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Epidemiology Program
The major emphasis of the Epidemiology Program is on epidemiologic research in Hawaii’s multiethnic population. Researchers in this program seek to identify both exogenous and endogenous factors that increase or decrease the risk of cancer and its precursors. The program has a strong molecular component that provides investigators with the capability to include laboratory assays for genetic variants, infectious agents, and biochemical markers of exposure in their studies. In addition, there is considerable strength in nutritional assessment. Faculty members reflect expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, and nutrition.
The major focus of the Program for many years has been on studies that explore the wide variations in cancer incidence rates among the diverse ethnic groups in Hawaii as a means of advancing etiologic research on cancer. A special emphasis has been placed on the role of dietary constituents that may either enhance or reduce the risk of cancer. Interactions between the diet and other external factors, such as infectious agents, or host susceptibility factors, such as polymorphisms in genes involved in the metabolism of food constituents or hormones, are areas of intense current research activity. Ongoing funded research projects use case-control, cohort, and other methodologies to test hypotheses related to the etiology of breast, prostate, colorectum, cervix, ovary, lung and other cancers. Intervention trials that test the potential benefits of particular dietary modifications, such as fat reduction and increased intake of plant foods, comprise another area of research interest.
The research in the Program is highly interactive. For example, several of the epidemiology and biostatistics faculty are participants in a Program Project Grant on diet and cancer. Other interactions involve biochemists, pathologists, geneticists, nutritionists, and behavioral scientists. These collaborations encompass faculty within the Center, elsewhere in the University of Hawaii, and at other U.S. and international institutions.