Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Professor, Medicine
Biography
Dr. Palmer is a cancer epidemiologist based at the Slone Epidemiology Center, with research projects spanning cancer early detection, etiology, and survivorship. Her primary focus is on elucidating reasons for the disproportionately high incidence of hormone receptor negative breast cancer in U.S. Black women and on understanding and reducing racial disparities in breast cancer mortality. She is a founding leader of the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), a prospective cohort study of 59,000 self-identified Black women who enrolled in 1995 and have been followed by biennial questionnaire since that time. Her breast cancer research within the BWHS includes work on risk prediction models for breast cancer in U.S. Black women, identifying differences in childbearing patterns as a contributing cause to the excess incidence of estrogen receptor negative breast cancer in Black women, and investigating the interrelationships of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and inflammation on breast cancer risk. Her current grants support work on somatic mutations, epigenetics, and gene expressions profiles in breast cancer tumors from African American women, setting the stage for a better understanding of the role of epidemiologic and genetic factors in etiology and prognosis. Dr. Palmer has served on many NIH and external advisory committees, including as Chair of the NIH Cancer, Cardiovascular, and Sleep Epidemiology Study Section, 2015-2017, and Co-Chair of a Working Group for the National Cancer Advisory Board, NCI, 2018-2019. Dr. Palmer was awarded the AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in 2017. She has served as a Komen Scholar since 2018 and as a Breast Cancer Research Foundation Investigator since 2023.
Other Positions
- Professor, Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health
- Director, Slone Epidemiology Center, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- Co-Director, BU-BMC Cancer Center, Boston University
- Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Boston University
- Member, Genome Science Institute, Boston University
Education
- Harvard University, ScD
- Boston University, MPH
- Boston University, BS
- Brown University, BA
Publications
- Published on 1/23/2025
Shan Y, Bertrand KA, Petrick JL, Sheehy S, Palmer JR. Planetary Health Diet Index in relation to mortality in a prospective cohort study of United States Black females. Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Mar; 121(3):589-596. PMID: 39863116.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/21/2025
Griswold MK, Crawford SL, Person SD, Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Cozier YC. Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration Among Primiparous Black Women. Breastfeed Med. 2025 Jan 21. PMID: 39835974.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/9/2025
Sheehy S, Friedman D, Liu C, Lunetta KL, Zirpoli G, Palmer JR. Association between Apolipoprotein L1 genetic variants and risk of preeclampsia and preterm birth among U.S. Black women. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol X. 2025 Mar; 25:100365. PMID: 39895997.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/6/2025
Huang H, Couch RE, Karam R, Hu C, Boddicker N, Polley EC, Na J, Ambrosone CB, Yao S, Trentham-Dietz A, Eliassen AH, Penney K, Brantley K, Bodelon C, Teras LR, Hodge J, Patel A, Haiman CA, John EM, Neuhausen SL, Martinez E, Lacey JV, O'Brien KM, Sandler DP, Weinberg CR, Palmer JR, Bertrand KA, Vachon CM, Olson JE, Ruddy KE, Anton-Culver H, Ziogas A, Goldgar DE, Nathanson KL, Domchek SM, Weitzel JN, Kraft P, Dolinsky JS, Pesaran T, Richardson ME, Yadav S, Couch FJ. Pathogenic Variants in Cancer Susceptibility Genes Predispose to Ductal Carcinoma In Situ of the Breast. Clin Cancer Res. 2025 Jan 06; 31(1):130-138. PMID: 39513960.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/3/2025
