CBG Faculty
Dr. Gruber is a board certified medical oncologist, cancer geneticist and epidemiologist whose research focuses on genetic and environmental contributions to cancer. His particular research interests include the genetic epidemiology of cancer, with emphasis on colorectal cancer; the molecular pathogenesis of cancer, integrated with genetic epidemiology; methods in genetic and molecular epidemiology; and clinical cancer genetics and translational research in cancer prevention. The goal of his research is to find new ways to prevent cancer and to improve treatment and care for cancer patients.
Dr. Gruber obtained his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984 and subsequently a Master of Public Health Degree from Yale University in 1986. After completing his Doctorate Degree in Epidemiology at Yale in 1988, Dr. Gruber enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and obtained his Medical Degree in 1992, where he also completed his internship and residency. He completed fellowships in medical oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and in clinical medical genetics at the University of Michigan.
He has received a variety of honors and awards and is the author of 158 peer-reviewed publications, many in very high quality journals attesting to his standing in the field of cancer genetics, particularly as it relates to colorectal cancer. In addition to serving on editorial boards for several professional journals, Dr. Gruber is active in national organizations. Since 2005, he has been chair of the Colorectal Family Registries Advisory Panel for the National Cancer Institute and for the past three years chaired the Cancer Genetics Education Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Association of American Cancer Institute: Board of Directors, 2015
Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer : Lifetime Achievement Award, 2013
USC: H. Leslie and Elaine S. Hoffman Cancer Research Chair, 2012
University of Michigan: League of Research Excellence, 2011
American Society of Clinical Investigation: Elected Member, 2003
: Jerome Conn Award for Excellence in Research, 2000
: Penn Pearls Teaching Award, 1994
: Alfred Stengel Memorial Prize, 1992
: Penn Medical Scholar, 1989-1992
National Institute of Health: Cancer Training Grant, 1986-1988
Genetic variant predictors of gene expression provide new insight into risk of colorectal cancer Hum Genet. 2019 Feb 28. . View in PubMed
Discovery of common and rare genetic risk variants for colorectal cancer Nat Genet. 2019 Jan; 51(1):76-87. . View in PubMed
Discovery of common and rare genetic risk variants for colorectal cancer Nat Genet. 2018 Dec 03. . View in PubMed
Activation of cancer-associated fibroblasts is required for tumor neovascularization in a murine model of melanoma Matrix Biol. 2018 Dec; 74:52-61. . View in PubMed
A human MUTYH variant linking colonic polyposis to redox degradation of the [4Fe4S]2+ cluster Nat Chem. 2018 Aug; 10(8):873-880. . View in PubMed
A human MUTYH variant linking colonic polyposis to redox degradation of the [4Fe4S]2+ cluster Nat Chem. 2018 Jun 18. . View in PubMed
Activation of cancer-associated fibroblasts is required for tumor neovascularization in a murine model of melanoma Matrix Biol. 2018 Jun 06. . View in PubMed
Association of Polygenic Risk Scores for Multiple Cancers in a Phenome-wide Study: Results from The Michigan Genomics Initiative Am J Hum Genet. 2018 May 17. . View in PubMed
Determining Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Starting Age of Screening Based on Lifestyle, Environmental, and Genetic Factors Gastroenterology. 2018 Feb 17. . View in PubMed
Determining Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Starting Age of Screening Based on Lifestyle, Environmental, and Genetic FactorsGastroenterology. 2018 06; 154(8):2152-2164. e19. . View in PubMed
