Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Medicine
Hematology & Medical Oncology

ScD, Harvard University
MPH, Boston University
BS, Boston University
BA, Brown University

Pronouns: she/her/hers



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.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice have been a high priority for me throughout my career. I came of age during the early years of the Black Power movement, the second wave of the Women's Liberation movement, and the Gay Liberation movement. The terms "white privilege", "male privilege", "heterosexual privilege", and "class privilege" have been part of my lexicon since before I even began my graduate education. My choice of research topics as an epidemiologist has been informed by my desire to 1) conduct research in populations that have traditionally been ignored - specifically for my research, women and Black Americans, and 2) to address research questions that may lead to prevention of disease by considering social and political conditions rather individual behaviors only. To this end, I have devoted most of my research time since the early 1990's to creating and co-leading the Black Women's Health Study, a prospective cohort study of 59,000 U.S. Black women who enrolled in 1995 and have been followed by biennial questionnaires. In addition to prioritizing research questions as described above, I am committed to assisting in creating opportunities for Black investigators, and in particular Black women scientists, to develop successful careers. I do this first by recruiting and mentoring graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty, and second by providing opportunities for Black investigators from other institutions to strengthen their careers by using Black Women's Health Study data to address their own hypotheses. It is not just that no one has all the answers; no one has all the questions. One of the most important things I have learned through years of working with a diverse group of investigators is to listen, to do my part in allowing there to be a space for all ideas to be heard. I am dedicated to welcoming and celebrating individuals of all races, ethnicities, social backgrounds, sexual orientation, gender, sex, age, ability, religion, and national origin.

Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Epidemiology


Director
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Slone Epidemiology Center


Co-Director
Boston University
BU-BMC Cancer Center


Member
Boston University
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research


Member
Boston University
Genome Science Institute




A Follow-up Study for Causes of Cancer in Black Women
09/01/2022 - 08/31/2027 (Multi-PI)
PI: Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
NIH/National Cancer Institute
5U01CA164974-14

Evaluating the Feasibility of Lung Cancer Screening in High-risk Black Women
08/01/2023 - 07/31/2026 (Subcontract PI)
Massachusetts General Hospital HHS AHRQ
1R18HS029430-01

American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant
01/01/2023 - 12/31/2025 (PI)
American Cancer Society, Inc.


Psychosocial stress and molecular profiles of breast tumors from U.S. Black women
10/26/2022 - 10/25/2025 (PI)
Susan G. Komen for the Cure


Neighborhood Disadvantage, Tumor Characteristics, and Breast Cancer Survival in U.S. Black Women
09/14/2023 - 09/13/2025 (PI)
Susan G. Komen for the Cure


Somatic Mutations and Their Etiological Determinants for Breast Cancer in African American Women
02/01/2019 - 01/31/2025 (Multi-PI)
PI: Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
Health Research, Inc. NIH NCI
5R01CA228156-05

Testing scalable communication modalities for returning breast cancer genetic research results to African American women
06/12/2020 - 11/30/2024 (Multi-PI)
PI: Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
NIH/National Inst on Minority Health and Health Disparities
5R01MD014312-04

Breast Cancer Drivers in Black Women: Society to Cells
11/01/2023 - 10/31/2024 (PI)
Breast Cancer Research Foundation


Improving Breast Cancer Risk Prediction for African American Women: Consideration of Estrogen Receptor Subtype-Specific Risk Factors
01/08/2019 - 12/31/2023 (PI)
NIH/National Cancer Institute
5R01CA228357-05

Relationships between parity, breastfeeding and ER- breast cancer in African American women: elucidating the biologic underpinnings at the molecular and cellular level
12/04/2018 - 11/30/2023 (Multi-PI)
PI: Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
Health Research, Inc. NIH NCI
5R01CA225947-03

Showing 10 of 29 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 Evaluating the Feasibility of Lung Cancer Screening in High-Risk Black Women 5R18HS029430-02
2024 Testing scalable communication modalities for returning breast cancer genetic research results to African American women 5R01MD014312-04
2024 A Follow-up Study for Causes of Cancer in Black Women 5U01CA164974-14
2023 Evaluating the Feasibility of Lung Cancer Screening in High-Risk Black Women 1R18HS029430-01
2023 Somatic Mutations and Their Etiological Determinants for Breast Cancer in African American Women 5R01CA228156-05
2023 Improving Breast Cancer Risk Prediction for African American Women: Consideration of Estrogen Receptor Subtype-Specific Risk Factors 5R01CA228357-05
2023 Relationships between parity, breastfeeding and ER- breast cancer in African American women: Elucidating the biologic underpinnings at the molecular and cellular level. 5R01CA225947-05
2023 A Follow-up Study for Causes of Cancer in Black Women 5U01CA164974-13
2022 Testing scalable communication modalities for returning breast cancer genetic research results to African American women 5R01MD014312-03
2022 Somatic Mutations and Their Etiological Determinants for Breast Cancer in African American Women 5R01CA228156-04
Showing 10 of 84 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39513960; PMCID: PMC11701432; DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-1884;
     
