Ross Prentice, Ph.D., is a Member and Director of, the Public Health Sciences Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Washington.  He is also Principal Investigator of the NIH-sponsored Clinical Coordinating Center for the Women’s Health Initiative.  Dr. Prentice’s personal research is mainly in the area of statistical methods development for population science research.  Research support includes an NCI program grant, currently in its thirty second year, that includes an emphasis on research designs and strategies for studies of diet, nutrition and chronic disease, including the strategy of strengthening observational studies through the inclusion of objective (biomarker) measures of nutrient consumption.  He is a Member of the Institute of Medicine, and served on its Food and Nutrition Board.  Recent honors include the Marvin Zelen Leadership Award from Harvard University, the initiation of the Prentice Endowed Professorship at the University of Washington, the Research Excellence in Epidemiology and Prevention Award from the American Association of Cancer Research, and the COPSS R.A. Fisher Lectureship from several statistical societies.

Abstract

On the Use of Biomarkers to Strengthen Diet and Disease Association Studies

Measurement error in dietary assessment obscures the interpretation of an extensive nutritional epidemiology literature. Urinary recovery biomarkers, that reflect the expenditure of a nutrient are available for a few ‘nutrients’, including total energy and protein. The collection of these biomarkers, in conjunction with dietary self-report data, in a subset of a study cohort, permits the development of calibration equations that have potential to accommodate both random and systematic aspects of dietary assessment measurement error. These, in turn, lead to calibrated nutrient consumption estimates in the entire cohort for use in association studies. These approaches will be illustrated in the context of analyses of energy and protein consumption in relation to cancer risk among postmenopausal women enrolled in Women’s Health Initiative cohorts. Some ideas for biomarker development for other nutrients or dietary components, and for physical activity and it’s components, with be outlined.