Division of Epidemiology

July 21, 2022

VIGH, VICC establish cancer research program in Zambia

Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Zambia (UNZA) are partnering on a program to develop a cadre of researchers and educators to lead cancer epidemiology research and training in Zambia.

By Kristin Centers
July 15, 2022

Holowatyj named chair of scientific advisory board for ACPMP Research Foundation

Vanderbilt’s Andreana Holowatyj, PhD, MSCI, has been named the inaugural chair of the scientific advisory board for the Appendix Cancer Pseudomyxoma Peritonei Research Foundation.

By Tom Wilemon
June 20, 2022

Ginseng intake and mortality

Regular ginseng intake, particularly over a long duration, is associated with decreased risk of death from all causes, Vanderbilt researchers discovered in a large epidemiological study.

By Leigh MacMillan
March 29, 2022

There’s no slowing arterial stiffening

Over 10 years, multiple healthy behaviors did not slow the progression of arterial stiffness, a risk factor for coronary artery disease, hypertension, stroke, atrial fibrillation and heart failure.

By Paul Govern
Joseph Breeyear, left, Todd Edwards, PhD, and colleagues are studying how high blood pressure genes can improve heart surgery survival in children.
March 24, 2022

High blood pressure genes improve heart surgery survival in children

Vanderbilt researchers have found that children with a genetic makeup that predicts high blood pressure as adults are more likely to survive congenital heart defect repair surgery.

By Leigh MacMillan
March 10, 2022

Bots boost liver cancer outcome

Vanderbilt researchers report that robotic-assisted surgery is comparable, if not superior, to laparoscopic surgery for early-stage liver cancer patients.

By Leah Mann 
January 27, 2022

New fund supports appendiceal cancer research

By Tom Wilemon
December 13, 2021

Oral microbes and gastric cancer

Studies in three large population cohorts that include Asian, African American and European American people support a role for the oral microbiota — the collection of microbial species in the mouth — in gastric cancer development.
By Leigh MacMillan
November 1, 2021

Breast cancer survivors: eat nuts

Breast cancer survivors who reported eating nuts regularly had 50% reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence, metastasis or mortality, Vanderbilt epidemiologists found in Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study.
By Leigh MacMillan
October 21, 2021

Study to evaluate how environment impacts cancer risk

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center is leading an ambitious project to assess the impact of environmental exposures on cancer risk for people living in Southern states.
By Tom Wilemon
October 14, 2021

Tea drinking and high blood pressure

Habitual tea drinking is associated with a slightly higher risk of hypertension in middle-aged and older Chinese adults, which warrants confirmation by long-term intervention studies, researchers say.
By Sarah E. Glass
September 30, 2021

Study shows how a protein coding gene confers breast cancer susceptibility during DNA transcription

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center research is providing new insights into how genetic variants convey breast cancer susceptibility by altering the transcription factor proteins that convert DNA strands into RNA.
By Tom Wilemon
September 16, 2021

Structural variants in breast cancer risk genes

Vanderbilt epidemiologists conducted in-depth whole genome sequencing of breast cancer risk genes in Black women, who die at higher rates and have more aggressive disease, to discover mutations that may improve testing and treatment selection.
By Leigh MacMillan