Anita Koushik received a BSc in Pharmacology from the University of Alberta in 1993, an MSc in Community Health and Epidemiology from Queen's University in 1999, and a PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University in 2003. She conducted postdoctoral training in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her current research is focused on understanding the etiology of ovarian and lung cancers.
Anita Koushik has been a Researcher at the Université de Montréal (Department of Social and Preventive Medicine) and the Research Center of the CHUM (Population Health Axis) since 2006.

 

 

Research

My current research is focused on understanding the etiology of ovarian and lung cancers. In one of my projects, I am interested in examining modifiable and genetic factors in the vitamin D pathway (sun exposure, diet) and inflammation pathway (anti-inflammatory medication use, talc use for feminine hygiene) that may play a role in ovarian cancer risk. We recently received funding from the Canadian Cancer Society to conduct this case-control study in Montreal and recruitment will begin in early 2011.

I am also working on lung cancer risk based on a case-control study conducted in Montreal in 1996-2001. My current projects related to this data involve the integration of the data into an international pooled analysis of occupational exposures, the analysis of hormone-related factors in relation to risk among women, and collaboration on a student thesis manuscript to examine associations with carotenoid intake. In addition, I have developed a project to examine occupational and recreational physical activity as well as intakes of dietary flavonoids in relation to risk.

I am also involved in several collaborative initiatives, including the development of the diet assessment instrument for the Cartagene study, as well as two projects focused on factors related to childhood obesity. I am an affiliated investigator on the Pooling Project of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer at the Harvard School of Public Health, and continue my research on diet and cancers of the ovary, pancreas and colon.

Education and training

Postdoctoral fellowship, Nutrition, genetic and cancer epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

PhD, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill, Montreal, QC

MSc, Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON

BSc, Pharmacology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Other affiliations

Chercheure adjointe, Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université de Montréal

Selected publications

  1. Koushik A, Parent M-É, Siemiatycki J. Characteristics of menstruation and pregnancy and the risk of lung cancer in women. Submitted to Int J Cancer, 2009;125(10):2428-33.
  2. Ades S, Koushik A, Duarte-Franco E, Mansour N, Arseneau J, Provencher D, Gilbert L, Gotlieb W, Ferenczy A, Coutlée F, Roger M, Franco EL. Selected class I and class II HLA alleles and haplotypes and risk of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Int J Cancer, 2008;122(12):2820-7.
  3. Genkinger JM, Koushik A. Meat consumption and cancer risk. PLoS Med, 2007:4(12):e345.
  4. Koushik A, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, Beeson WL, van den Brandt P, Calle EE, Cho E, Fraser GE, Freudenheim JL, Fuchs CS, Giovannucci EL, Goldbohm RA, Harnack L, Jacobs DR, Kato I, Krogh V, Larsson S, Leitzman M, Marshall JR, McCullough ML, Miller AB, Pietinen P, Rohan TE, Schatzkin A, Sieri S, Virtanen MJ, Wolk A, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Zhang SM, Smith-Warner SA. Fruits and vegetables and the risk of colon cancer in a pooled analysis of 14 cohort studies, J Natl Cancer Inst, 2007;99(19):1471-83
  5. Schaffer A, Koushik A, Trottier H, Duarte-Franco E, Mansour N, Arseneau J, Provencher D, Gilbert L, Gotlieb W, Ferenczy A, Coutlee F, Pollak MN, Franco EL. Insulin-like growth factor-I and risk of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2007;16(4):716-22
  6. Koushik A, Kraft P, Fuchs CS, Hankinson SE, Willett WC, Giovannucci EL, Hunter DJ. Nonsynonymous polymorphisms in genes in the one-carbon metabolism pathway and associations with colorectal cancer, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2006; 15(12):2408-17.
  7. Koushik A, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, Anderson KE, van den Brandt PA, Buring JE, Cerhan JR, Colditz GA, Freudenheim JL, Goldbohm RA, Hankinson SE, Larsson SC, McCullough ML, Miller AB, Patel A, Rohan TE, Schairer C, Schatzkin A, Smit E, Willett WC, Wolk A, Zhang SM, Smith-Warner SA. Intake of the major carotenoids and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in a pooled analysis of 10 cohort studies, Int J Cancer, 2006; 119(9):2148-2154
  8. Koushik A, Tranah GJ, Ma J, Sesso H, Stampfer M, Fuchs C, Giovannucci EL, Hunter DJ. p53 Arg72Pro polymorphism and risk of colorectal adenoma and cancer, Int J Cancer, 2006; 119(8):1863-8.
  9. Genkinger JM, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, Anderson KE, Arslan AA, Beeson WL, van den Brandt PA, Buring JE, Colditz GA, Fraser GE, Freudenheim JL, Bausch-Goldbohm S, Hankinson SE, Jacobs D, Koushik A, Lacey Jr. J, Larsson SC, Leitzmann M, McCullough ML, Miller AB, Rodriguez C, Rohan TE, Smit E, Shore R, Willett WC, Wolk A, Zhang S, Smith-Warner SA. Dairy products and ovarian cancer: a pooled analysis of 12 cohorts. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2006; 15(2):364-372.
  10. Koushik A, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, Anderson KE, Arslan AA, Beeson WL, van den Brandt PA, BuringJE, Cerhan JR, Colditz GA, Fraser GE, Freudenheim JL, Genkinger JM, Goldbohm RA, Hankinson SE,Koenig KL, Larsson SC, McCullough ML, Miller AB, Patel A, Rohan TE, Schairer C, Schatzkin A, Smit E, Willett WC, Wolk A, Zhang SM, Smith-Warner SA. Fruits and vegetables and ovarian cancer risk in a pooled analysis of 12 cohort studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2005; 14(9): 2160-2167.

Anita Koushik Researcher
Population Health Axis
Phone : (514) 890-8000 x.15915
Fax: (514) 412-7106
Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Links

The Pooling Project of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer (http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/poolingproject/index.html)