Germline Genetic Features of Young Individuals With Colorectal CancerGastroenterology. 2018 03; 154(4):897-905. e1. . View in PubMed
Association of atrial fibrillation and cancer: Analysis from two large population-based case-control studies PLoS One. 2018; 13(1):e0190324. . View in PubMed
Association of Polygenic Risk Scores for Multiple Cancers in a Phenome-wide Study: Results from The Michigan Genomics Initiative Am J Hum Genet. 2018 06 07; 102(6):1048-1061. . View in PubMed
Associations of MC1R Genotype and Patient Phenotypes with BRAF and NRAS Mutations in Melanoma J Invest Dermatol. 2017 Dec; 137(12):2588-2598. . View in PubMed
Association of Incident Amelanotic Melanoma With Phenotypic Characteristics, MC1R Status, and Prior Amelanotic Melanoma JAMA Dermatol. 2017 Oct 01; 153(10):1026-1031. . View in PubMed
Associations of MC1R Genotype and Patient Phenotypes with BRAF and NRAS Mutations in Melanoma J Invest Dermatol. 2017 12; 137(12):2588-2598. . View in PubMed
Cross-Cancer Analysis Reveals Novel Pleiotropic Associations-Response Cancer Res. 2017 11 01; 77(21):6045-6046. . View in PubMed
Association between Adult Height and Risk of Colorectal, Lung, and Prostate Cancer: Results from Meta-analyses of Prospective Studies and Mendelian Randomization Analyses PLoS Med. 2016 Sep; 13(9):e1002118. . View in PubMed
Association of Interferon Regulatory Factor-4 Polymorphism rs12203592 With Divergent Melanoma Pathways J Natl Cancer Inst. 2016 Jul; 108(7). . View in PubMed
A novel BAP1 mutation is associated with melanocytic neoplasms and thyroid cancer Cancer Genet. 2016 Mar; 209(3):75-81. . View in PubMed
Coffee Consumption and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2016 04; 25(4):634-9. . View in PubMed
Cross-Cancer Genome-Wide Analysis of Lung, Ovary, Breast, Prostate, and Colorectal Cancer Reveals Novel Pleiotropic Associations Cancer Res. 2016 09 01; 76(17):5103-14. . View in PubMed
A Germline Variant on Chromosome 4q311 Associates with Susceptibility to Developing Colon Cancer Metastasis. PLoS One. 2016; 11(1):e0146435. . View in PubMed
A Cross-Cancer Genetic Association Analysis of the DNA Repair and DNA Damage Signaling Pathways for Lung, Ovary, Prostate, Breast, and Colorectal Cancer Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2016 Jan; 25(1):193-200. . View in PubMed
Cross Cancer Genomic Investigation of Inflammation Pathway for Five Common Cancers: Lung, Ovary, Prostate, Breast, and Colorectal Cancer J Natl Cancer Inst. 2015 Nov; 107(11). . View in PubMed
Corrigendum: genome-wide association study of colorectal cancer identifies six new susceptibility loci Nat Commun. 2015 Oct 26; 6:8739. . View in PubMed
Genetic determinants of telomere length and risk of common cancers: a Mendelian randomization study Hum Mol Genet. 2015 Sep 15; 24(18):5356-66. . View in PubMed
Genome-wide association study of colorectal cancer identifies six new susceptibility loci Nat Commun. 2015 Jul 07; 6:7138. . View in PubMed
A model to determine colorectal cancer risk using common genetic susceptibility lociGastroenterology. 2015 Jun; 148(7):1330-9. e14. . View in PubMed
Association Between NRAS and BRAF Mutational Status and Melanoma-Specific Survival Among Patients With Higher-Risk Primary Melanoma JAMA Oncol. 2015 Jun; 1(3):359-68. . View in PubMed
A homozygous PMS2 founder mutation with an attenuated constitutional mismatch repair deficiency phenotype J Med Genet. 2015 May; 52(5):348-52. . View in PubMed
Comparison of clinicopathologic features and survival of histopathologically amelanotic and pigmented melanomas: a population-based study JAMA Dermatol. 2014 Dec; 150(12):1306-314. . View in PubMed
A novel colorectal cancer risk locus at 4q322 identified from an international genome-wide association study. Carcinogenesis. 2014 Nov; 35(11):2512-9. . View in PubMed
