skip to content
National Cancer Institute U.S. National Institutes of Health www.cancer.gov
Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch

Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch Fellows


Kelly Bolton

Kelly Bolton Kelly Bolton is a 2007 NIH-Cambridge Scholar, pursuing her doctoral studies as a combined M.D./ Ph.D. student, working with Paul Pharoah, Cancer Research UK Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant, Strangeways Research Laboratory, University of Cambridge and Montserrat Garcia-Closas, Senior Investigator, Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch. Ms. Bolton is studying germline genetic polymorphisms associated with survival after diagnosis of ovarian cancer and methodological questions about the immunohistochemical analysis of breast cancer tissue microarrays. In 2004, Ms. Bolton graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University with a B.S. in Biology. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and won an American Heart Association senior research award. At Cornell, she carried out both bench research on a common plant insecticide and epidemiological research on the impact of social assistance programs on human behavior. She then matriculated to the University of California at Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. As a medical student, she was awarded a prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholarship to study in the Cloister Program at NIH. She has co-authored two publications and presented her research at several national scientific meetings, winning the Claude C. Lardinois Award for best presentation at the Western States Medical Research Forum in 2006.

Back to Top

Aileen Burke

Aileen Burke Aileen Burke joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) as a post-baccalaureate CRTA in September, 2008. Ms. Burke received her B.S. (honors) in pharmacology from the National University of Ireland in Dublin in 2004. She subsequently carried out molecular biological research at the National Cancer Institute where she investigated factors influencing hormone receptor-DNA interactions using confocal microscopy, as well as signaling pathways in HTLV-1 positive cancer cells. Her training as a molecular biologist and experience in laboratory research involving hormone pathways in cancer has made her a valuable addition to the team of HREB investigators interested in clarifying the etiology of female cancers. Ms. Burke is currently working with Drs. Jonine Figueroa, Mark Sherman and Nicolas Wentzensen on molecular genetic analyses of the Polish Breast Cancer Study, and with Drs. Gretchen Gierach and Mark Sherman on the BREAST Stamp Project. She is completing an MPH in epidemiology at the George Washington University.

Back to Top

Michael B. Cook, Ph.D.

Michael Cook Michael B. Cook joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) as a Post-doctoral Fellow in 2007 and was subsequently promoted to Research Fellow in 2008. His initial interest in cancer etiology was stimulated by his first degree in Genetics at The University of Nottingham, England. He subsequently undertook a Ph.D. at The University of Leeds under the supervision of Professors David Forman and Christopher Wild and Dr. Laura Hardie. His thesis was entitled 'Sex differences in Barrett's esophagus in relation to the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma'. Dr. Cook's inter-disciplinary training enabled him to secure his current position in HREB where his primary mentor is Dr. Katherine A. McGlynn, Senior Investigator, HREB. He retains an interest in esophageal cancer, which includes leading and conducting analyses in international consortia, while his activities have now diversified to include testis cancer and sex differences in cancer etiology. Dr. Cook aims to hone his skills further in molecular and descriptive epidemiologic analyses, project conception and management, and mentoring, which will enable him to continue to build a novel and cohesive research profile.



Key Publications:
Back to Top

Cher Dallal, Ph.D.

Cher Dallal Cher Dallal joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) as a NCI Cancer Prevention Fellow in September, 2009. Dr. Dallal received her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health where she was involved in studies of estrogen metabolites and breast cancer. Dr. Dallal has a B.A. in molecular and cell biology from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.P.H. with a concentration in chronic disease epidemiology from Yale University and an M.S. in applied biostatistics and epidemiology from the University of Southern California (USC). Her master theses involved assessing the relationships of obesity and breast cancer survival in a cohort of white and African American women (Yale) and physical activity and breast cancer risk in the California Teachers Cohort (USC). Dr. Dallal’s research interests include the study of hormonal and lifestyle factors as they relate to carcinogenesis of the breast, endometrium, and ovary as well as understanding racial disparities in disease incidence and survival. She is currently working with Dr. Louise Brinton, Chief and Senior Investigator, HREB on projects assessing the relationships of adipokines to endometrial cancer risk and endogenous estrogens and metabolites to breast cancer risk in the Fracture Intervention Trial Follow-up Study.



Key Publications:
  • • Dallal CM, Sullivan-Halley J, Ross RK, Wang Y, Deapen D, Horn-Ross PL, Reynolds P, Stram DO, Clarke CA, Anton-Culver H, Ziogas A, Peel D, West DW, Wright W, Bernstein L. Long-term recreational physical activity and risk of invasive and in situ breast cancer: the California teachers study. Arch Intern Med 2007 Feb 26;167(4):408-15.
    • Back to Top

    Barbara Fuhrman, Ph.D.

    Barbara Fuhrman Barbara Fuhrman joined the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics as a post-doctoral fellow in September, 2007. She received a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and Community Health at the University at Buffalo in 2006, a M.S. in Epidemiology from the University at Buffalo, and a B.A. in Spanish from Yale University. Her doctoral research was a study of associations between soy intake, isoflavone metabolism, and mammographic density in a sample of postmenopausal women in Western New York. As a fellow in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program, she worked on studies of estrogen metabolism in relation to westernization and dietary factors among Asian-American women, and on a nested case-control study of circulating estrogen metabolites and breast cancer risk in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) cohort. In September of 2009 she joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch. Proposed studies include a pooled study of hormones and endometrial cancer, and a cross-sectional study of hormonal predictors of mammographic density in postmenopausal women.



