Julie R. Palmer, Sc.D.
Director
Slone Epidemiology Center
Karin Grunebaum Professor
Department of Medicine
Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology
Boston University School of Medicine
jpalmer@bu.edu
Education:
B.A., Brown University
M.P.H., Boston University
Sc.D., Harvard University
Research Interests:
Dr. Palmer is a cancer epidemiologist based at the Slone Epidemiology Center, with research projects spanning cancer early detection, etiology, and survivorship. Her primary focus is on elucidating reasons for the disproportionately high incidence of hormone receptor negative breast cancer in African American women and on understanding and reducing racial disparities in breast cancer mortality. She is a founding leader of the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), a prospective cohort study of 59,000 African American women who enrolled in 1995 and have been followed by biennial questionnaire since that time. Her breast cancer research within the BWHS includes work on risk prediction models for breast cancer in African American women, identifying differences in childbearing patterns as a contributing cause to the excess incidence of estrogen receptor negative breast cancer in African American women, and investigating the interrelationships of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and inflammation on breast cancer risk. To have greater statistical power for determining genetic and non-genetic factors related to specific molecular subtypes of breast cancer, she and colleagues formed the AMBER Consortium, which includes more than 5,000 African American women with breast cancer and a large number of controls. Dr. Palmer also has an interest in pancreatic cancer, which disproportionately affects African Americans. Currently, she is examining the relation of the oral microbiome to risk of pancreatic cancer in African Americans. Selected leadership activities include 1) Associate Director for Population Sciences, BU-BMC Cancer Center, 2) Chair of the NIH Cancer, Cardiovascular, and Sleep Epidemiology Study Section, 2015-2017, 3) Steering Committee of NCI Cohort Consortium currently and 2004-2011, and 4) Steering Committee of the Molecular Epidemiology Group of AACR, 2018-2020.
Active Studies
- Improving Breast Cancer Risk Prediction for African American Women: Consideration of Estrogen Receptor Subtype-Specific Risk Factors (R01CA228357)
- Breast Cancer Genetic Study in African-ancestry Populations (R01CA202981 )
- A Follow-up Study for Causes of Cancer in Black Women (U01CA164974)
- A Prospective Investigation of the Oral Microbiome and Pancreatic Cancer (U01CA187508)
- Continuation of Follow-up of DES-Exposed Cohorts (HHSN261201500026C)
- Relationships between Parity, Breastfeeding and ER- Breast Cancer in African American Women: Elucidating the Biologic Underpinnings at the Molecular and Cellular Level (R01CA225947)
- Somatic Mutations and Their Etiological Determinants for Breast Cancer in African American Women (328-01)
- Family History, Genetics, and Environment: Breast Cancer Risk in U.S. Black Women (SAC180086)
Selected Publications
- Gerlovin H, Michaud DS, Cozier YC, Palmer JR. Oral health in relation to pancreatic cancer risk in African American women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2019;28(4):675-9. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-1053. PMCID: PMC Journal – In Process.
- Charlot M, Castro-Webb N, Bethea TN, Bertrand K, Boggs DA, Denis GV, Adams-Campbell LL, Rosenberg L, Palmer JR. Diabetes and breast cancer mortality in black women. Cancer Causes Control 2017;28(1):61-7. doi: 10.1007/s10552-016-0837-z. PMCID: PMC5528173.
- Palmer JR, Castro-Webb N, Bertrand K, Bethea TN, Denis GV. Type II diabetes and incidence of estrogen receptor negative breast cancer in African American women. Cancer Res 2017;77(22):6462-9. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-1903. PMCID: PMC5726548.
- Bethea TN, Rosenberg L, Castro-Webb N, Lunetta KL, Sucheston-Campbell LE, Ruiz-Narváez EA, Charlot M, Park SY, Bandera EV, Troester MA, Ambrosone CB, Palmer JR. Family history of cancer in relation to breast cancer subtypes in African American women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(2):366-73. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-1068. PMCID: PMC4767636.
- Ruiz-Narváez EA, Haddad SA, Lunetta KL, Yao S, Bensen JT, Sucheston-Campbell LE, Hong CC, Haiman CA, Olshan AF, Ambrosone CB, Palmer JR. Gene-based analysis of the fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling pathway in relation to breast cancer in African American women: the AMBER consortium. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2016;155(2):355-63. doi: 10.1007/s10549-015-3672-0. PMCID: PMC4890604.
- Allott EH, Cohen SM, Geradts J, Sun X, Khoury T, Bshara W, Zirpoli GR, Miller CR, Hwang H, Thorne LB, O’Connor S, Tse CK, Bell MB, Hu Z, Li Y, Kirk EL, Bethea TN, Perou CM, Palmer JR, Ambrosone CB, Olshan AF, Troester MA. Performance of three-biomarker immunohistochemistry for intrinsic breast cancer subtyping in the AMBER consortium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(3):470-8. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0874. PMCID: PMC4779705.
