Dr. Ogino is Chief, Program in MPE Molecular Pathological Epidemiology of Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital. He has been expanding the integrative interdisciplinary science of molecular pathological epidemiology (MPE). He is an Affilate Member of Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He has been serving as the Chair or Co-Chair for The International MPE Meeting Series since 2013 (www.mpemeeting.org).
Leveraging my unique interdisciplinary expertise, I have been developing transdisciplinary science of MPE (Ogino et al. J Natl Cancer Inst 2010; Gut 2011; Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2011; Epidemiology 2016; Annu Rev Pathol 2019) to unleash the full potential of the integrated research approach. Based on the paradigm of the seamlessly unified field of MPE, several new concepts and fields have emerged as below. Our proof-of-principle project utilized the prospective cohort design including a longitudinal exposure data collection integrated with data on colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence subtyped by a tumor tissue biomarker. That has been possible only with my establishment of a "prospective cohort incident tumor tissue biobank / database" of cancer cases that had occurred in prospective cohort studies. There were substantial challenges in establishing such a biobank, as incident tumors in the prospective cohort studies (the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study) had happened in different (U.S.-wide) geographic areas at variable unpredictable time points. There exist very few similar biobanks that have collected incident tumor tissue from persons who have developed tumors during prospective follow-up of a large population. My creation of the large-scale prospective cohort incident tumor tissue biobank is by itself a rare innovation that has enabled the novel style of studies.
Our proof-of-principle project utilized the prospective cohort design including a longitudinal exposure data collection integrated with data on colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence subtyped by a tumor tissue biomarker. Our first study (Chan et al. New Engl J Med 2007) successfully linked long-term aspirin use with decreased incidence of PTGS2-positive CRC and drew much attention. As of 2024 (17 years later), no other group has conducted a similar analysis.
We could also link long-term low folate intake with increased incidence of LINE-1 hypomethylated CRC (Schernhammer et al. Gut 2010). In the list of my innovations below, we also successfully linked high-level vitamin D status with decreased incidence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL)-high colorectal carcinoma (Song et al. Gut 2016). Furthermore, we could link the prudent diet pattern with decreased incidence of CRC containing abundant Fusobacterium nucleatum, a pathogenic bacterial species (Mehta et al. JAMA Oncol 2017). All of these and other MPE studies that examined tumor incidence (by subtypes) in relation to long-term exposure measures can be duly called “historical”. Despite the fact that these studies have drawn much attention, no other (very few if any) group has been able to conduct similar analyses using the prospective cohort design. My contribution to these scientific innovations has been unique and historical.
...Our research has broad themes: the integration of molecular pathology, omics (genomics), microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, bioinformatics, and population health sciences. Our interest has been to develop new scientific disciplines, and develop new data analysis framework and methodologies. In the 2010s, we started to make new research frameworks for analyses of epidemiological exposure variables in relation to the incidence of tumor subtypes classified by tumor microenvironmental features such as microbiota, immune cell infiltrates, and their functional status (in the fields of immunology-MPE and microbiology-MPE). We have made several discoveries, most notably specific links between dietary/lifestyle modifiable factors and pathogenic bacteria or immune cell infiltrates in tumor tissue, which shed light on pathogenic mechanisms of exposure-disease associations through tissue microenvironmental changes, i.e., so-called "etiologic field effect" (conceptualized by Lochhead P et al. in Mod Pathol 2015).
