Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program

Mukesh Verma, Ph.D.
Branch Chief

Related Resources

• Epigenomics and Epigenetics
• Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics Funding Opportunities
• Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) Program
• Mitochondrial DNA and Cancer Epidemiology
• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR)

The vision of the Methods and Technologies Branch (MTB) is to advance population science through innovative cancer epidemiology utilizing state-of-the-art, emerging and advanced methods and technologies.

MTB's mission is to empower cancer epidemiologists with innovative and advanced methods/technologies to conduct cancer epidemiology. The Branch supports planning, developing, directing, validating, and evaluating:

• Methods/technologies for conducting cancer epidemiology, particularly the methods/technologies suitable for understanding cancer etiology, identifying at risk population, assessing cancer incidence, prevalence, survival and mortality in populations;
• Emerging and advanced methods/technologies which allow analysis of both endogenous (e.g., genomic, epigenomic, proteomic and metabolomic) and exogenous factors (e.g., chemical, drug, tobacco, and microbes), and the interactions between the host and the environment that increase or decrease cancer risk/survival;
• Robust methods/technologies for screening molecular markers (e.g., pre-neoplastic and neoplastic markers; inflammation markers; chemical/drug induced molecular changes; [i.e., the molecular markers of exposure]), which will be suitable for risk stratification in clinical/molecular epidemiology;Advanced methods/technologies for integrating epidemiological, clinical, molecular and environmental data to assess risk/susceptibility/survival;
• Methods/technologies for assessing quality, integrity, and utility of fresh or archived biospecimens, both liquid and tissue specimens to conduct retrospective and prospective epidemiological studies; and
• Robust prediction/prognostic models for cancer risk/outcomes.

MTB also disseminates findings from the research supported by the Branch to the public at-large, epidemiologists, and public health professionals involved in cancer prevention, care and control.