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Karin Michels, ScD, PhD |
A new phase of the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (BCERP), focused on prevention, is being launched at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and BWH has been chosen as one of seven institutions to carry out the new research, which will involve racially and ethnically diverse communities and expand the study of risk factors that precede breast cancer, such as breast density.
This broadened research focus will add to the growing knowledge of environmental and genetic factors that may influence breast cancer risk across the lifespan. The six BCERP projects, plus a new coordinating center promoting cross-project collaboration, are jointly funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Cancer Institute. All projects involve strong transdisciplinary partnerships between researchers and organizations focused on breast cancer prevention or environmental health and include collaborations across federal agencies and communication of the science to the public.
Karin B. Michels, ScD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, will lead the research at BWH, which will study environmental chemicals and postpubertal breast composition in a Latino cohort. An important focus of BCERP is on minority and socio-economically disadvantaged women--an important step in addressing disparities in breast cancer outcomes.
The NIH, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation's medical research agency and includes 27 institutes and centers. It is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and investigating the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases.
