Dr. Capanu's current research interests are in the development of hierarchical models for epidemiologic studies to identify genetic variants that increase the risk of cancer. She has been recently awarded an NIH grant to determine the validity of available hierarchical modeling techniques for estimating the relative risks of individual rare genetic variants. The goal of the study is to provide a valid analytic strategy that can distinguish variants that are harmful from those that are harmless, thus facilitating genetic counseling. Dr. Capanu is involved in the statistical analysis of the WECARE (Women's Environment Cancer and Radiation Exposure) Study. In collaboration with Dr. Bernstein, Dr. Capanu is examining the associations between known risk factors for breast cancer, such as family or reproductive history, and risk of developing a second primary breast cancer. She is also investigating the joint associations of radiation exposure and genetic variation in the ATM and BRCA1/2 genes in the etiology of breast cancer. Dr. Capanu is also involved in clinical collaborations with the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service. She has been working with investigators of this group on the design and analysis of prospective and retrospective studies.
Selected Bibliography:
Booth, J., Capanu, M., Heigenhauser, L. (2005) Exact conditional p-value calculation for the quasi-symmetry model, Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, Vol. 14, No. 3, September 2005 pp.716-725
Capanu, M., Jones, G. A., Randles, R. H. (2006) Testing for Preference using a Sum of Wilcoxon Signed Rank Statistics Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, Nov 15 51(2):793-796
Capanu, M., Presnell, B. (2007) Misspecification Tests for Binomial and Beta-Binomial Models, Statistics in Medicine, 27(14):2536-2554
Largent, J. A., Capanu, M., Bernstein, L., Langholz, B., Mellemkjær, L., Malone, K. E., Begg, C. B., Haile, R. W., Lynch, C. F., Anton-Culver, H., Wolitzer, A., Bernstein, J. L. (2007) Reproductive history and risk of second primary breast cancer: the WECARE Study, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 16(5): 906-911
Capanu, M., Orlow, I., Berwick, M., Hummer, A. J., Thomas, D. C., Begg, C. B. (2008) The Use of Hierarchical Models for Estimating Relative Risks of Individual Genetic Variants: An Application to a Study of Melanoma, Statistics in Medicine, 27(11):1973-1992
