Julie Palmer
Profiles

Julie R. Palmer, ScD

Professor, Epidemiology - Boston University School of Public Health

Biography

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. Her current grants support work on somatic mutations, epigenetics, and gene expressions profiles in breast cancer tumors from African American women, setting the stage for a better understanding of the role of epidemiologic and genetic factors in etiology and prognosis. Dr. Palmer has served on many NIH and external advisory committees, including as Chair of the NIH Cancer, Cardiovascular, and Sleep Epidemiology Study Section, 2015-2017, and Co-Chair of a Working Group for the National Cancer Advisory Board, NCI, 2018-2019.

Other Positions

  • Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Professor, Medicine - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Director, Slone Epidemiology Center - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Co-Director, BU-BMC Cancer Center - Boston University
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research - Boston University
  • Member, Genome Science Institute - Boston University

Education

  • Harvard University, ScD Field of Study: Epidemiology
  • Boston University, MPH Field of Study: Epidemiology
  • Boston University, BS Field of Study: Nursing
  • Brown University, BA Field of Study: Religious Studies

Publications

  • Published on 10/2/2023

    Thomas M, Su YR, Rosenthal EA, Sakoda LC, Schmit SL, Timofeeva MN, Chen Z, Fernandez-Rozadilla C, Law PJ, Murphy N, Carreras-Torres R, Diez-Obrero V, van Duijnhoven FJB, Jiang S, Shin A, Wolk A, Phipps AI, Burnett-Hartman A, Gsur A, Chan AT, Zauber AG, Wu AH, Lindblom A, Um CY, Tangen CM, Gignoux C, Newton C, Haiman CA, Qu C, Bishop DT, Buchanan DD, Crosslin DR, Conti DV, Kim DH, Hauser E, White E, Siegel E, Schumacher FR, Rennert G, Giles GG, Hampel H, Brenner H, Oze I, Oh JH, Lee JK, Schneider JL, Chang-Claude J, Kim J, Huyghe JR, Zheng J, Hampe J, Greenson J, Hopper JL, Palmer JR, Visvanathan K, Matsuo K, Matsuda K, Jung KJ, Li L, Le Marchand L, Vodickova L, Bujanda L, Gunter MJ, Matejcic M, Jenkins MA, Slattery ML, D'Amato M, Wang M, Hoffmeister M, Woods MO, Kim M, Song M, Iwasaki M, Du M, Udaltsova N, Sawada N, Vodicka P, Campbell PT, Newcomb PA, Cai Q, Pearlman R, Pai RK, Schoen RE, Steinfelder RS, Haile RW, Vandenputtelaar R, Prentice RL, Küry S, Castellví-Bel S, Tsugane S, Berndt SI, Lee SC, Brezina S, Weinstein SJ, Chanock SJ, Jee SH, Kweon SS, Vadaparampil S, Harrison TA, Yamaji T, Keku TO, Vymetalkova V, Arndt V, Jia WH, Shu XO, Lin Y, Ahn YO, Stadler ZK, Van Guelpen B, Ulrich CM, Platz EA, Potter JD, Li CI, Meester R, Moreno V, Figueiredo JC, Casey G, Lansdorp Vogelaar I, Dunlop MG, Gruber SB, Hayes RB, Pharoah PDP, Houlston RS, Jarvik GP, Tomlinson IP, Zheng W, Corley DA, Peters U, Hsu L. Combining Asian and European genome-wide association studies of colorectal cancer improves risk prediction across racial and ethnic populations. Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 02; 14(1):6147. PMID: 37783704.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/14/2023

    Ruiz Lopez JN, McNeil GE, Zirpoli G, Palmer JR, Kataria Y, Bertrand KA. Vitamin D and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) among U.S. Black women. Cancer Causes Control. 2023 Sep 14. PMID: 37707565.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 9/7/2023

    Wolfson EA, Schonberg MA, Eliassen AH, Bertrand KA, Shvetsov YB, Rosner BA, Palmer JR, LaCroix AZ, Chlebowski RT, Nelson RA, Ngo LH. Validating a Model for Predicting Breast Cancer and Non-Breast Cancer Death in Women Aged 55 and Older. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 Sep 07. PMID: 37676833.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/31/2023

    Potter AL, Yang CJ, Palmer JR. Coding Error in Study Evaluating Eligibility of US Black Women Under USPSTF Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines. JAMA Oncol. 2023 Aug 31. PMID: 37651128.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/26/2023

    Bouras E, Kim AE, Lin Y, Morrison J, Du M, Albanes D, Barry EL, Baurley JW, Berndt SI, Bien SA, Bishop TD, Brenner H, Budiarto A, Burnett-Hartman A, Campbell PT, Carreras-Torres R, Casey G, Cenggoro TW, Chan AT, Chang-Claude J, Conti DV, Cotterchio M, Devall M, Diez-Obrero V, Dimou N, Drew DA, Figueiredo JC, Giles GG, Gruber SB, Gunter MJ, Harrison TA, Hidaka A, Hoffmeister M, Huyghe JR, Joshi AD, Kawaguchi ES, Keku TO, Kundaje A, Le Marchand L, Lewinger JP, Li L, Lynch BM, Mahesworo B, Männistö S, Moreno V, Murphy N, Newcomb PA, Obón-Santacana M, Ose J, Palmer JR, Papadimitriou N, Pardamean B, Pellatt AJ, Peoples AR, Platz EA, Potter JD, Qi L, Qu C, Rennert G, Ruiz-Narvaez E, Sakoda LC, Schmit SL, Shcherbina A, Stern MC, Su YR, Tangen CM, Thomas DC, Tian Y, Um CY, van Duijnhoven FJ, Van Guelpen B, Visvanathan K, Wang J, White E, Wolk A, Woods MO, Ulrich CM, Hsu L, Gauderman WJ, Peters U, Tsilidis KK. Genome-wide interaction analysis of folate for colorectal cancer risk. Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Aug 26. PMID: 37640106.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/9/2023

