Basic Laboratory Research Themes in Oncology
Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study of how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why. Epidemiological information identifies risk factors for disease and is used to plan and evaluate public health strategies for preventative medicine and as a guide to management of patients who already have the disease. A key feature of epidemiology is the measurement of disease outcomes in relation to a population at risk of developing the disease.
Epidemiological research involves study design, development of statistical models to test hypotheses, data collection and analysis and the documentation of results.
Departmental research within this thematic focuses on the study of genetic susceptibility to common cancers (breast, oesophageal, ovararian, prostate and stomach cancer), the emphasis being on genes that underlie polygenic predisposition to these cancers . These studies are carried out in close collaboration with the epidemiology groups in the Strangeways Research Laboratories led by Professor Bruce Ponder, Doug Easton and Paul Pharoah.
Research projects within this thematic includes:
- Alison Dunning - Genome Wide Association Studies, Confirmation and Fine-Scale Mapping of discovered Loci
- Tony Green - Haematopoietic Stem Cells and Leukaemia
- Paul Pharoah - The Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer
- Bruce Ponder - Genetic Susceptibility to Cancer