Melissa Friesen
Professor Adjunct (Environmental Health)About
Research
Publications
2026
Reliability of interrater occupation coding and potential impact on occupational exposure assessment
Ge C, Friesen M, Locke S, Rothman N, Lan Q, Vermeulen R. Reliability of interrater occupation coding and potential impact on occupational exposure assessment. Annals Of Work Exposures And Health 2026, 70: wxag013. PMID: 42276589, DOI: 10.1093/annweh/wxag013.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsJob-exposure matrixJob codesInternational Standard ClassificationOccupational codesCoding agreementHospital-based case-control studyJEM estimatesOccupational epidemiological studiesWeighted Cohen's kappaCase-control studyExposure assessmentISCO-88Stratified analysisPercentage agreementExposure assignmentCoder pairsEpidemiological studiesCohen's kappaJob descriptionsOccupational studiesExposure estimatesStudy phaseCenter 1Occupational exposure assessmentMainland ChinaEvaluation of using the SOCcer automated occupation auto-coding algorithm to assist expert coding of job descriptions
Josse P, Russ D, Orszag L, Peters C, Shen-Tu G, Vena J, Friesen M. Evaluation of using the SOCcer automated occupation auto-coding algorithm to assist expert coding of job descriptions. Annals Of Work Exposures And Health 2026, 70: wxag031. PMID: 42148517, PMCID: PMC13181392, DOI: 10.1093/annweh/wxag031.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsExpert codingBurden of expertsScore differencesCoderIndependent codingCoding protocolScoring codesExpert codersCodeDouble-codedMultiple reviewersSoccerInsufficient resourcesStandard occupancyTop-scoringJob descriptionsExpertsOccupational studiesPlatformScoresProtocolAlgorithmS1 scoreEvaluationJobEnhancing a job exposure matrix with subject-specific information to assess combined exposure to benzene, toluene, and xylene in a case-control study
Friesen M, Xie S, Locke S, Baris D, Schwenn M, Rothman N, Johnson A, Karagas M, Koutros S, Silverman D. Enhancing a job exposure matrix with subject-specific information to assess combined exposure to benzene, toluene, and xylene in a case-control study. Annals Of Work Exposures And Health 2026, 70: wxag014. PMID: 41886428, PMCID: PMC13020535, DOI: 10.1093/annweh/wxag014.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPopulation-based case-control studyLifetime occupational historyJob-exposure matrixCase-control studyExposure informationCase-control study of bladder cancerCancer case-control studyBladder cancer case-control studyStudy of bladder cancerCumulative exposure metricsExposure to benzeneExposure matrixSubject levelHistory of subjectsExposure heterogeneityCumulative exposureOccupational historyExposure metricsModerate agreementSpearman correlationJob recordsUpdating our quantification of non-occupational pesticide exposure in agricultural settings: A revised algorithm for the agricultural health study
Xie S, Deziel N, Josse P, Madrigal J, Parks C, Sandler D, Andreotti G, Ward M, Hofmann J, Freeman L, Friesen M. Updating our quantification of non-occupational pesticide exposure in agricultural settings: A revised algorithm for the agricultural health study. Environmental Advances 2026, 23: 100690. PMID: 41878220, PMCID: PMC13007922, DOI: 10.1016/j.envadv.2026.100690.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
2025
8290363 The international partnership on automatic job coding (IPAJC): a hub for automatic job and industry coding tools and expertise for occupational health research
Ge C, Elias P, Friesen M, Kononykhina O, Marovich S, Peters C, Russ D, Schierholz M, Sweeney E, Adisesh A. 8290363 The international partnership on automatic job coding (IPAJC): a hub for automatic job and industry coding tools and expertise for occupational health research. 2025, a130.1-a130. DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2025-epicohabstracts.323.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchA case-control study of early-life residential exposure to tetrachloroethylene and risks of childhood cancer and birth defects
Rhee J, Michalski A, Kuliszewski M, Musco J, Adler C, Xie S, Friesen M, Insaf T, Purdue M. A case-control study of early-life residential exposure to tetrachloroethylene and risks of childhood cancer and birth defects. Environment International 2025, 201: 109600. PMID: 40516285, PMCID: PMC12235603, DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109600.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsRisk of childhood cancerCase-control studyChildhood cancerNew York CityNew York State Cancer RegistryBureau of Vital StatisticsOdds ratioCases of childhood cancerState Cancer RegistryNon-whiteConfidence intervalsUnconditional logistic regressionComputed odds ratiosBirth Defects RegistryBirth defectsCancer RegistryExposure-response effectTetrachloroethylene exposureBirth certificatesVital statisticsResidential exposureInvestigate associationsCollege-educatedLogistic regressionStrong associationsBenzene exposure and risk of colorectal cancer by anatomical subsite in the Norwegian offshore petroleum workers cohort
