UB Research Takes Center Stage In American Journal of Epidemiology

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University at Buffalo has trained some of the most respected epidemiologists in the U.S. and produced significant and innovative research in cancer, occupational, environmental, nutritional, reproductive and cardiovascular epidemiology.

In recognition of its contributions to the field, the Dec. 2 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology is dedicated to research by faculty members and graduates of the UB Department of Social and Preventive Medicine.

"The publication of this issue celebrates the rich legacy of the department and the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences," said Maurizio Trevisan, M.D., professor and chair of the department. "It affirms the important contribution that our training programs have made to the field of epidemiology and prevention."

Saxon Graham, Ph.D., one of the pioneers in the study of the relationship of diet and disease, spent his career at the University at Buffalo, where he conducted some of the earliest studies in the U.S. on the health benefits of a diet high in vegetables containing beta carotene, now shown to lower the risk of certain cancers.

Jo L. Freudenheim, Ph.D., associate professor, has continued that research, and in the past decade has earned a reputation as one of the nation's leading nutritional epidemiologists.

• It was designated as one of 15 vanguard centers for the NIH's Women's Health Initiative, one of the largest clinical trials every assembled, focusing on diseases specific to women.

• More than $12 million in funded research is currently under way, including studies of the effects of lifestyle on lung cancer and heart disease, health effects of eating Lake Ontario fish, relationship of alcohol and breast cancer and relationship of gum disease and heart disease. • Trevisan was the first to show the beneficial dietary effects of olive oil in population-based studies.

• John Vena, Ph.D., professor and associate chair, has defined several nutritional and environmental factors that influence the risk of bladder cancer

• Germaine Buck, M.D., associate professor and one of the nation's most respected specialists in epidemiology of infertility, in 1994 received one of two research fellowships awarded in the U.S. by the Merck Company foundation and the Society for Epidemiology Research. She is conducting a long-term study of tubal ligation.

The issue's lead article, "Body Mass Index and Mortality in a General Population Sample of Men and Women," authored by Joan M. Dorn, Ph.D., assistant professor, reports that being overweight is a significant mortality risk factor for women and men less than 65 years old.

• "Lactation History and Breast Cancer Risk" -- Jo. L. Freudenheim, Ph.D.

• "Oxidative Stress and Lung Function" -- Holger J. Schunemann, M.D., research assistant professor

• "Consumption of Contaminated Sport Fish from Lake Ontario and Time-to-Pregnancy, New York Angler Cohort" -- Germaine M. Buck, Ph.D.

• "Consumption of PCB-Contaminated Fresh Water Fish and Shortened Menstrual Cycle Length" -- Pauline Mendola, Ph.D., formerly of UB, now of the EPA

• "Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Problems: A Longitudinal Perspective" -- Beth Steger Moscato, Ph.D., research assistant professor

• "Physical Activity, Obesity and Diabetes" -- Timothy D. Dye, Ph.D., a 1990 graduate of the department, now at the University of Rochester

The issue begins with historical overviews of the UB medical school -- which marked its sesquicentennial in 1996 -- the department and epidemiology in Western New York, dating back to 1843. Graduate Philip C. Nasca, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, writes on current problems and future opportunities in the field and graduate Christine B. Ambrosone, Ph.D., discusses the new field of molecular epidemiology.

The final two studies concern the reliability of study participants' reports of lifetime drinking history (by Marcia Russell, UB clinical professor) and of reports of pap smears, breast exams and mammograms (by Richard B. Warnecke, Ph.D., formerly of UB, now of the University of Illinois at Chicago).

Graduates of the department include top officials and/or researchers at the National Cancer Institute, Monsanto Co., the National Center for Toxicological Research, New York State Department of Health, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Illinois Department of Public Health, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Iowa and Northern California Cancer Center.

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