The Genes, Environment and Melanoma (GEM) Study

Annual Meeting, Sept 2025
Annual Meeting, Sept 2025

Genes, Environment, and Melanoma Study

About us

The GEM study is a population-based case-control study of multiple melanoma conducted in various geographic regions of North America, Europe and Australia. Over 3500 participants contributed DNA and lifestyle and personal information to examine genetic factors associated with melanoma, and their relationships with personal sun exposure history.

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Founding PIs

  • Marianne Berwick & Colin Begg (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY)
  • Bruce Armstrong & Anne Kricker (The University of Sydney and the Cancer Council New South Wales, Sydney (Australia)
  • Terence Dwyer (Menzies Centre for Population Health Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia)
  • Richard Gallagher, Loraine Marrett, Roberto Zanetti, Hoda Anton-Culver, Stephen Gruber, Judith Klotz & Homer Wilcox (New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton, NJ)
  • Robert Millikan, Timothy Rebbeck

Investigators by Study Center

Coordinating Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (USA):  Marianne Berwick, M.P.H., Ph.D. (PI, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM), Colin Begg, Ph.D. (co-PI), Irene Orlow, DSc., M.S. (co-Investigator), Klaus J. Busam, M.D. (Dermatopathologist), Isidora Autuori (Research Assistant), Audrey Mauguen, Ph.D. (Biostatistician). Germline DNA handling and genotyping design and testing for this study specifically were completed by Pampa Roy, Ph.D. (Senior Laboratory Technician), Sarah Yoo, M.A. (Senior Laboratory Technician), Ajay Sharma, M.S. (Senior Laboratory Technician), and Jaipreet Rayar, M.S. (Senior Laboratory Technician). 

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM: Marianne Berwick, M.P.H., Ph.D. (PI), Li Luo, Ph.D. (Biostatistician), Tawny W. Boyce, M.P.H. (Data Manager). 

The University of Sydney and The Cancer Council New South Wales, Sydney, Australia: Anne E. Cust, Ph.D. (PI), Bruce K. Armstrong, M.D., Ph.D. (former PI), Anne Kricker, Ph.D., (former co-PI), Melisa Litchfield (Study Coordinator). 

Menzies Institute for Medical Research University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia: Alison Venn, Ph.D. (former PI), Terence Dwyer, M.D. (PI, currently at University of Oxford, United Kingdom), Paul Tucker (Dermatopathologist), Nicola Stephens (Study Coordinator). 

BC Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, Canada: Richard P. Gallagher, M.A. (PI), Teresa Switzer (Coordinator), Tim Lee.

Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto, Canada: Loraine D. Marrett, Ph.D. (PI); Elizabeth Theis (Co-Investigator), Lynn From (Dermatopathologist, ‡), Noori Chowdhury (Coordinator), Louise Vanasse (Coordinator), Mark Purdue (Research Officer).

CPO, Center for Cancer Prevention, Torino, Italy: Roberto Zanetti, M.D. (PI), Stefano Rosso, M.D., M.Sc. (co-PI), Lidia Sacchetto, Ph.D. (Biostatistician); Carlotta Sacerdote (Coordinator). 

University of California, Irvine, CA: Hoda Anton-Culver, Ph.D. (PI), Nancy Leighton (Coordinator), Maureen Gildea (Data Manager).

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI: Stephen B. Gruber, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. (PI, currently at City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA), Shu-Chen Huang, M.S., M.B.A. (co-Investigator, joint at USC-University of Michigan), Joe Bonner (Data Manager), Joanne Jeter (Coordinator).

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC: Nancy E. Thomas, M.D., Ph.D. (PI), Kathleen Conway, Ph.D. (co-Investigator), David W. Ollila, M.D. (co-Investigator), Paul B. Googe, M.D. (Dermatopathologist), Sharon N. Edmiston, B.A. (Research Analyst), Honglin Hao (Laboratory Specialist), Eloise Parrish, M.S.P.H. (Laboratory Specialist), David C. Gibbs, M.D., Ph.D. (Resident Physician at Emory University, Atlanta, GA), Dianne Mattingly (Coordinator), Alison Eaton (Laboratory Technician), Jessica Tse (Data Analyst), and Bob Millikan (former PI ‡). 

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA: Timothy R. Rebbeck, Ph.D. (former PI), Peter A. Kanetsky, M.P.H., Ph.D. (PI, currently at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL);Amy Walker (Laboratory Technician), Saarene Panossian (Laboratory Technician).

UV data consultants: Julia Lee Taylor, Ph.D. and Sasha Madronich, Ph.D., National Centre for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO. The WAMHS gratefully acknowledges all particpiants for their time and contributions, as well as the Western Australian DNA Bank at the University of Western Australia, the Western Australian Cancer Registry and the WAMHS study team.

New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton, NJ: Judith Klotz (PI), Homer Wilcox (Co-PI), Helen Weiss (Coordinator). 

Consultants: Harvey Mohrenweiser, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA (USA); Richard Setlow, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY (USA).

Research Areas

  • Skin Melanoma Risk
  • Pathoepidemiology & Molecular Pathoepidemiology
  • Communication and Behavioral Risk Reduction
  • Melanoma Specific Survival
  • Genetics and Genomics
  • Effect of UV exposure
  • Methological

Links to publications, by area of study

For more information, visit us at https://gem-melanoma-study.org

Funding Grants: 

U01 CA83180-01 NIH (Berwick): A model for genetic susceptibility: melanoma; R01 CA112524 NIH (Berwick): Solar exposure and melanoma survival; R03 CA125829 NIH (Orlow): Mutational analysis of clonality in multiple primary melanoma; R01 CA112243 NIH/NC (Thomas): Melanoma RAS/BRAF mutation: heterogeneity-risk-prognosis; R03 CA173806 NIH/NCI (Orlow): Validation of the use of whole-genome amplified DNA in a population-based study; *R01 CA233524 NIH/NCI (Thomas, Begg, Berwick, current support): Identification of Lethal Melanoma at the Time of Diagnosis.

Annual Meetings

Our most recent Annual Meeting was held in September, 2025, in Princeton NJ. In addition to the great presentations and discussions, we celebrated the study’s 25th anniversary, and we honored Colin Begg for all his support and intellectual contributions to melanoma research.

Data Availability & Collaborative Opportunities

  • Contact us at [email protected] to send requests Click here to send a request to xxx” and pending review by the GEM Steering Committee.