
HPV infection (CATCH trial) (CIHR) J. Tota, A. Burchell, A. Ramanakumar
HPV and Cervical Cancer Studies Health Services and Cost-Effectiveness: • ICCAS: Audit study of invasive cervical cancers in
Montreal (CIHR) A. Spence
• Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Cervical Cancer Survival in the United States C. Sirjoosingh
• Cost-effectiveness analysis of new screening technologies specific to Canada (NCIC) (led by R. Rajan) C.V. Atwood
• New approaches in modeling (NIH) (led by S. Goldie) S. Mahmud
• Role of herd immunity in modelling HPV transmission (led by M. Brisson)
(Consultation to individual scientists, governments, WHO, NGOs, and industry)
Period and statistic
Full papers
Other papers
Total papers Chapters Books Journal
Supplements Technical Reps, etc
1995-99 34 14 48 14 1 0 8 2000-04 64 16 80 13 1 1 4 2005-09 72 30 102 15 0 8 7 2010-present 58 3 61 5 0 1 5 Total 228 63 291 47 2 10 24 Annual Avg 12.7 3.5 16.2 2.6 0.1 0.6 1.3 Avg since 2005 18.6 4.7 23.3 2.9 0.0 1.3 1.7
Scientific Productivity (Publications)
Note: Stats for 2012 until mid-September 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1995 2000 2005 2010
Chapters
Tech Reps, etc
Articles
Research Productivity Publications in top-tier journals (impact factors > 10)
Journal Title Period
1995-99 2000-04 2005- Total
Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2 5 2 9
CA Cancer Journal for Clinicians 1 1
New England Journal of Medicine 1 1
British Medical Journal 2 2
Public Library of Science-Medicine 2 2
The Lancet (includes Lancet Oncology) 4 5 9