Julie R. Palmer ScD, MPH

Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Professor, Hematology & Medical Oncology

Professor, Epidemiology

72 E. Concord Street | (617) 206-6175
jpalmer@bu.edu

Sections

Hematology & Medical Oncology

Centers

BU-BMC Cancer Center

Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research

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

Websites

BU Profile

Slone Epidemiology Center Director

Public Relations - BU Experts

ResearchGate

Education

Epidemiology, ScD, Harvard University

Epidemiology, MPH, Boston University

Nursing, BS, Boston University

Religious Studies, BA, Brown University

Publications

Published on 4/15/2025

Schoemaker MJ, Ellington T, Nichols HB, Wright LB, Jones ME, O'Brien KM, Weinberg CR, Adami HO, Baglietto L, Bertrand KA, Chen Y, Clague DeHart J, Eliassen AH, Giles GG, Houghton SC, Kirsh VA, Milne RL, Palmer JR, Park HL, Rohan TE, Severi G, Shu XO, Tamimi RM, Vatten LJ, Weiderpass E, Willett WC, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Zheng W, Sandler DP, Swerdlow AJ. Central and peripheral adiposity and premenopausal breast cancer risk: a pooled analysis of 440,179 women. Breast Cancer Res. 2025 Apr 15; 27(1):55. PMID: 40234955.

PubMed

Published on 3/27/2025

Bigham Z, Holder EX, Rodday AM, Breeze JL, Nelson KP, Palmer JR, Freund KM, Bertrand KA. Reproductive determinants of mammographic density in black women. Cancer Causes Control. 2025 Mar 27. PMID: 40146429.

PubMed

Published on 3/6/2025

Kim J, Williams A, Noh H, Jasper EA, Jones SH, Jaworski JA, Shuey MM, Ruiz-Narváez EA, Wise LA, Palmer JR, Connolly J, Keaton JM, Denny JC, Khan A, Abbass MA, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Kottyan LC, Madhivanan P, Krupp K, Wei WQ, Edwards TL, Velez Edwards DR, Hellwege JN. Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies novel risk loci for uterine fibroids within and across multiple ancestry groups. Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 06; 16(1):2273. PMID: 40050615.

PubMed

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.

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 May; 20(5):310-319. PMID: 39835974.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PubMed

View full list of 488 publications.