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Brenda Melanie Birmann, Sc.D.

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Biography
awards and honors
2012
Young Scientist Award
2017
Channing Division of Network Medicine Juinor Faculty Award

Overview
overview
I am a cancer epidemiologist with a primary research focus on the etiology of multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. My active studies are based in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study cohorts and include examinations of both environment- and lifestyle-related and biomarker-characterized risk factors. To date, we have evaluated body mass index and other anthropometric measures, physical activity, aspirin use, hair dye use, rotating shift work, dietary pattern, as well as genetic and/or serologic biomarkers of immune, growth factor, or adipokine dysregulation or inflammation and risk of these cancers in local studies and in collaboration with external cohorts. I currently co-lead a large pooled study of time-varying non-genetic risk factors for multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and common histologic and tissue molecular subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in our local cohorts and four external cohorts. I also lead an even larger collaboration of eight cohorts focused on geospatially estimated ambient exposure to certain environmental pollutants in relation to risk of multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Additionally, I have led or collaborated on numerous studies in large international consortia, where I have also held co-founding and/or other leadership roles: the International Lymphoma Epidemiology (InterLymph) Consortium, the International Multiple Myeloma Consortium (now the Myeloma Working Group of InterLymph) and the Lymphoid Malignancies Working Group of the National Cancer Institute Cohort Consortium. I also represent the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study in the InterLymph genome-wide association study of lymphoid malignancies. I have also led or contributed to studies of Hodgkin lymphoma and of clonal hematopoiesis and of the role of asymptomatic oncogenic infections in the etiology of lymphoid malignancies.
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Research
research activities and funding
The research activities and funding listed below are automatically derived from NIH ExPORTER and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing items. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
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  1. 1R01ES034079 (Birmann, Brenda M) Jan 15, 2024 - Oct 31, 2028
    NIH/NIEHS
    Geospatially modeled environmental risk factors for lymphoid malignancies
    Role: Principal Invesgiator
  2. P30ES000002 (Birmann, Brenda M) Apr 1, 2021 - Dec 31, 2022
    Harvard Chan-NIEHS Center for Environmental Health
    Association of geospatially modeled (non-occupational) exposure to dioxins and other hazardous air pollutants with lymphoid malignancies and lymphoma-related biomarkers: a pilot study
    Role: Principal Investigator
  3. Award ID 631796 (Birmann, Brenda M) Jan 1, 2020 - Dec 31, 2022
    American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)
    Diet and physical activity in the etiology of NHL, major NHL subtypes and MM: a prospective multi-cohort investigation
    Role: Principal Investigator
  4. R01AA024770 (FERRARI, PIETRO) Aug 15, 2016 - Jul 31, 2021
    NIH
    A pooling project on alcohol use and risk of cancers with inconsistent prior evidence, with an emphasis in non-smokers.
    Role: Co-Investigator
  5. R01CA202712 (WANG, SOPHIA S) Aug 1, 2016 - Jul 31, 2021
    NIH
    Risk factors for molecular subtypes of NHL a prospective evaluation
    Role: Principal Investigator

Bibliographic
selected publications
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© 2024 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Funded by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences through its Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program, grant number UL1TR002541.