Yale Cancer Center

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Yale University Recipient of First NCI Graduate Program Partnership in Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics

For Immediate Release
Date : 11/12/03

Contact : Renee Gaudette (203) 785-2143

Yale University has been chosen by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as the first site in the nation to officially partner with the NCI for pre-doctoral training in cancer epidemiology. Selected following a request for applications, the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale will partner with the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) to create an innovative training program utilizing the resources of both institutions. Susan Mayne, PhD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and overall principal investigator for the grant and program, explained, "the next generation of cancer epidemiologists requires multidisciplinary training and access to resources that are difficult to find at a single academic institution. This novel collaboration between Yale and the NCI will benefit both institutions and help to prepare future leaders investigating determinants of human cancer risk."

The program will admit the first students in September 2004 and will support tuition and dissertation research for 4-6 pre-doctoral students while they train in modern methodologies for evaluating lifestyle factors associated with cancer risk, with an emphasis on nutritional, environmental, and occupational determinants. The program will include in-class instruction at Yale University along with a summer training program at the National Cancer Institute. Students will select two mentors from Yale and two from the NCI, who will then serve as the student's dissertation advisory committee. The dissertation research will be conducted at the NCI DCEG, giving students access to the extensive resources, research, and expertise available at the DCEG. Upon successful completion of the program, Yale University will award the students their doctoral degree.

"Yale has previously partnered with the NCI on an ad hoc basis and we are pleased to strengthen that partnership through this collaborative training effort. We fully expect that graduates of this program will be uniquely qualified to be future leaders in the field of cancer epidemiology and genetics," Mayne said.

Harvey Risch, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Tongzhang Zheng, B.Med., Sc.D., Sc.M., Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, serve on the steering committee with Dr. Mayne at Yale University. Demetrius Albanes, MD, leads the partnership for NCI as head of the DCEG Office of Education, and is assisted by NCI DCEG steering committee members Aaron Blair, PhD, MPH, Chief of the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, and Arthur Schatzkin, MD, DrPH, Chief of the Nutritional Epidemiology Branch. Students interested in the program should contact Susan Mayne, PhD, at susan.mayne@yale.edu or 203.785.6274. The application deadline for fall 2004 admission is January 2, 2004.