Babigumira R, Veierød M, Larsen I, Berge L, Shala N, Marjerrison N, Samuelsen S, Bråtveit M, Kirkeleit J, Nordby K, Hosgood H, Demers P, Vermeulen R, Kromhout H, Engel L, Nilsen T, Silverman D, Friesen M, Rothman N, Lan Q, Grimsrud T, Stenehjem J. Benzene exposure and risk of colorectal cancer by anatomical subsite in the Norwegian offshore petroleum workers cohort. Environmental Research 2025, 276: 121407. PMID: 40118315, DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.121407.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchRisk of colorectal cancerOffshore petroleum workersJob-exposure matrixHazard ratioColorectal cancerAnatomic subsiteColorectal cancer riskConfidence intervalsColorectal cancer casesEstimate hazard ratiosCase-cohort analysisPetroleum workersWork historyExposure-response associationsPositive exposure-response associationsBody mass indexRight-sided colon cancerPublic health implicationsPhysical activityBenzene exposureMeat intakeAlcohol intakeQuartile 4Mass indexCase cohortOccupational exposures and kidney cancer among 25 000 male offshore petroleum industry workers: relative risks and healthy worker survivor bias
Shala N, Veierød M, Babigumira R, Berge L, Samuelsen S, Kirkeleit J, Bråtveit M, Friesen M, Keil A, Silverman D, Rothman N, Qing L, Stenehjem J, Grimsrud T. Occupational exposures and kidney cancer among 25 000 male offshore petroleum industry workers: relative risks and healthy worker survivor bias. American Journal Of Epidemiology 2025, 195: 81-91. PMID: 40036895, PMCID: PMC12780764, DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwaf039.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchHealthy worker survivor biasCumulative exposure to benzeneSurvivor biasKidney cancerOffshore petroleum workersOccupational exposureExposure-response trendsPetroleum workersPetroleum industry workersHigh-risk individualsCase-cohort designNational registry dataWeighted Cox regressionIncident cancerExposure to benzeneHealth conditionsRegistry dataNon-casesEmployment durationConfidence intervalsCox regressionOccupational impactOccupational diseasesInverse trendWorkersSolvent exposure, genetic susceptibility, and risk of bladder cancer
Tadesse D, Rothman N, Xie S, Hurwitz L, Friesen M, Baris D, Schwenn M, Johnson A, Karagas M, Silverman D, Koutros S. Solvent exposure, genetic susceptibility, and risk of bladder cancer. Cancer Prevention Research 2025, 18: 283-290. PMID: 39995157, PMCID: PMC12045719, DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.capr-24-0434.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchBladder cancer riskRisk of bladder cancerNew England Bladder Cancer StudyCancer riskPopulation-based case-control studyOdds ratioIncreased bladder cancer riskIncreased risk of bladder cancerConfidence intervalsCumulative exposure to benzeneCancer susceptibility lociJob-exposure matrixCalculate odds ratiosBladder cancerLifetime occupational exposureGenetic risk variantsCase-control studyMultivariate logistic regressionBladder Cancer StudyExposure to benzeneSusceptibility lociLogistic regressionOccupational historyRisk variantsCancer studies
2024
Estimated exposure to endotoxin and circulating immunological markers among male farmers in the Biomarkers of Exposure and Effect in Agriculture study
Ezennia S, Freeman L, Chang V, Xie S, Sandler D, Andreotti G, Parks C, Friesen M, Hofmann J. Estimated exposure to endotoxin and circulating immunological markers among male farmers in the Biomarkers of Exposure and Effect in Agriculture study. Occupational And Environmental Medicine 2024, 81: 635-638. PMID: 39746796, PMCID: PMC11821429, DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2024-109646.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsExposure to endotoxinImmune markersAssociated with reduced lung cancer riskEndotoxin exposureEstimated geometric mean ratiosCirculating immune markersMacrophage-derived chemokine/CCL22Reduced risk of lung cancerLevels of fibroblast growth factor-2Decreased levelsMultiplex bead-based assayRisk of lung cancerExposure-response mannerExposed to endotoxinAssociated with increased levelsLung cancer riskFibroblast growth factor-2Immunological alterationsGrowth factor 2Serum levelsImmunological markersSIL-4RLung cancerBead-based assayMultivariate linear regression