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 African American 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 African American 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 African American women, identifying differences in childbearing patterns as a contributing cause to the excess incidence of estrogen receptor negative breast cancer in African American 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.

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
5U01CA164974-13

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


Testing scalable communication modalities for returning breast cancer genetic research results to African American women
06/12/2020 - 01/31/2025 (Multi-PI)
PI: Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
NIH/National Inst on Minority Health and Health Disparities
5R01MD014312-03

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

Somatic Mutations and Their Etiological Determinants for Breast Cancer in African American Women
02/01/2019 - 01/31/2023 (Multi-PI)
PI: Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
Health Research, Inc. NIH NCI
5R01CA228156-04

A Follow-up Study for Causes of Cancer in Black Women
09/30/2017 - 08/31/2022 (Multi-PI)
PI: Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
NIH/National Cancer Institute
5U01CA164974-11

Breast Cancer genetic study in African-ancestry populations
07/01/2016 - 06/30/2022 (Multi-PI)
PI: Julie R. Palmer, ScD, MPH
Vanderbilt University Medical Center NIH NCI
5R01CA202981-05

Psychosocial Stress and Molecular Profiles of Breast Tumors from African American Women
06/19/2018 - 06/18/2022 (PI)
Susan G. Komen for the Cure


Showing 10 of 26 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
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
2022 Improving Breast Cancer Risk Prediction for African American Women: Consideration of Estrogen Receptor Subtype-Specific Risk Factors 5R01CA228357-04
2022 Relationships between parity, breastfeeding and ER- breast cancer in African American women: Elucidating the biologic underpinnings at the molecular and cellular level. 5R01CA225947-04
2021 Testing scalable communication modalities for returning breast cancer genetic research results to African American women 5R01MD014312-02
Showing 10 of 81 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. Harvey SV, Wentzensen N, Bertrand K, Black A, Brinton LA, Chen C, Costas L, Dal Maso L, De Vivo I, Du M, Garcia-Closas M, Goodman MT, Gorzelitz J, Johnson L, Lacey JV, Liao L, Lipworth L, Lissowska J, Miller AB, O'Connell K, O'Mara TA, Ou X, Palmer JR, Patel AV, Paytubi S, Pelegrina B, Petruzella S, Prizment A, Rohan T, Sandin S, Setiawan VW, Sinha R, Trabert B, Webb PM, Wilkens LR, Xu W, Yang HP, Zheng W, Clarke MA. Associations of life course obesity with endometrial cancer in the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium (E2C2). Int J Epidemiol. 2023 Aug 02; 52(4):1086-1099.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37029916; PMCID: PMC10396409; DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyad046;
     
  2. Hu C, Nagaraj AB, Shimelis H, Montalban G, Lee KY, Huang H, Lumby CA, Na J, Susswein LR, Roberts ME, Marshall ML, Hiraki S, LaDuca H, Chao E, Yussuf A, Pesaran T, Neuhausen SL, Haiman CA, Kraft P, Lindstrom S, Palmer JR, Teras LR, Vachon CM, Yao S, Ong I, Nathanson KL, Weitzel JN, Boddicker N, Gnanaolivu R, Polley EC, Mer G, Cui G, Karam R, Richardson ME, Domchek SM, Yadav S, Hruska KS, Dolinsky J, Weroha SJ, Hart SN, Simard J, Masson JY, Pang YP, Couch FJ. Functional and Clinical Characterization of Variants of Uncertain Significance Identifies a Hotspot for Inactivating Missense Variants in RAD51C. Cancer Res. 2023 Aug 01; 83(15):2557-2571. PMID: 37253112; PMCID: PMC10390864; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-2319;
     
  3. Aglago EK, Kim A, Lin Y, Qu C, Evangelou M, Ren Y, Morrison J, Albanes D, Arndt V, Barry EL, Baurley JW, Berndt SI, Bien SA, Bishop DT, Bouras E, Brenner H, Buchanan DD, Budiarto A, Carreras-Torres R, Casey G, Cenggoro TW, Chan AT, Chang-Claude J, Chen X, Conti DV, Devall M, Diez-Obrero V, Dimou N, Drew D, Figueiredo JC, Gallinger S, Giles GG, Gruber SB, Gsur A, Gunter MJ, Hampel H, Harlid S, Hidaka A, Harrison TA, Hoffmeister M, Huyghe JR, Jenkins MA, Jordahl K, Joshi AD, Kawaguchi ES, Keku TO, Kundaje A, Larsson SC, Marchand LL, Lewinger JP, Li L, Lynch BM, Mahesworo B, Mandic M, Obón-Santacana M, Moreno V, Murphy N, Nan H, Nassir R, Newcomb PA, Ogino S, Ose J, Pai RK, Palmer JR, Papadimitriou N, Pardamean B, Peoples AR, Platz EA, Potter JD, Prentice RL, Rennert G, Ruiz-Narvaez E, Sakoda LC, Scacheri PC, Schmit SL, Schoen RE, Shcherbina A, Slattery ML, Stern MC, Su YR, Tangen CM, Thibodeau SN, Thomas DC, Tian Y, Ulrich CM, van Duijnhoven FJ, Van Guelpen B, Visvanathan K, Vodicka P, Wang J, White E, Wolk A, Woods MO, Wu AH, Zemlianskaia N, Hsu L, Gauderman WJ, Peters U, Tsilidis KK, Campbell PT. A Genetic Locus within the FMN1/GREM1 Gene Region Interacts with Body Mass Index in Colorectal Cancer Risk. Cancer Res. 2023 Aug 01; 83(15):2572-2583. PMID: 37249599; PMCID: PMC10391330; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-3713;
     
