Jonine Bernstein, PhD
Attending Epidemiologist, Co-Program Leader Survivorship, Outcomes and Risk Program
Dr. Bernstein is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the WECARE Study (Women’s Environmental, Cancer, and Radiation Epidemiology) which examines genetic susceptibility and radiation exposure in breast cancer. Current investigations involving this resource include studies of the roles of mutations in the ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2 , Chek2, TP53BPI, MDC1, Rad50, and MRN genes. Recently, Dr. Bernstein was awarded a grant from NIH to conduct a multi-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) which involves genome-wide screening of the existing WECARE Study cases and controls, and recruitment of a validation data set, in order to discover single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) associated with second primary breast cancer and with radiation. This year the investigators have finished the screening and are currently involved in analyzing the results. In 2012, Dr. Bernstein received a grant award to examine the role of mammographic density as a risk factor for contralateral breast cancer. In addition, Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Sara Olson are collaborating on an NIH-funded multi-center study, the GLIOGENE (Genetic Epidemiology of Glioma) Study, to characterize genes in familial and sporadic glioma cases. The MSKCC team joins a large group in North America, Europe, and Israel on this endeavor with Melissa Bondy of MD Anderson as Principal Investigator. Lastly Dr. Bernstein, along with Drs. Jennifer Brooks and Malcolm Pike, are working with Dr. Elizabeth Morris and other clinical colleagues examining background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) as seen on MRI as a biomarker of breast cancer risk. Dr. Bernstein serves as a member of the board of the of the American College of Epidemiology (ACE), the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP), the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC), the AACR Molecular Epidemiolgoy (MEG) Steering Committee, and a member of the American Epidemiological Society (AES). In 2011, she was co-Chair of the Third North American Congress of Epidemiology which occurs every 5 years and is compromised of over 25 participating epidemiology societies. .