Jennifer J. Hu, Ph.D.

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Jennifer J. Hu, Ph.D.

Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health, and Associate Director of Cancer Prevention and Control

Description of Research


Dr. Hu's laboratory conducts molecular genetic epidemiology research, specifically on prevention research in breast cancer, prostate cancer, and head and neck squamous cell cancers "HNSCC". Research in Dr. Hu's laboratory focuses on identifying markers of genetic regulation of DNA damage/repair for breast cancer susceptibility. This work aims to evaluate the genetic regulation of DNA damage/repair in breast cancer susceptibility; identify high-risk populations by using validated DNA damage/repair markers; and reduce breast cancer risk in genetically susceptible populations or sub-populations through effective intervention. Other research is relating racial differences in genetic polymorphisms of drug metabolism and DNA repair to colon cancer risk. This work aims to evaluate the racial differences in genetic polymorphisms of drug metabolism and DNA repair which may contribute to the black-white difference in colon cancer risk; characterize gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in colon cancer risk; identify high-risk populations by using combined genetic and environmental risk factors; and reduce colon cancer risk by targeting modifiable risk factors, such as diet and other environmental exposures. The use of chemoprevention "in the form of fruit and vegetable extracts" to prevent second malignancies in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma also is being examined. The research uses a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the effects of fruit and vegetable extracts on surrogate endpoint biomarkers "SEBs" that are associated with the development of second malignancies in patients with previous HNSCC. The primary endpoint is the expression of a cell cycle regulatory protein, p27, which is associated with disease-free survival. The secondary endpoints are cell proliferation "Ki-67", DNA damage "strand breaks", and immune function "T-cell function", which are associated with the development of HNSCC.

Highlights / Discoveries

  • Found that deficient DNA repair and elevated DNA damage are associated with human breast cancer risk; women with XRCC1 and APE1 variant alleles are hypersensitive to ionizing radiation "IR"; and women with XRCC1 and XRCC3 variant alleles have significantly increased risk for breast cancer compared to women with wild-type alleles for both genes.
  • Observed black-white differences in genotypes and exposures, and potential gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in colon cancer risk.

    • Selected Cancer-Related Publications

    Lewis JE, Soler-Vilá H, Clark PE, Kresty La, Allen GO, Hu JJ. Intake of plant foods and associated nutrients in prostate cancer risk. Nutr Cancer 61:216-24,2009. Read the publication »

    Xu J, Kibel AS, Hu JJ, Turner AR, Pruett K, Zheng SL, Sun J, Isaacs SD, Wiley KE, Kim ST, Hsu FC, Wu W, Torti FM, Walsh PC, Chang BL, Isaacs WB. Prostate cancer risk associated loci in African Americans. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 18:2145-9, 2009. Read the publication »

    Nieder AM, MacKinnon JA, Fleming LE, Kearney G, Hu JJ, Sherman RL, Huang Y, Lee DJ. Bladder cancer clusters in Florida: identifying populations at risk. J Urol 182:46-50; discussion 51, 2009. Read the publication »

    Zabaleta J, Su LJ, Lin HY, Sierra RA, Hall MC, Sartor AO, Clark PE, Hu JJ, Ochoa AC. Cytokine genetic polymorphisms and prostate cancer aggressiveness. Carcinogenesis 30:1358-62, 2009. Read the publication »

    Zabaleta J, Lin HY, Sierra RA, Hall MC, Clark PE, Sartor OA, Hu JJ, Ochoa AC. Interactions of cytokine gene polymorphisms in prostate cancer risk. Carcinogenesis 29:573-8, 2008. Read the publication »

    Hill JW, Hu JJ, Evans MK. OGG1 is degraded by calpain following oxidative stress and cisplatin exposure. DNA Repair (Amst), 7:648-54, 2008. Read the publication »

    Goodwin WJ, Thomas GR, Parker DF, Joseph D, Levis S, Franzmann E, Anello C, Hu JJ. Unequal burden of head and neck cancer in the United States. Head Neck 30:358-71, 2008. Read the publication »

    Van Emburgh BO, Hu JJ, Levine EA, Mosley LJ, Case LD, Lin HY, Knight SN, Perrier ND, Rubin P, Sherrill GB, Shaw CS, Carey LA, Sawyer LR, Allen GO, Milikowski C, Willingham MC, Miller MS. Polymorphisms in drug metabolism genes, smoking, and p53 mutations in breast cancer. Mol Carcinog 47:88-99, 2008. Read the publication »

    Van Emburgh BO, Hu JJ, Levine EA, Mosley LJ, Perrier ND, Freimanis RI, Allen GO, Rubin P, Sherrill GB, Shaw CS, Carey LA, Sawyer LR, Miller MS. Polymorphisms in CYP1B1,GSTM1,GSTT1 and GSTP1, and susceptibility to breast cancer. Oncol Rep 19:1311-21, 2008. Read the publication »

    Lin HY, Wang W, Liu YH, Soong SJ, York TP, Myers L, Hu JJ. Comparison of multivariate adaptive regression splines and logistic regression in detecting SNP-SNP interactions and their application in prostate cancer. J Hum Genet 53:802-11, 2008. Read the publication »

    Smith TR, Levine EA, Freimanis RI, Akman SA, Allen GO, Hoang KN, Liu-Mares W, Hu JJ. Polygenic model of DNA repair genetic polymorphisms in human breast cancer risk. Carcinogenesis 29:2132-8, 2008. Read the publication »

    Programs

    Leader of the Multidisciplinary Research Program: Cancer Epidemiology & Prevention Program

    See the full description of the Multidisciplinary Research Program(s): Genitourinary Malignancies Program Cancer Epidemiology & Prevention Program