  4. Barber LE, VoPham T, White LF, Roy HK, Palmer JR, Bertrand KA. Circadian Disruption and Colorectal Cancer Incidence in Black Women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2023 Jul 05; 32(7):927-935.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36409509; PMCID: PMC10199956; DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-22-0808;
     
  5. Dimou N, Kim AE, Flanagan O, Murphy N, Diez-Obrero V, Shcherbina A, Aglago EK, Bouras E, Campbell PT, Casey G, Gallinger S, Gruber SB, Jenkins MA, Lin Y, Moreno V, Ruiz-Narvaez E, Stern MC, Tian Y, Tsilidis KK, Arndt V, Barry EL, Baurley JW, Berndt SI, Bézieau S, Bien SA, Bishop DT, Brenner H, Budiarto A, Carreras-Torres R, Cenggoro TW, Chan AT, Chang-Claude J, Chanock SJ, Chen X, Conti DV, Dampier CH, Devall M, Drew DA, Figueiredo JC, Giles GG, Gsur A, Harrison TA, Hidaka A, Hoffmeister M, Huyghe JR, Jordahl K, Kawaguchi E, Keku TO, Larsson SC, Le Marchand L, Lewinger JP, Li L, Mahesworo B, Morrison J, Newcomb PA, Newton CC, Obon-Santacana M, Ose J, Pai RK, Palmer JR, Papadimitriou N, Pardamean B, Peoples AR, Pharoah PDP, Platz EA, Potter JD, Rennert G, Scacheri PC, Schoen RE, Su YR, Tangen CM, Thibodeau SN, Thomas DC, Ulrich CM, Um CY, van Duijnhoven FJB, Visvanathan K, Vodicka P, Vodickova L, White E, Wolk A, Woods MO, Qu C, Kundaje A, Hsu L, Gauderman WJ, Gunter MJ, Peters U. Probing the diabetes and colorectal cancer relationship using gene - environment interaction analyses. Br J Cancer. 2023 Aug; 129(3):511-520. PMID: 37365285; PMCID: PMC10403521; DOI: 10.1038/s41416-023-02312-z;
     
  6. Young KL, Olshan AF, Lunetta K, Graff M, Williams LA, Yao S, Zirpoli GR, Troester M, Palmer JR. Influence of alcohol consumption and alcohol metabolism variants on breast cancer risk among Black women: results from the AMBER consortium. Breast Cancer Res. 2023 Jun 12; 25(1):66.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37308906; PMCID: PMC10259046; DOI: 10.1186/s13058-023-01660-1;
     
  7. Ilozumba MN, Yaghjyan L, Datta S, Zhao J, Hong CC, Lunetta KL, Zirpoli G, Bandera EV, Palmer JR, Yao S, Ambrosone CB, Cheng TD. mTOR pathway candidate genes and energy intake interaction on breast cancer risk in Black women from the Women's Circle of Health Study. Eur J Nutr. 2023 Sep; 62(6):2593-2604.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37209192
     
  8. Bodelon C, Gierach GL, Hatch EE, Riseberg E, Hutchinson A, Yeager M, Sandler DP, Taylor JA, Hoover RN, Xu Z, Titus L, Palmer JR, Troisi R. In utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol and blood DNA methylation in adult women: Results from a meta-analysis of two cohort studies. Environ Res. 2023 Aug 15; 231(Pt 1):115990.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37149030
     
  9. Nichols HB, House MG, Yarosh R, Mitra S, Goldberg M, Bertrand KA, Eliassen AH, Giles GG, Jones ME, Milne RL, O'Brien KM, Palmer JR, Sandin S, Willett WC, Yin W, Sandler DP, Swerdlow AJ, Schoemaker MJ. Hypertensive conditions of pregnancy, preterm birth, and premenopausal breast cancer risk: a premenopausal breast cancer collaborative group analysis. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2023 Jun; 199(2):323-334.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37020102
     
  10. Wu Z, Petrick JL, Florio AA, Guillemette C, Beane Freeman LE, Buring JE, Bradwin G, Caron P, Chen Y, Eliassen AH, Engel LS, Freedman ND, Gaziano JM, Giovannuci EL, Hofmann JN, Huang WY, Kirsh VA, Kitahara CM, Koshiol J, Lee IM, Liao LM, Newton CC, Palmer JR, Purdue MP, Rohan TE, Rosenberg L, Sesso HD, Sinha R, Stampfer MJ, Um CY, Van Den Eeden SK, Visvanathan K, Wactawski-Wende J, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Zhang X, Graubard BI, Campbell PT, McGlynn KA. Endogenous sex steroid hormones and risk of liver cancer among US men: Results from the Liver Cancer Pooling Project. JHEP Rep. 2023 Jul; 5(7):100742.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37425211; PMCID: PMC10326694; DOI: 10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100742;
     
Showing 10 of 445 results. Show More