A particular recent focus is early-onset cancer (EOC) including colorectal cancer (EOCRC), which has been shown increased incidence in persons under age 50 years. We work on the application of integrated scientific approaches to early-onset cancer (EOC) research. We have also shown a general rising EOC trend in many organ sites and in many countries (Ugai T et al. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2022).We have created a number of new research frameworks, concepts, paradigms, and models, including molecular pathological epidemiology (MPE) (Ogino and Stampfer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2010; Ogino et al. Annu Rev Pathol 2019), the GWAS-MPE approach (Ogino et al. Gut 2011), the colorectal continuum model (Yamauchi et al. Gut 2012), the unique disease principle (Ogino et al. Mod Pathol 2013), the etiologic field effect model (Lochhead et al. Mod Pathol 2015), the causal inference-MPE integration (Nishihara et al. Eur J Epidemiol 2015; Liu et al. Eur J Epidemiol 2018), lifecourse-MPE approach (Nishi et al. Am J Prev Med 2015), social MPE (Nishi et al. Expert Rev Mol Diagn 2016), immunology-MPE integration (Ogino et al. Gut 2018), pharmaco-MPE (Ogino et al. npj Precis Oncol 2017), microbiology-MPE integration (Inamura et al. Gut 2022), and nutritional MPE. We integrate analyses of exposome, germline genetics, tissue microbiota (microbiome), tumor immunity, cancer incidence, and clinical outcomes in large human populations. The lifecourse-MPE approach has substantial potential in research on early-onset cancers including early-onset colorectal cancer (Akimoto et al. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2021; Ugai et al. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2022).
...Dr. Ogino is Chief, Program in MPE Molecular Pathological Epidemiology of Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, developing the integrative interdisciplinary science of "Molecular Pathological Epidemiology (MPE)". He is an associate member of Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He has been serving as Chairperson for The International MPE Meeting Series since 2013. The 4th International Molecular Pathological Epidemiology (MPE) Meeting is planned to be held on May 31 to June 1, 2018 in Boston, MA, USA.
Dr. Ogino's research has a broad theme: Integration of Molecular Pathology, Omics (Genomics), ?Epidemiology, Bioinformatics, and Population Health Science. Dr. Ogino's focus is to develop new scientific disciplines, and develop new data analysis framework and methodologies. The Ogino Lab uses gastrointestinal cancers as model human diseases (including colorectal carcinoma, colorectal polyp, colorectal adenoma, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, neuroendocrine tumor, pancreatic endocrine tumor, carcinoid tumour). We have been analyzing germline and somatic genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and immunomics in human tumors. Using massively parallel sequencing (next generation sequencing) technologies, the Ogino Lab has sequenced whole exome of over 1,000 colorectal carcinomas with high dimensional annotations, and calculated tumor neoantigen load. In addition, the Ogino Lab has obtained data on transcriptome of over 250 colorectal carcinomas (by RNA sequencing).
Dr. Ogino has created a number of new research frameworks, concepts, paradigms, and models, including molecular pathological epidemiology (MPE), the GWAS-MPE approach, the colorectal continuum model, the etiologic field effect model, the causal inference-MPE integration, lifecourse-MPE approach, social MPE, immuno-MPE (immunology-MPE integration), pharmaco-MPE, microbiology-MPE integration, MPE-comparative effectiveness research integration, and nutritional MPE....
As a "Science of Science" scientist, I address various issues in scientific nomenclature. The current lack of a standardized nomenclature system for gene products (e.g., proteins) has resulted in a haphazard, counterproductive labeling system. Not surprisingly, different names are often used for the same gene product (e.g., NKX2-1 and TTF-1 for the NKX2-1 gene product), while the same name is sometimes used for unrelated gene products (e.g., TTF1 for the TTF1 product and the NKX2-1 product). Such ambiguity causes not only potential harm to patients, whose treatments increasingly rely on laboratory tests for multiple gene products, but also miscommunication and inefficiency, both of which hinder the progress of broad scientific areas. To mitigate this confusion, I led a project team that recommended standardizing human protein nomenclature through the use of a Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) gene symbol (Fujiyoshi et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2021). Based on this project, I established the Gene Product Nomenclature Consortium (GPNC) for the standardization of the nomenclature systems of gene products in 2021 and have been serving its founding Chairperson. The consortium calls for action across all biomedical communities and scientific and medical journals to standardize the nomenclature of gene products using HGNC gene symbols to enhance accuracy in scientific and public communication. To standardize protein nomenclature, the GPNC now works along with the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB), for which I serve as a member. The goals of these initiatives are to avoid confusion in data sciences and address the educational need for the entire research and clinical practice areas in chemical, biological, medical, and health sciences.
...Dr. Ogino ...