    Barber LE, Bertrand KA, Sheehy S, White LF, Roy HK, Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Petrick JL. Aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use and occurrence of colorectal adenoma in Black American women. Int J Cancer. 2023 Aug 09. PMID: 37555819.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/2/2023

    Harvey SV, Wentzensen N, Bertrand K, Black A, Brinton LA, Chen C, Costas L, Dal Maso L, De Vivo I, Du M, Garcia-Closas M, Goodman MT, Gorzelitz J, Johnson L, Lacey JV, Liao L, Lipworth L, Lissowska J, Miller AB, O'Connell K, O'Mara TA, Ou X, Palmer JR, Patel AV, Paytubi S, Pelegrina B, Petruzella S, Prizment A, Rohan T, Sandin S, Setiawan VW, Sinha R, Trabert B, Webb PM, Wilkens LR, Xu W, Yang HP, Zheng W, Clarke MA. Associations of life course obesity with endometrial cancer in the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium (E2C2). Int J Epidemiol. 2023 Aug 02; 52(4):1086-1099. PMID: 37029916.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/1/2023

    Hu C, Nagaraj AB, Shimelis H, Montalban G, Lee KY, Huang H, Lumby CA, Na J, Susswein LR, Roberts ME, Marshall ML, Hiraki S, LaDuca H, Chao E, Yussuf A, Pesaran T, Neuhausen SL, Haiman CA, Kraft P, Lindstrom S, Palmer JR, Teras LR, Vachon CM, Yao S, Ong I, Nathanson KL, Weitzel JN, Boddicker N, Gnanaolivu R, Polley EC, Mer G, Cui G, Karam R, Richardson ME, Domchek SM, Yadav S, Hruska KS, Dolinsky J, Weroha SJ, Hart SN, Simard J, Masson JY, Pang YP, Couch FJ. Functional and Clinical Characterization of Variants of Uncertain Significance Identifies a Hotspot for Inactivating Missense Variants in RAD51C. Cancer Res. 2023 Aug 01; 83(15):2557-2571. PMID: 37253112.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 8/1/2023

    Aglago EK, Kim A, Lin Y, Qu C, Evangelou M, Ren Y, Morrison J, Albanes D, Arndt V, Barry EL, Baurley JW, Berndt SI, Bien SA, Bishop DT, Bouras E, Brenner H, Buchanan DD, Budiarto A, Carreras-Torres R, Casey G, Cenggoro TW, Chan AT, Chang-Claude J, Chen X, Conti DV, Devall M, Diez-Obrero V, Dimou N, Drew D, Figueiredo JC, Gallinger S, Giles GG, Gruber SB, Gsur A, Gunter MJ, Hampel H, Harlid S, Hidaka A, Harrison TA, Hoffmeister M, Huyghe JR, Jenkins MA, Jordahl K, Joshi AD, Kawaguchi ES, Keku TO, Kundaje A, Larsson SC, Marchand LL, Lewinger JP, Li L, Lynch BM, Mahesworo B, Mandic M, Obón-Santacana M, Moreno V, Murphy N, Nan H, Nassir R, Newcomb PA, Ogino S, Ose J, Pai RK, Palmer JR, Papadimitriou N, Pardamean B, Peoples AR, Platz EA, Potter JD, Prentice RL, Rennert G, Ruiz-Narvaez E, Sakoda LC, Scacheri PC, Schmit SL, Schoen RE, Shcherbina A, Slattery ML, Stern MC, Su YR, Tangen CM, Thibodeau SN, Thomas DC, Tian Y, Ulrich CM, van Duijnhoven FJ, Van Guelpen B, Visvanathan K, Vodicka P, Wang J, White E, Wolk A, Woods MO, Wu AH, Zemlianskaia N, Hsu L, Gauderman WJ, Peters U, Tsilidis KK, Campbell PT. A Genetic Locus within the FMN1/GREM1 Gene Region Interacts with Body Mass Index in Colorectal Cancer Risk. Cancer Res. 2023 Aug 01; 83(15):2572-2583. PMID: 37249599.

    Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 7/27/2023

    Wang C, Bertrand KA, Trevino-Talbot M, Flynn M, Ruderman M, Cabral HJ, Bowen DJ, Hughes-Halbert C, Palmer JR. Ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) and challenges in the design of a randomized controlled trial to test the online return of cancer genetic research results to U.S. Black women. Contemp Clin Trials. 2023 Sep; 132:107309. PMID: 37516165.

    Read At: PubMed

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