Osteoporosis drug investigated in premenopausal women to see if it reduces breast density
Breast cancer prevention trial underway (Links to an external site)

Department of Surgery
Osteoporosis drug investigated in premenopausal women to see if it reduces breast density
Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control will benefit from researchers on Danforth and Medical campuses
Mary C. Politi, PhD, was awarded a three-year, $1.2 million Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) R18 grant titled “Implementing a Breast Reconstruction Decision Support Tool in Diverse Practice Settings.” The project is a multi-site study using an evidence-based tool called BREASTChoice that was previously developed and tested at Siteman Cancer Center and implementing […]
Yikyung Park, ScD, was appointed to the NIH Cancer, Heart, and Sleep Epidemiology Panel A (CHSA) study section. As a member of the study section she will help review grant applications submitted to the NIH focused on epidemiological research on environmental, behavioral, genetic, epigenetic, and molecular risk factors in cancer, cardiovascular disease, and sleep in […]
The Division of Public Health Sciences is excited to welcome two more new faculty! Ashley Housten, OTD, OTR, MSCI, MPA and Michelle Silver, PhD, ScM both begin as assistant professors of surgery on July 1st. Dr. Housten comes to us from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where she has served […]
Yikyung Park, ScD was appointed as a Visiting Professor for 2019-2021 at the National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy in South Korea. The National Cancer Center in Korea is equivalent to the NCI in the U.S. The Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy focuses on educating future leaders and researchers in […]
Researchers in the Division of Public Health Sciences, including Yin Cao, ScD; Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH; Chao Cao, MPH; and Yikyung Park, ScD, have published a new study in JAMA that elucidates “Trends in Sedentary Behavior Among the US Population, 2001-2016.” Sitting for long periods of time, especially while watching television, has been associated with multiple […]
The Division of Public Health Sciences welcomes new faculty member Fei Wan, PhD, as Assistant Professor. He will work with our biostatistics shared resource to collaborate on projects in the Siteman Cancer Center. Dr. Wan comes to us from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Biostatistics, where he has served as Assistant […]
Bettina Drake, PhD, MPH, associate professor of surgery, has been awarded a U.S. Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program grant to study “Treatment Options and Survival of Metastatic Prostate Cancer Patients.” The project will look at a prostate cancer cohort from VA hospitals to explore the survival benefit among men diagnosed with metastatic prostate […]
The Division of Public Health Sciences welcomes new faculty member Lisa Klesges, PhD, who will join us at the level of Professor on April 1. Over the past ten years, Dr. Klesges has served as Professor of Epidemiology, Director, and Founding Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Memphis. Previously, she […]
In an article out this week in JNCI Cancer Spectrum, Yin Cao, ScD, MPH, assistant professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, et.al. found that prolonged sedentary TV viewing time was associated with increased risk of young-onset colorectal cancer (CRC), or CRC diagnosed before the age of 50. This study […]
Yikyung Park, ScD, associate professor of surgery, has received a three-year, $969,000 R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute. The project, Temporal Dietary Patterns: Development and Evaluation against Adiposity and Metabolic Biomarkers, will identify dietary patterns based on when and how often people eat during a day and will evaluate if those patterns are […]
Jean Hunleth, PhD, MPH, instructor of surgery and anthropology, has been awarded the 2018 Elliott P. Skinner Book Award from the Association of Africanist Anthropology for her book Children as Caregivers: The Global Fight against Tuberculosis and HIV in Zambia (2017, Rutgers University Press). This annual award recognizes exemplary work in advancing African Studies […]
A new study led by Yin Cao, ScD, MPH, assistant professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, shows a link between weight gain and increased risk of young-onset colorectal cancer. Rates of colorectal cancer diagnosed in people under age 50 are going up and researchers are searching for possible reasons […]
Ying Liu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, has received a three-year, $1,075,887 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The project, Residential Mobility, Treatment Quality and Survival in Low-Income Women with Breast Cancer, will study how relocation after a cancer diagnosis impacts follow-up care for low-income patients, and thus, effects their treatment. Dr. Liu […]
Erika Waters, PhD, MPH, associate professor of surgery in the Division of Public Health Sciences, has received a three year, nine month R01 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The $2,584,000 project, Child asthma exacerbation: Role of caregiver risk beliefs, aims to lay the groundwork for improving interventions for caregivers of children with asthma. […]
Bettina Drake, PhD, MPH, associate professor of surgery in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named associate director of cancer health equity for Siteman Cancer Center. In this newly formed position, Drake will oversee Siteman’s community outreach and engagement and will work to promote […]
Community outreach and educational support for navigating health insurance options available in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace are crucial for helping people choose the best plan based on their individual needs, according to researchers, health policy experts and community partners across Missouri – one of 19 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid eligibility. Such efforts […]
This past fall, PECaD dedicated resources to creating and updating the 8 Ways to Reduce Cancer brochure series for the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Studies. PECaD’s partnership with the Buder Center has grown tremendously within the past few years. In feedback PECaD received from community members was a lack of educational information for […]
In spring 2017, the Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD) expanded the 8ight Ways brochure series to include large print versions and Vietnamese editions of each brochure. With these two projects, PECaD hopes to provide cancer prevention education and information to new subgroups in the St. Louis region. PECaD recognizes the need to be […]
October 2016 PECaD is excited to announce the completion of the 8 Ways translation project. In fall 2015, PECaD began translating the 8 Ways brochures into Spanish and Bosnian. Each 8 Ways brochure highlights tips to reduce a person’s risk for breast cancer, colon cancer, staying healthy before cancer, and tips to stay healthy after […]
Download Graham Colditz’s Grand Rounds presentation from Dec. 4, 2015. To view Graham Colditz’s faculty profile, please visit this website.