Jia G, Chen Z, Ping J, Cai Q, Tao R, Li C, Bauer JA, Xie Y, Ambs S, Barnard ME, Chen Y, Choi JY, Gao YT, Garcia-Closas M, Gu J, Hu JJ, Iwasaki M, John EM, Kweon SS, Li CI, Matsuda K, Matsuo K, Nathanson KL, Nemesure B, Olopade OI, Pal T, Park SK, Park B, Press MF, Sanderson M, Sandler DP, Shen CY, Troester MA, Yao S, Zheng Y, Ahearn T, Brewster AM, Falusi A, Hennis AJM, Ito H, Kubo M, Lee ES, Makumbi T, Ndom P, Noh DY, O'Brien KM, Ojengbede O, Olshan AF, Park MH, Reid S, Yamaji T, Zirpoli G, Butler EN, Huang M, Low SK, Obafunwa J, Weinberg CR, Zhang H, Zhao H, Cote ML, Ambrosone CB, Huo D, Li B, Kang D, Palmer JR, Shu XO, Haiman CA, Guo X, Long J, Zheng W. Refining breast cancer genetic risk and biology through multi-ancestry fine-mapping analyses of 192 risk regions. Nat Genet. 2025 Jan; 57(1):80-87. PMID: 39753771.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 1/1/2025
Peeri NC, Bertrand KA, Na R, De Vivo I, Setiawan VW, Seshan VE, Alemany L, Chen Y, Clarke MA, Clendenen T, Cook LS, Costas L, Dal Maso L, Freudenheim JL, Friedenreich CM, Gierach GL, Goodman MT, La Vecchia C, Levi F, Lopez-Querol M, Lu L, Moysich KB, Mutter G, Naduparambil J, Negri E, O'Connell K, O'Mara T, Palmer JR, Parazzini F, Penney KL, Petruzella S, Reynolds P, Ricceri F, Risch H, Rohan TE, Sacerdote C, Sandin S, Shu XO, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ, Webb PM, Wentzensen N, Wilkens LR, Xu W, Yu H, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Zheng W, Guo X, Lipworth L, Du M. Understanding risk factors for endometrial cancer in young women. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Jan 01; 117(1):76-88. PMID: 39235934.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/2/2024
Bigham Z, Holder EX, Rodday AM, Breeze JL, Nelson KP, Palmer JR, Freund KM, Bertrand KA. Lifecourse Growth and Development Determinants of Mammographic Density in Black Women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2024 Dec 02; 33(12):1640-1650. PMID: 39093038.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 10/19/2024
Holder EX, Bigham Z, Nelson KP, Barnard ME, Palmer JR, Bertrand KA. Mammographic density and breast cancer risk among Black American women. Int J Cancer. 2025 Mar 15; 156(6):1173-1180. PMID: 39425554.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 10/12/2024
Akamandisa MP, Boddicker NJ, Yadav S, Hu C, Hart SN, Ambrosone C, Anton-Culver H, Auer PL, Bodelon C, Burnside ES, Chen F, Eliassen HA, Goldgar DE, Haiman C, Hodge JM, Huang H, John EM, Karam R, Lacey JV, Lindstroem S, Martinez E, Na J, Neuhausen SL, O'Brien KM, Olson JE, Pal T, Palmer JR, Patel AV, Pesaran T, Polley EC, Richardson ME, Ruddy K, Sandler DP, Teras LR, Trentham-Dietz A, Vachon CM, Weinberg C, Winham SJ, Yao S, Zirpoli G, Kraft P, Weitzel JN, Domchek SM, Couch FJ, Nathanson KL. Association of Gene Variant Type and Location with Breast Cancer Risk in the General Population. medRxiv. 2024 Oct 12. PMID: 39417132.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/24/2024
Thomas CE, Lin Y, Kim M, Kawaguchi ES, Qu C, Um CY, Lynch BM, Van Guelpen B, Tsilidis K, Carreras-Torres R, van Duijnhoven FJB, Sakoda LC, Campbell PT, Tian Y, Chang-Claude J, Bézieau S, Budiarto A, Palmer JR, Newcomb PA, Casey G, Le Marchandz L, Giannakis M, Li CI, Gsur A, Newton C, Obón-Santacana M, Moreno V, Vodicka P, Brenner H, Hoffmeister M, Pellatt AJ, Schoen RE, Dimou N, Murphy N, Gunter MJ, Castellví-Bel S, Figueiredo JC, Chan AT, Song M, Li L, Bishop DT, Gruber SB, Baurley JW, Bien SA, Conti DV, Huyghe JR, Kundaje A, Su YR, Wang J, Keku TO, Woods MO, Berndt SI, Chanock SJ, Tangen CM, Wolk A, Burnett-Hartman A, Wu AH, White E, Devall MA, Díez-Obrero V, Drew DA, Giovannucci E, Hidaka A, Kim AE, Lewinger JP, Morrison J, Ose J, Papadimitriou N, Pardamean B, Peoples AR, Ruiz-Narvaez EA, Shcherbina A, Stern MC, Chen X, Thomas DC, Platz EA, Gauderman WJ, Peters U, Hsu L. Characterization of Additive Gene-environment Interactions For Colorectal Cancer Risk. Epidemiology. 2025 Jan 01; 36(1):126-138. PMID: 39316822.
Read at: PubMed
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