- Rosenberg L, Bethea TN, Viscidi E, Hong CC, Troester MA, Bandera EV, Haiman CA, Kolonel LN, Olshan AF, Ambrosone CB, Palmer JR. Postmenopausal female hormone use and estrogen-receptor positive and negative breast cancer in African-American women. J Natl Cancer Inst 2016;108(4):djv361. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djv361. PMCID: PMC4857155.
- Haddad SA, Lunetta KL, Ruiz-Narváez EA, Bensen JT, Hong CC, Sucheston-Campbell LE, Yao S, Bandera EV, Rosenberg L, Haiman CA, Troester MA, Ambrosone CB, Palmer JR. Hormone-related pathways and risk of breast cancer subtypes in African American women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2015;154(1):145-54. doi: 10.1007/s10549-015-3594-x. PMCID: PMC5082744.
- Ambrosone CB, Zirpoli G, Hong CC, Yao S, Troester MA, Bandera EV, Schedin P, Bethea TN, Borges V, Park SY, Chandra D, Rosenberg L, Kolonel LN, Olshan AF, Palmer JR. Important role of menarche in development of estrogen receptor negative breast cancer in African American women. J Natl Cancer Inst 2015;107(9):djv172. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djv172. PMCID: PMC4836800.
- Bethea TN, Rosenberg L, Hong CC, Troester MA, Lunetta KL, Bandera EV, Schedin P, Kolonel LN, Olshan AF, Ambrosone CB, Palmer JR. A case-control analysis of oral contraceptive use and breast cancer subtypes in the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk Consortium. Breast Cancer Res 2015;17(22):1-13. doi: 10.1186/s13058-015-0535-x. PMCID: PMC4358874.
- Bandera EV, Chandran U, Hong CC, Troester MA, Bethea TN, Adams-Campbell LL, Haiman CA, Park SY, Olshan AF, Ambrosone CB, Palmer JR, Rosenberg L. Obesity, body fat distribution, and risk of breast cancer subtypes in African American women participating in the AMBER Consortium. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2015;150(3):655-66. doi: 10.1007/s10549-015-3353-z. PMCID: PMC4440799.
- Boggs DA, Rosenberg L, Adams-Campbell LL, Palmer JR. A prospective approach to breast cancer risk prediction in African American women: the Black Women’s Health Study model. J Clin Oncol 2015;33(9):1038-44. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2014.57.2750. PMCID: PMC4356712.
- Palmer JR, Ambrosone CB, Olshan AF. A collaborative study of the etiology of breast cancer subtypes in African American women: the AMBER Consortium. Cancer Causes Control 2014;25(3):309-19. doi: 10.1007/s10552-013-0332-8. PMCID: PMC3945713.
- Palmer JR, Viscidi E, Troester MA, Hong C, Schedin P, Bethea TN, Bandera EV, McKinnon C, Haiman CA, Lunetta K, Kolonel LN, Rosenberg L, Olshan AF, Ambrosone CB. Parity, lactation, and breast cancer subtypes in African American women: results from the AMBER Consortium. J Natl Cancer Inst 2014;106(10):dju237. doi: 10.1093/jnci/dju237. PMCID: PMC4271113.
- Warner ET, Tamimi RM, Boggs DA, Rosner B, Rosenberg L, Colditz GA, Palmer JR. Estrogen receptor positive tumors: do reproductive factors explain differences in incidence between black and white women? Cancer Causes Control 2013;24(4):731-9. doi: 10.1007/s10552-013-0153-9. PMCID: PMC3602276.
- Boggs DA, Rosenberg L, Pencina MJ, Adams-Campbell LL, Palmer JR. Validation of a breast cancer risk prediction model developed for African American women. J Natl Cancer Inst 2013;105(5):361-7. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djt008. PMCID: PMC3691941.
- Faupel-Badger JM, Arcaro KF, Balkam JJ, Eliassen AH, Hassiotou F, Lebrilla CB, Michels KB, Palmer JR, Schedin P, Stuebe AM, Watson CJ, Sherman ME. Postpartum remodeling, lactation, and breast cancer risk: summary of a National Cancer Institute–sponsored workshop. J Natl Cancer Inst 2013;105(3):166-74. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djs505.
- Palmer JR, Ruiz-Narváez EA, Rotimi CN, Cupples LA, Cozier YC, Adams-Campbell LL, Rosenberg L. Genetic susceptibility loci for subtypes of breast cancer in an African American population. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2013;22(1):127-34. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-0769. PMCID: PMC3538887.
- Palmer JR, Boggs DA, Wise LA, Ambrosone CB, Adams-Campbell LL, Rosenberg L. Parity and lactation in relation to estrogen receptor negative breast cancer in African American women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(9):1883-91. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-11-0465. PMCID: PMC3179178.