Ann Schwartz, Ph.D., of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit elected to International Lung Cancer Consortium steering committee

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Jun 21, 2016, 06:05 ET

DETROIT, June 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ann G. Schwartz, Ph.D., MPH, deputy center director and executive vice president for Research and Academic Affairs at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and professor and associate chair in the Department of Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, was recently elected to a three-year term on the International Lung Cancer Consortium's Steering Committee.

Ann G. Schwartz, Ph.D., MPH, of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, was recently elected to the International Lung Cancer Consortium's Steering Committee. She will serve a three-year term.

The International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), established in 2004, is a group of lung cancer researchers from across the globe that bring their expertise with the aim of sharing comparable data from ongoing lung cancer case-control and cohort studies from different geographical areas and ethnicities. The overall objectives are to achieve greater understanding of lung cancer, especially for subgroup analyses, such as early onset lung cancer cases, non-smokers or patients with tumors of rare histology; reduce duplication of research efforts; and replicate novel findings.

"Lung cancer continues to be the number one cause of cancer deaths and ILCCO is committed to working together to lower the incidence and mortality from this disease," said Dr. Schwartz. "This consortium has conducted research that is helping to define the highest risk populations for early detection that will ultimately result in better outcomes."

Dr. Schwartz also serves as director for the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System (the Detroit SEER Program) and has more than 25 years of experience conducting case-control and family-based studies related to the genetics underlying cancer. These studies have primarily focused on familial aggregation of lung cancer, producing the first estimates of lung cancer risk to relatives of African Americans, and lung cancer genetics.

Her most current grant explores inflammatory pathway genes, COPD and lung cancer. In addition to lung cancer, Dr. Schwartz has studied other cancers including breast, colon, prostate, ovarian and pancreatic cancer. Her research focuses on health disparities.

In addition to her active participation in ILCCO, Dr. Schwartz is involved in the Genetic Epidemiology of Lung Cancer Consortium, and serves on the External Advisory Boards for three Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) Grants and four National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers.

Partners in the ILCCO consortium include: MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France; Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University, Detroit; National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda; The University of Liverpool Cancer Research Centre, Liverpool, UK; National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway; Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto, Canada; Mayo Clinic, Rochester; Harvard University, Boston; Brown University, Providence; Seoul National University, Seoul, South-Korea; Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK; Penn State College of Medicine, Philadelphia; German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany; University of Goettingen, Germany; University of Hawaii, Honululu, Hawaii; Cancer Center and Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, Poland; National University of Singapore, Singapore; INSERM, Cedex, France; Pennsylvania State Cancer Institute, Hershey; deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland; Russian NN Blokhin Cancer Research Centre, Moscow; Russia; UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles; and University of California, San Francisco.

About the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute
Located in mid-town Detroit, Michigan, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, a subsidiary of McLaren Health Care, is one of 45 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Karmanos is among the nation's best cancer centers. Through the commitment of 1,000 staff, including nearly 300 physicians and researchers on faculty at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, and supported by thousands of volunteer and financial donors, Karmanos strives to prevent, detect and eradicate all forms of cancer. Its long-term partnership with the WSU School of Medicine enhances the collaboration of critical research and academics related to cancer care. Gerold Bepler, M.D., Ph.D., is the Institute's president and chief executive officer. For more information call 1-800-KARMANOS or go to www.karmanos.org.

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SOURCE Karmanos Cancer Institute