Columbia University New York, New York
Professor, Department of Epidemiology Mailman School of Public Health
Developing better risk prediction models by incorporating biomarkers of environmental exposures, genetic susceptibility, and non-genetic alterations to DNA.
Environmental chemicals such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloro-ethane (DDT) cause DNA damage that can lead to cancer. The severity of the damage and the ability to repair it influences the risk for development of breast cancer. Women with an already high risk of breast cancer, due to inherited factors or strong family history, may be more vulnerable to environmental pollutant exposure. Using the data from two established registries of high-risk families, Drs. Santella and Terry have been examining the impact of environmental exposures in young girls. Their studies include investigating how environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility—specifically as it relates to the ability to repair DNA damage—are related to breast cancer risk. This work will be used to develop better risk prediction models and allow for more precise preventive strategies.
In previous studies, Drs. Santella and Terry have shown that exposure to PAH, a common environmental pollutant, increased the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women. Using a method developed in their laboratories, they discovered that this risk is almost 3-fold greater in women whose cells were deficient in DNA repair functions. Recently, they have extended their studies beyond PAHs and are examining the impact of other compounds that interfere with estrogen metabolism (endocrine disruptors) on breast cancer risk and prognosis—analyses are ongoing. Since studies by Drs. Santella, Terry, and others suggest that breast tissue composition can be modified by environmental factors, the team is conducting studies to examine this more closely.
Drs. Santella and Terry will continue their studies to confirm the role of DNA repair deficiency in breast cancer risk due to environmental exposures and endocrine disrupting chemicals. They will also employ new technologies to measure exposures of a broad range of environmental contaminants to better understand their impact on breast cancer risk. The team will expand these studies and explore a novel method for detecting DNA damage. In addition, they are currently identifying environmental exposures that affect breast density and ways to apply this information in the clinic for better risk assessment and improved prevention strategies for breast cancer.
Mary Beth Terry, PhD, is a Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She focuses her research on breast cancer and in the molecular epidemiology and life-course methods of the disease, in particular. She is a cancer epidemiologist with over 15 years of leading studies of breast cancer etiology specifically focused on the role genetics, epigenetics, and other biomarkers play in modifying the effects of environmental exposures.
Dr. Terry currently leads four NIH grants through the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences that focus on following cancer risk within family-based cohorts. Her more recent work studying biomarkers, which can be modified throughout life, supports the assertion that selected markers of DNA methylation and other biomarkers are associated with breast cancer risk even within high risk families. Understanding whether biomarkers can help explain risk in higher risk women is important, as only a minority of women with a family history of cancer carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Her work also focuses on measuring risk factors for mammographic density, a strong intermediate marker of breast cancer.
In addition to her doctorate in epidemiology from Columbia University, Dr. Terry has a Master’s degree in economics and previously worked as an econometrician and program evaluator for a number of government-sponsored programs. Dr. Terry teaches introductory and advanced epidemiologic methods at the Mailman School of Public Health.
2005
The Aveda Award
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