Fall 2006 - Karmanos Cancer Institute

UP CLOSE:
ANN SCHWARTZ, PH.D.
Ann Schwartz, Ph.D. is a nationally
recognized cancer researcher, but not the
kind who spends hours in a laboratory.
Instead, Dr. Schwartz is an epidemiologist,
a scientist who studies the incidence,
distribution, and control of disease in
a population. It’s important scientific
work taking place primarily outside the
laboratory – exactly where Dr. Schwartz
wants to be – with people and statistics.
“You’re trying to understand people, ask
the right questions, understand their
histories and what makes them who they are,”
said Dr. Schwartz. While her studies include
laboratory work, you won’t find Dr. Schwartz
in the lab often. “My husband has his
Ph.D. in pharmacology and
he understands why I don’t
like working in the lab. It’s
the same reason I don’t
like to cook,” she says. “I
can’t follow a recipe or
laboratory procedures.”
Today, Dr. Schwartz serves as associate center
director for population science at the Karmanos
Cancer Institute – working in the same
building where she once had a summer job
with the Michigan Cancer Foundation. She
oversees a team of 60 researchers conducting
a wide range of population studies while also
carrying out her own research.
“We conduct studies to compare risk factors
and behaviors in individuals with cancer to
individuals without cancer to get some idea
of what causes the disease and what’s
associated with survival,” she says. “We’re
looking at genetic risk factors underlying
susceptibility to certain kinds of cancer. In
addition to those environmental exposures
– things you eat or smoke or are otherwise
exposed to – we want to know about any
genetic components that increase a
person’s risk.”
It’s time-consuming work and dependent on
the good will of cancer patients who agree to
be interviewed and donate a blood sample. In
addition, the community at large is needed
for comparison. Interviewers call hundreds of
phone numbers in the metro Detroit area at
random and ask a few simple questions. Then,
if someone in the household fits a particular
profile, the interviewer asks if they’d like to
participate in a research study.
If they choose to participate – and about
70 percent do – they are invited to complete
an interview and provide a DNA sample
for study. According to Dr. Schwartz,
researchers are trying to identify specific
genetic markers – working toward a day
when genetic testing will help identify
people with an increased risk of
developing certain kinds of cancer.
“Lung and pancreatic cancer, for example,
are very difficult to detect early. There aren’t
screening methods for these cancers like
there are for breast or prostate cancer. So
understanding genetic risk factors may
someday help us better detect and prevent
these cancers.”
ANN SCHWARTZ, PH.D.
[BIO]
ANN SCHWARTZ, PH.D.
TITLE: Associate Center Director,
Population Science
EDUCATION: Ph.D. in Epidemiology,
Master’s degree in Public Health and B.S. degree
in Biology from the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor and Master’s degree in Biology from Wayne
State University.
AGE: 49
HOBBIES: Swim team mom. (Daughter,
Carleigh, is a nationally competitive swimmer.)
HOME: Ann Arbor, Michigan
FAMILY: Ann and her husband, Don, have
two daughters, Juliann, 19, who is a sophomore
at the University of Michigan Honors College,
and Carleigh, 16.