Read Dr. Colditz’s article on The Huffington Post: “Half of all cancers are preventable: Lower your risk with these eight steps.”
“Mental health affects people’s social and economic opportunities, and in turn, social and economic opportunity affects mental health,” says Darrell L. Hudson, PhD, assistant professor in the Brown School at Washington University about a study aimed at improving mental health in St. Louis. Washington University public health science researchers Bettina F. Drake, PhD, and Melody […]
Read the story here: “Study on health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis releases first policy brief”
Read the story here: “Program links researchers, community to improve public health”
Read the press release here: “School-age drinking increases breast cancer risk”
Click to read Dr. Goodman’s op/ed in the St. Louis American.
Ross Brownson, PhD, Brown School of Public Health faculty with a secondary appointment in the Division of Public Health Sciences, was recently featured in The Record in an article called “From the mountains to Missouri, Brownson is an expert in chronic disease prevention.”
Read more about the Photovoice project here.
Dr. Kate Wolin appeared on The Dr. Oz Show to talk about research-proven ways to lower your risk of ovarian cancer. Watch all three parts of the video here.
Ross C. Brownson, PhD, professor of medicine and of social work at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named president-elect of the American College of Epidemiology. See Washington University School of Medicine press release.
Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH, chief of the Division of Public Health Sciences and the Niess-Gain Professor in the School of Medicine, made the keynote presentation at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Cancer Center “Risk Prediction Workshop” on April 27,2012. View Risk Prediction: Lessons from 20+ Years of Research
Washington University School of Medicine Press ReleaseJuly 13, 2011By Julia Evangelou Strait TIM PARKER Washington University surgeons perform a bariatric surgical procedure. Bariatric surgery is not only cost-effective for treating people who are severely obese, but also for those who are mildly obese, according to a new study from Washington University School of […]
Washington University School of Medicine press releaseApril 5, 2011By Julia Evangelou Strait Graham Colditz, MD, PhD An editorial in the April 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association cautions against estrogen-only hormone therapy in women who have had a hysterectomy because of longstanding evidence that it raises the risk of breast cancer. The editorial […]
Washington University School of Medicine Press ReleaseBy Diane Duke WilliamsApril 5, 2011 Graham Colditz, MD, DrPh Preventing disease and improving public health are the goals of a new division created at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Through our research and education efforts, we hope to translate research discoveries into policies that keep […]
Washington University School of Medicine Press ReleaseJuly 6, 2011By Julia Evangelou Strait Sarah Gehlert, PhD Health-care specialists at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital are working to improve breast cancer care for African-American women living in North St. Louis City, where death rates […]
From the Washington University RecordOctober 6, 2010By Lee Phillion Victoria Anwuri (left), project manager for the Program for Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD), and Aimee James, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, look over materials related to their research into health disparities. Each day, 3,400 people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer and another […]
Melody Goodman, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, has been appointed to one of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Regional Health Equity Councils. The 10 Regional Health Equity Councils across the nation are part of the HHS’s National Stakeholder […]
Washington University School of Medicine Press ReleaseBy Julia Evangelou Strait Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been awarded a $9.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study the relationship between obesity and cancer. The five-year grant will fund the new Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer (TREC) […]
From the Washington University RecordBy Beth Miller This fall, Washington University School of Medicine is launching a Master of Population Health Sciences degree. The program, for medical students, resident physicians, clinical fellows and physicians, will provide training in health-sciences research methods and population health, which seeks to improve the health of groups, communities and populations […]
Washington University press releaseBy Gwen Ericson An ambitious new study has added considerable weight to the claim that exercise can lower the risk for colon cancer. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard University combined and analyzed several decades worth of data from past studies on how exercise affects colon […]
Washington University press releaseBy Gwen Ericson Cancer death rates in the United States are highest among African Americans, but a new report shows that in Missouri the disparity in cancer incidence and death between African Americans and whites is declining. As a result, cancer incidence (the rate of newly diagnosed cases) between the races is […]
Washington University press releaseBy Caroline Arbanas Girls and young women who exercise regularly between the ages of 12-35 have a substantially lower risk of breast cancer before menopause compared with less active women, new research shows. In the largest and most detailed analysis to date of the effects of exercise on premenopausal breast cancer, the […]
Washington University Press ReleaseBy Lee Phillion In a scientific study of secondhand smoke exposure in St. Louis bars and restaurants, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis found that ventilation systems and “voluntary” smoke-free policies do not protect employees and customers from exposure to nicotine in the air. Exposure to secondhand smoke is an established […]
Washington University Press ReleaseBy Jim Dryden Consistent exercise is associated with a lower risk of dying from colon cancer, according to a new study led by researchers at the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. The study is among the first to show that physical activity […]
Colditz is a renowned leader in cancer prevention From the Washington University RecordBy Caroline Arbanas Growing up in Sydney, Australia, Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, always knew he wanted to be a primary-care physician — just like his father. But when he got to medical school, Colditz was struck by the kinds of patients he saw […]