Anna Wu, PhD

Professor Emerita

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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

  • Mendelian randomisation study of age at menarche and age at menopause and the risk of colorectal cancer. Br J Cancer. 2018 06; 118(12):1639-1647.. View in PubMed
  • Racial/ethnic differences in the epidemiology of ovarian cancer: a pooled analysis of 12 case-control studies. Int J Epidemiol. 2018 04 01; 47(2):460-472.. View in PubMed
  • Adult height is associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer: a Mendelian randomisation study. Br J Cancer. 2018 04; 118(8):1123-1129.. View in PubMed
  • Interactions Between Genetic Variants and Environmental Factors Affect Risk of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma and Barrett’s Esophagus. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018 10; 16(10):1598-1606.e4.. View in PubMed
  • Robust Tests for Additive Gene-Environment Interaction in Case-Control Studies Using Gene-Environment Independence. Am J Epidemiol. 2018 02 01; 187(2):366-377.. View in PubMed
  • Reproductive history, breast-feeding and risk of triple negative breast cancer: The Breast Cancer Etiology in Minorities (BEM) study. Int J Cancer. 2018 06 01; 142(11):2273-2285.. View in PubMed
  • Ovarian cancer risk, ALDH2 polymorphism and alcohol drinking: Asian data from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. Cancer Sci. 2018 Feb; 109(2):435-445.. View in PubMed
  • Determining Risk of Barrett’s Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Based on Epidemiologic Factors and Genetic Variants. Gastroenterology. 2018 04; 154(5):1273-1281.e3.. View in PubMed
  • A pooled analysis of dietary sugar/carbohydrate intake and esophageal and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma incidence and survival in the USA. Int J Epidemiol. 2017 12 01; 46(6):1836-1846.. View in PubMed
  • Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Oligomenorrhea, and Risk of Ovarian Cancer Histotypes: Evidence from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2018 02; 27(2):174-182.. View in PubMed