An oncocytic adrenal tumour in a patient with Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2014 Jun; 80(6):925-7. . View in PubMed
Cumulative exposure to medical radiation for children requiring surgery for congenital heart diseaseJ Pediatr. 2014 Apr; 164(4):789-794. e10. . View in PubMed
Distinct molecular features of colorectal cancer in Ghana Cancer Epidemiol. 2013 Oct; 37(5):556-61. . View in PubMed
Adrenocortical carcinoma is a lynch syndrome-associated cancer J Clin Oncol. 2013 Aug 20; 31(24):3012-8. . View in PubMed
Elevated risk of prostate cancer among men with Lynch syndrome J Clin Oncol. 2013 May 10; 31(14):1713-8. . View in PubMed
Contemporary outcomes of surgical ventricular septal defect closure J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2013 Mar; 145(3):641-7. . View in PubMed
BAYESIAN SEMIPARAMETRIC ANALYSIS FOR TWO-PHASE STUDIES OF GENE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION Ann Appl Stat. 2013 Mar; 7(1):543-569. . View in PubMed
Common MUTYH mutations and colorectal cancer risk in multiethnic populations Fam Cancer. 2012 Sep; 11(3):329-35. . View in PubMed
Breast cancer phenotype in women with TP53 germline mutations: a Li-Fraumeni syndrome consortium effort Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2012 Jun; 133(3):1125-30. . View in PubMed
An American founder mutation in MLH1 Int J Cancer. 2012 May 01; 130(9):2088-95. . View in PubMed
Clinicopathologic features of incident and subsequent tumors in patients with multiple primary cutaneous melanomas Ann Surg Oncol. 2012 Mar; 19(3):1024-33. . View in PubMed
Familial renal cancer as an indicator of hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer syndrome Fam Cancer. 2012 Mar; 11(1):115-21. . View in PubMed
Genome-wide search for gene-gene interactions in colorectal cancer PLoS One. 2012; 7(12):e52535. . View in PubMed
A pilot study of microsatellite instability and endometrial cancer survival in white and African American women Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2012 Jan; 31(1):66-72. . View in PubMed
Gene expression differences between colon and rectum tumors Clin Cancer Res. 2011 Dec 01; 17(23):7303-12. . View in PubMed
Bayesian modeling for genetic anticipation in presence of mutational heterogeneity: a case study in Lynch syndrome Biometrics. 2011 Dec; 67(4):1627-37. . View in PubMed
Clinical implications of UGT1A1*28 genotype testing in colorectal cancer patients Cancer. 2011 Jul 15; 117(14):3156-62. . View in PubMed
AXIN2-associated autosomal dominant ectodermal dysplasia and neoplastic syndrome Am J Med Genet A. 2011 Apr; 155A(4):898-902. . View in PubMed
Disclosing individual CDKN2A research results to melanoma survivors: interest, impact, and demands on researchers Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Mar; 20(3):522-9. . View in PubMed
Evaluation of established breast cancer risk factors as modifiers of BRCA1 or BRCA2: a multi-center case-only analysis Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2010 Nov; 124(2):441-51. . View in PubMed
A review of statistical methods for testing genetic anticipation: looking for an answer in Lynch syndrome Genet Epidemiol. 2010 Nov; 34(7):756-68. . View in PubMed
Case-control studies of gene-environment interaction: Bayesian design and analysis Biometrics. 2010 Sep; 66(3):934-48. . View in PubMed
Allele-specific expression of APC in adenomatous polyposis familiesGastroenterology. 2010 Aug; 139(2):439-47, 447. e1. . View in PubMed
Common variation in ISL1 confers genetic susceptibility for human congenital heart disease PLoS One. 2010 May 26; 5(5):e10855. . View in PubMed
Genetic/familial high-risk assessment: breast and ovarian J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2010 May; 8(5):562-94. . View in PubMed
