For the second year in a row, a Yale School of Public Health graduate has received the Student Prize Paper award from the American College of Epidemiology (ACE).
Leah Ferrucci, who received her Ph.D. this spring for her work in the division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, will be honored at ACE’s annual meeting in the fall for her research paper linking intake of meat, meat cooking practices, and various components of meat with risk of colorectal adenomas, which are considered precursors to colorectal cancer.
After receiving her M.P.H. in 2006 from Yale, Ferrucci applied and was selected for the Yale University–National Cancer Institute (NCI) Partnership Training Program, a fellowship that trains students in modern methodologies for examining lifestyle determinants of human cancer risk. This partnership training program is unique to Yale, and gives Ph.D. students the ability to train both at Yale and the NCI. The program provides mentorship by experts at both institutions, and access to unique research resources held by the NCI.
Ferrucci drew upon a new quantitative database to analyze the relationship between heme iron, a compound found predominantly in red meat, and precancerous changes in the colon. Her research used a study of women who had received colonoscopies and had also answered detailed questions about their diets and typical methods of meat preparation. “We observed positive associations with red meat and pan–fried meat and colorectal adenomas,” said Ferrucci. “When we evaluated heme iron, we found a suggestive positive association, but this was not statistically significant.” To fully understand the role of heme iron in carcinogenesis, she said, future research may need to evaluate individual variation in iron metabolism and absorption.
“Evaluating diet in relation to cancer is important because it is a modifiable behavior. We hope that with further study of the mechanisms at play in the relationship between meat and neoplasia, we can provide refined information for organizations making health guidelines,” she said.
Ferrucci, who remains at the NCI as a post–doctoral fellow in its Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, is pursuing further analyses of meat in relation to breast, colorectal, and bladder cancer, with specific interests in heme iron; potentially carcinogenic compounds formed during cooking; and chemicals, such as nitrate and nitrite, that are added to processed meats.
Ferrucci’s advisors at Yale were Susan Mayne, professor in the division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, and Xiaomei Ma, assistant professor in the same division, who partnered with Rashmi Sinha, Amanda Cross, and Barry Graubard from the NCI in mentoring Ferrucci.
“The ability to work with experts from Yale and NCI, learn their unique approaches to research, and have access to vast datasets has proven invaluable in my research,” said Ferrucci.
Additional Student Honors
Two other YSPH students, Olanrewaju Akintujoye and Artem Kopelev, were each recently named recipients of the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship. Eleven of the scholarships are awarded annually for students pursuing careers in health policy. Akintujoye is in the Health Management program and Kopelev is in Health Policy and Administration.