  2. 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 03.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39753771
     
  3. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39093038; PMCID: PMC11611676; DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-24-0494;
     
  4. 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. 2024 Oct 19.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39425554
     
  5. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39417132; PMCID: PMC11482981; DOI: 10.1101/2024.10.11.24315237;
     
  6. 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
     
  7. 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. 2024 Sep 05.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39235934
     
  8. Zanti M, O'Mahony DG, Parsons MT, Dorling L, Dennis J, Boddicker NJ, Chen W, Hu C, Naven M, Yiangou K, Ahearn TU, Ambrosone CB, Andrulis IL, Antoniou AC, Auer PL, Baynes C, Bodelon C, Bogdanova NV, Bojesen SE, Bolla MK, Brantley KD, Camp NJ, Campbell A, Castelao JE, Cessna MH, Chang-Claude J, Chen F, Chenevix-Trench G, Conroy DM, Czene K, De Nicolo A, Domchek SM, Dörk T, Dunning AM, Eliassen AH, Evans DG, Fasching PA, Figueroa JD, Flyger H, Gago-Dominguez M, García-Closas M, Glendon G, González-Neira A, Grassmann F, Hadjisavvas A, Haiman CA, Hamann U, Hart SN, Hartman MBA, Ho WK, Hodge JM, Hoppe R, Howell SJ, Jakubowska A, Khusnutdinova EK, Ko YD, Kraft P, Kristensen VN, Lacey JV, Li J, Lim GH, Lindström S, Lophatananon A, Luccarini C, Mannermaa A, Martinez ME, Mavroudis D, Milne RL, Muir K, Nathanson KL, Nuñez-Torres R, Obi N, Olson JE, Palmer JR, Panayiotidis MI, Patel AV, Pharoah PDP, Polley EC, Rashid MU, Ruddy KJ, Saloustros E, Sawyer EJ, Schmidt MK, Southey MC, Tan VK, Teo SH, Teras LR, Torres D, Trentham-Dietz A, Truong T, Vachon CM, Wang Q, Weitzel JN, Yadav S, Yao S, Zirpoli GR, Cline MS, Devilee P, Tavtigian SV, Goldgar DE, Couch FJ, Easton DF, Spurdle AB, Michailidou K. Analysis of more than 400,000 women provides case-control evidence for BRCA1 and BRCA2 variant classification. medRxiv. 2024 Sep 04.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39281752; PMCID: PMC11398439; DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.04.24313051;
     
  9. Sun X, Verma SP, Jia G, Wang X, Ping J, Guo X, Shu XO, Chen J, Derkach A, Cai Q, Liang X, Long J, Offit K, Oh JH, Reiner AS, Watt GP, Woods M, Yang Y, Ambrosone CB, Ambs S, Chen Y, Concannon P, Garcia-Closas M, Gu J, Haiman CA, Hu JJ, Huo D, John EM, Knight JA, Li CI, Lynch CF, Mellemkjær L, Nathanson KL, Nemesure B, Olopade OI, Olshan AF, Pal T, Palmer JR, Press MF, Sanderson M, Sandler DP, Troester MA, Zheng W, Bernstein JL, Buas MF, Shu X. Case-Case Genome-Wide Analyses Identify Subtype-Informative Variants That Confer Risk for Breast Cancer. Cancer Res. 2024 Aug 01; 84(15):2533-2548. PMID: 38832928; PMCID: PMC11293972; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-23-3854;
     
  10. Titus L, Hatch EE, Bertrand KA, Palmer JR, Strohsnitter WC, Huo D, Curry M, Hyer M, Aagaard K, Gierach GL, Troisi R. Benign and Malignant Outcomes in the Offspring of Females Exposed In Utero to Diethylstilbestrol (DES): An Update from the NCI Third Generation Study. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Jul 18; 16(14).View Related Profiles. PMID: 39061214; PMCID: PMC11274475; DOI: 10.3390/cancers16142575;
     
Showing 10 of 480 results. Show More