Anna Wu, PhD

Professor Emerita

Image of Anna Wu, PhD
Is this your profile? Click to edit

Overview

Dr. Wu’s research focuses on the epidemiology of cancer with emphasis on understanding the increase of various (e.g., breast, ovarian, colon) cancers among Asian migrants to the US. A unifying theme of my research is to identify modifiable lifestyle and environmental factors to reduce the risk of specific cancers and to improve outcomes among those diagnosed with cancer. In addition to observational epidemiologic studies, I have conducted a series of controlled intervention studies to investigate the short-term effects of dietary (e.g., soy, green tea) and hormonal (e.g., oral contraceptives) agents on breast-tissue (e.g., mammographic density) and circulating sex hormones and other biomarkers.
Since 2014, I began to use the well-established Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) to address research questions on environmental exposures (e.g., air pollution, endocrine disrupting chemicals) that have been challenging to study. In addition, I am participating in two multicenter survivorship studies on breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Education and Training

  • University of California, Los Angeles — PhD — 1983 — Epidemiology

Publications

  • Assessment of variation in immunosuppressive pathway genes reveals TGFBR2 to be associated with risk of clear cell ovarian cancer. Oncotarget. 2016 10 25; 7(43):69097-69110.. View in PubMed
  • No Evidence That Genetic Variation in the Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Pathway Influences Ovarian Cancer Survival. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2017 03; 26(3):420-424.. View in PubMed
  • A splicing variant of TERT identified by GWAS interacts with menopausal estrogen therapy in risk of ovarian cancer. Int J Cancer. 2016 Dec 15; 139(12):2646-2654.. View in PubMed
  • Evidence that the 5p12 Variant rs10941679 Confers Susceptibility to Estrogen-Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer through FGF10 and MRPS30 Regulation. Am J Hum Genet. 2016 Oct 06; 99(4):903-911.. View in PubMed
  • Fine scale mapping of the 17q22 breast cancer locus using dense SNPs, genotyped within the Collaborative Oncological Gene-Environment Study (COGs). Sci Rep. 2016 09 07; 6:32512.. View in PubMed
  • Functional mechanisms underlying pleiotropic risk alleles at the 19p13.1 breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility locus. Nat Commun. 2016 09 07; 7:12675.. View in PubMed
  • PALB2, CHEK2 and ATM rare variants and cancer risk: data from COGS. J Med Genet. 2016 12; 53(12):800-811.. View in PubMed
  • Association of vitamin D levels and risk of ovarian cancer: a Mendelian randomization study. Int J Epidemiol. 2016 10; 45(5):1619-1630.. View in PubMed
  • Fine-Mapping of the 1p11.2 Breast Cancer Susceptibility Locus. PLoS One. 2016; 11(8):e0160316.. View in PubMed
  • Traditional Breast Cancer Risk Factors in Filipina Americans Compared with Chinese and Japanese Americans in Los Angeles County. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2016 12; 25(12):1572-1586.. View in PubMed