BUFFALO, NY – Molecular epidemiology is an independent scientific discipline at the crossroads of epidemiology and molecular sciences. Christine Ambrosone, PhD, Chair of the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), will present a methods workshop on the topic at the 2008 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), April 12-16, in San Diego, CA.

“Approaches to Molecular Epidemiology of Cancer Prognosis”
Methods Workshop
Tuesday, April 15 – 10:40 am PST
Room 6D, San Diego Convention Center

Molecular epidemiology studies are designed to overcome the limitation of traditional approaches in epidemiology by measuring events relevant to exposure, disease development and response to therapy, reducing exposure and outcome misclassification and identifying determinants of individual susceptibility to disease and treatment response.

Dr. Ambrosone will discuss practical issues in the design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of studies in molecular cancer epidemiology as well as new technologies for genotyping that have led to a new generation of studies for identifying cancer genes.

“Molecular epidemiology offers a framework for applying novel molecular techniques to population and clinical studies,” said Dr. Ambrosone. “This discipline provides a bridge that integratesepidemiologic methods with modern molecular biology,thus allowing for a comprehensive approach to cancer research.”          

With this methods workshop, Dr. Ambrosone continues to play a leadership role at AACR. She is co-founder and past chair (2006) of the Molecular Epidemiology Group of AACR and serves on the Board of Scientific Advisors for the National Cancer Institute. Additionally, Dr. Ambrosone has received AACR recognition for her outstanding scientific contributions, including a Service Award (2000) and a Special Recognition Award (1999). She also has received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the US Food & Drug Administration (1997) and the Thomas B. Tomasi Achievement Award from Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and in China. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.