Genetic variation in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase modifies the chemopreventive activity of statins for colorectal cancer Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2010 May; 3(5):597-603. . View in PubMed
A case-control study of levothyroxine and the risk of colorectal cancer J Natl Cancer Inst. 2010 Apr 21; 102(8):568-72. . View in PubMed
Calculation of risk of colorectal and endometrial cancer among patients with Lynch syndrome Gastroenterology. 2009 Nov; 137(5):1621-7. . View in PubMed
Colorectal cancer risk perception on the basis of genetic test results in individuals at risk for Lynch syndrome J Clin Oncol. 2009 Aug 20; 27(24):3981-6. . View in PubMed
Emerging molecular technologies for identifying the risk of second cancers Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2009 Jul; 2(7):605-7. . View in PubMed
Familial medullary thyroid carcinoma associated with cutaneous lichen amyloidosis Thyroid. 2009 Jun; 19(6):651-5. . View in PubMed
Diagnosis and management of hereditary paraganglioma syndrome due to the F933>X67 SDHD mutation Head Neck. 2009 May; 31(5):689-94. . View in PubMed
Gene expression patterns in mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancers highlight the potential therapeutic role of inhibitors of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-AKT-mammalian target of rapamycin pathway Clin Cancer Res. 2009 Apr 15; 15(8):2829-39. . View in PubMed
FOXP3 germline polymorphisms are not associated with risk of breast cancer Cancer Genet Cytogenet. 2009 Apr 01; 190(1):40-2. . View in PubMed
Breast cancer characteristics at diagnosis and survival among Arab-American women compared to European- and African-American women Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Mar; 114(2):339-46. . View in PubMed
Anticipation in lynch syndrome: still waiting for the answer J Clin Oncol. 2009 Jan 20; 27(3):326-7. . View in PubMed
Adenoma-infiltrating lymphocytes (AILs) are a potential marker of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer Am J Surg Pathol. 2008 Nov; 32(11):1661-6. . View in PubMed
Gynecologic malignancies in Ashkenazi families with the MSH2 A636P founder mutationAm J Obstet Gynecol. 2008 Aug; 199(2):148. e1-3. . View in PubMed
Accounting for error due to misclassification of exposures in case-control studies of gene-environment interaction Stat Med. 2008 Jul 10; 27(15):2756-83. . View in PubMed
Accurate classification of MLH1/MSH2 missense variants with multivariate analysis of protein polymorphisms-mismatch repair (MAPP-MMR) Hum Mutat. 2008 Jun; 29(6):852-60. . View in PubMed
Genome-wide association scan identifies a colorectal cancer susceptibility locus on 11q23 and replicates risk loci at 8q24 and 18q21 Nat Genet. 2008 May; 40(5):631-7. . View in PubMed
FGFR2 is a breast cancer susceptibility gene in Jewish and Arab Israeli populations Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 May; 17(5):1060-5. . View in PubMed
Genetic and genomic analysis modeling of germline c-MYC overexpression and cancer susceptibility BMC Genomics. 2008 Jan 11; 9:12. . View in PubMed
First description of parathyroid disease in multiple endocrine neoplasia 2A syndrome Endocr Pathol. 2008; 19(4):289-93. . View in PubMed
Dietary intake of carotenoid isomers in Israel Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2007 Nov; 77(6):398-405. . View in PubMed
Genetic variation in 8q24 associated with risk of colorectal cancer Cancer Biol Ther. 2007 Jul; 6(7):1143-7. . View in PubMed
Clinical implications of founder and recurrent CDH1 mutations in hereditary diffuse gastric cancer JAMA. 2007 Jun 06; 297(21):2410-1. . View in PubMed
CDKN2A germline mutations in individuals with cutaneous malignant melanoma J Invest Dermatol. 2007 May; 127(5):1234-43. . View in PubMed