    Key Publications:
    Back to Top

    Gretchen L. Gierach, Ph.D.

    Gretchen L. Gierach Gretchen L. Gierach joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) as a NCI Cancer Prevention Fellow in 2006. Dr. Gierach earned both her Masters in Public Health (2004) and Ph.D. (2006) degrees in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh with a focus in cancer epidemiology and women's health and a B.S. in Biobehavioral Health from the Pennsylvania State University (1998). Since joining HREB, Dr. Gierach has worked with Drs. Louise Brinton, Chief and Senior Investigator, HREB and Mark Sherman, Expert, HREB to launch the Breast Radiology Evaluation and Study of Tissues (or "BREAST") Stamp Project, a study within the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. Within the BREAST Stamp Project as well as other studies, Dr. Gierach is investigating hormonal and molecular determinants of mammographic density, an intermediate marker of breast cancer risk. Dr. Gierach's other current projects include examining whether mammographic density differs between women at high and low genetic risk of developing breast cancer, and assessing overall and disease-specific mortality risk associated with gynecologic surgery within the Breast Cancer Detection and Demonstration Project. In 2008 she was awarded the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics Molecular Epidemiology Research Funding Award and the NCI Merit Award in Cancer Prevention Research Training.



    Key Publications:
    Back to Top

    Tamra Meyer, Ph.D.

    Tamra E. Meyer Tamra Meyer joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) in January, 2009 as a postdoctoral fellow working with Ann Hsing, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, HREB. Her Ph.D. work was completed with Eric Boerwinkle, Ph.D. at the University of Texas, School of Public Health in Houston, Texas where she was involved in genetic epidemiology studies of cardiovascular disease and prostate cancer. While with HREB, she will be continuing her work on the genetics of prostate cancer.








    Key Publications:
    Back to Top

    Megan Murphy

    Megan Murphy Megan Murphy joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) as a pre-doctoral CRTA Fellow in June 2009. She is interested in applied biostatistics and cancer epidemiology, and has a special interest in ovarian cancer etiology. She received her B. Eng in Chemical Engineering from McGill University in Montreal in 2004, and spent the three subsequent years working in the biotechnology industry, where she focused on protein purification process development for a monoclonal antibody which targeted CA-125, and which was intended for use as an adjuvant therapy in late stage epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Ms. Murphy received her M.S. in Biostatistics from Columbia University in 2009, and is currently working with Dr. Nicolas Wentzensen and others on the molecular epidemiology of ovarian cancer and other gynecologic malignancies.

    Back to Top

    Trabert, Britton Ph.D.

    Britton Trabert Britton Trabert joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) as a Sallie Rosen Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellow in October, 2009. She received her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Washington in 2009, a Master of Science in biostatistics from the University of Michigan in 2005 and a Master of Science in Public Health in epidemiology from Emory University in 2003. Her dissertation research focused on genetic variability related to hormone metabolism and whether genetic variants modify the association between dietary and environmental risk factors for endometriosis risk. Dr. Trabert’s other research interests have included methodologic considerations for the study of adenomyosis, trends in ectopic pregnancy rates, lifestyle predictors of testicular cancer, genetic associations of breast cancer, as well as associations between vaginal douching, bacterial vaginosis and pre-term delivery. At HREB, Dr. Trabert is involved in projects evaluating the influences of pre- and post-natal risk factors of cancer as well as assessing gynecologic conditions related to cancer.



    Key Publications:
  • • Trabert B, Misra DP, Atherly-Trim S. Risk factors for bacterial vaginosis during pregnancy among African American women. Gynecology 2007 Nov; 197(5):477.e1-8.
Back to Top

Lauren Wilson

Lauren Wilson Lauren Wilson joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) as a pre-doctoral CRTA fellow in August 2009. She completed a Master's Degree (ScM) in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2009, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in that department. Her master's research examined the effect of adult male circumcision on HPV high risk type viral load in a randomized clinical trial. While at HREB, she will work with Dr. Phil Castle on research questions pertaining to the molecular epidemiology of human papillomavirus and cervical carcinogenesis.




Back to Top

Hannah Yang, Ph.D.

Hannah Yang Hannah Yang joined the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch (HREB) as a pre-doctoral fellow in January 2007 and completed her Ph.D. in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2009. For her doctoral dissertation, she worked with Montserrat Garcia-Closas (HREB) on the Polish Endometrial Cancer Study examining the smoking and common genetic variants of estrogen metabolizing genes. During her pre-doctoral fellowship, Hannah has also been working on other endometrial and ovarian cancer projects under the guidance of Drs. Montserrat Garcia-Closas (Senior Investigator, HREB), Louise Brinton (Chief and Senior Investigator, HREB), James Lacey, (Investigator, HREB) and Mark Sherman, (Expert, HREB). Dr. Yang will continue in a postdoctoral fellowship in HREB.



Key Publications:
Back to Top