Associate Epidemiologist, Department of Medicine
Brigham and Women's Hospital

Dr Hunter's principal research interests are the etiology of cancer in women, particularly breast, ovarian, and skin cancer. He is an investigator on the Nurses' Health Study, a long-running cohort of 121,000 US women, and is project director for the Nurses' Health Study II, a newer cohort of 116,000 women. He also analyzes inherited susceptibility to cancer and other chronic diseases using molecular techniques and studying molecular markers of environmental exposures. Hunter collaborates with investigators in Tanzania to understand the relationship of nutritional status to progression of HIV disease and perinatal transmission. Dr. Hunter is also the Director for the Havard Center for Cancer Prevention.

Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, Adami HO, Beeson L, van den Brandt PA, Folsom AR, Fraser GE, Goldblohm RA, Graham S, Howe GR, et al. Cohort studies of fat intake and the risk of breast cancer -- a pooled analysis. N Engl J Med 1996;334(6):356-61. [abstract]

Hunter DJ, Hankinson SE, Laden F, Colditz GA, Manson JE, Willett WC, Speizer FE, Wolff MS. Plasma organochlorine levels and the risk of breast cancer. N Engl J Med 1997;Oct 30;337(18):1253-8. [abstract]

Fawzi WW, Msamanga GI, Spiegelman D, Urassa EJ, McGrath N, Mwakagile D, Antelman G, Mbise R, Herrera G, Kapiga S, Willett W, Hunter DJ. Randomised trial of effects of vitamin supplements on pregnancy outcomes and T cell counts in HIV-1-infected women in Tanzania. Lancet 1998 May 16;351(9114):1477-82. [abstract]

Smith-Warner SA, Spiegelman D, Yaun SS, van den Brandt PA, Folsom AR, Goldbohm RA, Graham S, Holmberg L, Howe GR, Marshall JR, Miller AB, Potter JD, Speizer FE, Willet WC, Wolk A, Hunter DJ. Alcohol and breast cancer in women: a pooled analysis of cohort studies. JAMA 1998 Feb 18;279(7):535-40. [abstract]

Garcia-Closas M, Kelsey KT, Hankinson SE, Spiegelman D, Springer K, Willett WC, Speizer FE, Hunter DJ. Glutathione S-transferase mu and theta polymorphisms and breast cancer susceptibility. J Natl Cancer Inst 1999 Nov 17;91(22):1960-4. [abstract]

Smith-Warner SA, Spiegelman D, Yaun SS, Adami HO, Beeson WL, van Den Brandt PA, Folsom AR, Fraser GE, Freudenheim JL, Goldbohm RA, Graham S, Miller AB, Potter JD, Rohan TE, Speizer FE, Toniolo P, Willett WC, Wolk A, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Hunter DJ. Intake of fruits and vegetables and risk of breast cancer: A pooled analysis of cohort studies. JAMA 2001 Feb 14;285(6):769-76. [abstract]

Hines LM, Stampfer MJ, Ma J, Gaziano JM, Ridker PM, Hankinson SE, Sacks F, Rimm EB, Hunter DJ. Genetic variation in alcohol dehydrogenase and the beneficial effect of moderate alcohol consumption on myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med 2001 Feb 22;344(8):549-55. [abstract]