APC E1317Q is not associated with Colorectal Cancer in a population-based case-control study in Northern Israel Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Nov; 15(11):2325-7. . View in PubMed
BRAF and NRAS mutations in spitzoid melanocytic lesions Mod Pathol. 2006 Oct; 19(10):1324-32. . View in PubMed
Anti-oncogenic role of the endoplasmic reticulum differentially activated by mutations in the MAPK pathway Nat Cell Biol. 2006 Oct; 8(10):1053-63. . View in PubMed
ASCO/SSO review of current role of risk-reducing surgery in common hereditary cancer syndromes J Clin Oncol. 2006 Oct 01; 24(28):4642-60. . View in PubMed
ASCO/SSO review of current role of risk-reducing surgery in common hereditary cancer syndromes Ann Surg Oncol. 2006 Oct; 13(10):1296-321. . View in PubMed
Early results of single-stage biventricular repair of severe aortic hypoplasia or atresia with ventricular septal defect and normal left ventricle J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2006 Aug; 132(2):260-3. . View in PubMed
BRAF and NRAS mutations in melanoma and melanocytic nevi Melanoma Res. 2006 Aug; 16(4):267-73. . View in PubMed
A design for cancer case-control studies using only incident cases: experience with the GEM study of melanoma Int J Epidemiol. 2006 Jun; 35(3):756-64. . View in PubMed
Frequency and spectrum of cancers in the Peutz-Jeghers syndrome Clin Cancer Res. 2006 May 15; 12(10):3209-15. . View in PubMed
Colorectal Cancer Screening Clinical Practice Guidelines J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2006 Apr; 4(4):384-420. . View in PubMed
Genetics of colorectal cancer Oncology (Williston Park). 2006 Mar; 20(3):269-76; discussion 285-6, 288-9. . View in PubMed
APC I1307K and the risk of prostate cancer Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Mar; 15(3):468-73. . View in PubMed
Colorectal polyps in carriers of the APC I1307K polymorphism Dis Colon Rectum. 2005 Dec; 48(12):2317-21. . View in PubMed
CDX2 polymorphisms, RNA expression, and risk of colorectal cancer Cancer Res. 2005 Jul 01; 65(13):5488-92. . View in PubMed
CDX2-regulated expression of iron transport protein hephaestin in intestinal and colonic epithelium Gastroenterology. 2005 Apr; 128(4):946-61. . View in PubMed
Comparison of seven methods for producing Affymetrix expression scores based on False Discovery Rates in disease profiling data BMC Bioinformatics. 2005 Feb 10; 6:26. . View in PubMed
Endometrial cancer: socioeconomic status and racial/ethnic differences in stage at diagnosis, treatment, and survival Am J Public Health. 2004 Dec; 94(12):2104-11. . View in PubMed
Familial aggregation of melanoma risks in a large population-based sample of melanoma cases Cancer Causes Control. 2004 Nov; 15(9):957-65. . View in PubMed
EGF gene polymorphism and the risk of incident primary melanoma Cancer Res. 2004 Apr 15; 64(8):2668-72. . View in PubMed
BRCA1 and BRCA2 founder mutations and the risk of colorectal cancer J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004 Jan 07; 96(1):15-21. . View in PubMed
Genetic anthropology of the colorectal cancer-susceptibility allele APC I1307K: evidence of genetic drift within the Ashkenazim Am J Hum Genet. 2003 Dec; 73(6):1250-60. . View in PubMed
Accurate molecular classification of human cancers based on gene expression using a simple classifier with a pathological tree-based framework Am J Pathol. 2003 Nov; 163(5):1985-95. . View in PubMed
Cyclooxygenase 2 expression and molecular alterations in Peutz-Jeghers hamartomas and carcinomas Clin Cancer Res. 2003 Aug 01; 9(8):3065-72. . View in PubMed
BLM heterozygosity and the risk of colorectal cancer Science. 2002 Sep 20; 297(5589):2013. . View in PubMed
Cancer risks in BRCA1 carriers: time for the next generation of studies J Natl Cancer Inst. 2002 Sep 18; 94(18):1344-5. . View in PubMed
