Dr. Graham Colditz tenders Resignation!! November 1, 2006. Dr. Graham Colditz has tendered his resignation and has accepted the position of Niess-Gain Professor in Medicine, Department of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. He will be the Associate Director, Prevention and Control, at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center. There are not enough words to express our sense of loss at this announcement. Dr. Colditz has dedicated years to building the Nurses' Health Study into the premier data research source for researchers world wide and will be sorely missed. We know he will apply the same dedication to his new duties at the Siteman Cancer Center and we all wish him much success and fulfillment in his new position. Thank you, Graham, for all that you have brought to the Channing!!

Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School Epidemiologist, Department of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital   graham.colditz@channing.harvard.edu

Research Interests The overall goal of our research is to identify lifestyle variables that contribute to the etiology of chronic diseases. The modification of such lifestyle factors may lead to the reduction of morbidity in the population. The Nurses' Health Study, cohort of 121,700 US women who were 30-55 years of age at enrollment in the study in 1976, and who have followed with biannual questionnaires since that time, forms the primary base for the ongoing investigations. The availability of additional cohort data from 116,000 younger women and from 50,000 men who were 40-75 years of age in 1976 permits the replication of findings and the contrasting of men and women in terms of the contributions of lifestyle factors to the etiology of disease. Contributions of postmenopausal hormone therapy to cancer etiology, and survival, contributions of physical activity to breast cancer incidence, and relations between diet, physical activity, weight gain, and risk of chronic diseases. The assessment of diet, validated by members of our research group, includes responses to a food frequency questionnaire that was administered in 1980, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998. Physical activity has been repeatedly assessed, and ongoing validation studies show it to be a valid measure. Information on hormone replacement therapy, oral contraceptive use, and other risk factors is updated every 2 years by participants in the ongoing studies. After 20 years of follow-up, more than 90% of participants in the Nurses' Health Study responded to the 1998 follow-up questionnaire. Focusing on diet and health in younger children, we have established a cohort of 16,800 youths, 10-14 years of age in 1996 and we are currently working with WIC in several states to assess the relations between diet during pregnancy and birth outcomes, as well as growth during the first five years of life. Selected Publications Colditz GA, Bonita R, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Rosner B, Speizer FE, Hennekens CH. Cigarette smoking and risk of stroke in middle-aged women. N Engl J Med 1988;318:937-941. [abstract] Colditz GA, Hankinson SE, Hunter DJ, Willett WC, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, Hennekens CH, Speizer FE. The use of estrogens and progestins and risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. N Engl J Med 1995;332:1589-1593. [abstract] Colditz GA, Rosner BA, Speizer FE. Risk factors for breast cancer according to family history of breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 1996;88:365-371. [abstract] Martinez ME, Giovannucci E, Spiegelman D, Hunter DJ, Willett WC, Colditz GA. Leisure-time physical activity, body size and colon cancer in women. J Natl Cancer Inst 1997;89(13):948-55. [abstract] Colditz GA, Manson JE, Hankinson SE. The Nurses' Health Study: 20-year contribution to the understanding of health among women. J Women's Health 1997;49-62. [abstract] Colditz GA. Hormones and breast cancer: evidence and implications for consideration of risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy. J Women Health 1999;8:347-357.[abstract]