Current Appointments

Overview of Research Program

Dr. Kelemen’s research program focuses on:

• the genetic and molecular epidemiology of cancer, particularly ovarian and breast;
• understanding how environmental modifiers, such as diet, influence genetic susceptibility for risk (diet-gene interactions) and cancer progression (diet-tumor protein expression interactions);
• identifying early biomarkers for cancer; and
• identifying and understanding how molecular subtypes of tumors respond to treatment and survival. 

Currently Held Research Support

Recent Publications (2005-present)

Kotsopoulos J, Hecht JL, Marotti JD, Kelemen LE, Tworoger SS. Relationship between dietary and supplemental intake of folate, methionine, vitamin B6 and folate receptor alpha expression in ovarian tumors. Int J Cancer Jul 7 2009

White KL, Vierkant RA, Phelan CM, Fridley BL, Anderson S, Knutson KL, Schildkraut JM, Cunningham JM, Kelemen LE, Pankratz VS, Rider DN, Liebow M, Hartmann LC, Sellers TA, Goode EL. Polymorphisms in NF-κB Inhibitors and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. BMC Cancer 2009

Kelemen LE, Wang X, Fredericksen ZS, Pankratz VS, Pharoah PDP, Ahmed S, Dunning AM, Easton DF, Vierkant RA, Cerhan JR, Goode EL, Olson JE, Couch FJ. Genetic variation in the chromosome 17q23 amplicon and breast cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prevention 2009

Kelemen LE, Couch FJ, Ahmed S, Dunning AM, Pharoah PDP, Easton DF, Fredericksen ZS, Vierkant RA, Pankratz VS, Goode EL, Scott CG, Rider DN, Wang X, Cerhan JR, Vachon CM. Genetic variation in stromal proteins decorin and lumican with breast cancer: investigations in two case-control studies. Breast Cancer Research 2008

Kelemen LE, Sellers TA, Vachon CM. Can genes for mammographic density inform cancer aetiology? Nature Reviews Cancer 2008

Morton LM, Wang SS, Cozen W, Linet MS, Chatterjee N, Davis S, Severson, RK, Colt JS, Vasef MA, Rothman N, Blair A, Bernstein L, Cross AJ, De Roos AJ, Engels EA, Hein DW, Hill DA, Kelemen LE, Lim U, Lynch CF, Schenk M, Wacholder S, Ward M, Zahm SH, Chanock SJ, Cerhan JR, Hartge P. Etiologic heterogeneity among non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes. Blood 2008

Kelemen LE, Sellers TA, Schildkraut JM, Cunningham JM, Vierkant RA, Pankratz VS, Fredericksen ZS, Gadre MK, Rider DN, Liebow M, Iversen E, Goode EL. Genetic variation in the one carbon transfer pathway and ovarian cancer risk. Cancer Res 2008; In Press.

Cunningham JM, Sellers TA, Schildkraut JM, Fredericksen ZS, Vierkant RA, Kelemen LE, Gadre MK, Phelan CM, Huang Y, Meyer JG, Pankratz VS, Goode EL. Performance of amplified DNA in an Illumina GoldenGate™ BeadArray assay. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 2008; In Press.

Kelemen LE, Wang SS, Lim U, Cozen W, Schenk M, Hartge P, Li Y, Rothman N, Davis S, Chanock S, Ward MH, Cerhan JR. Vegetables and antioxidant-related nutrients, genetic susceptibility and non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk. Cancer Causes & Control 2008; In Press.

Kelemen LE, Pankratz VS, Sellers TA, Brandt KR, Wang A, Janney C, Fredericksen ZS, Cerhan JR, Vachon CM. Age-specific trends in mammographic density: the Minnesota breast cancer family study. American Journal of Epidemiology 2008; In press.

Sellers TA, Huang Y, Cunningham JM, Goode EL, Sutphen R, Vierkant RA, Kelemen LE, Fredericksen ZS, Liebow M, Pankratz VS, Hartmann LC, Iversen ES, Schildkraut JM, Phelan CM. Association of SNPs in glycosylation genes with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prevention 2008; In Press.

Merchant AT, Kelemen LE, de Koning L, Lonn E, Vuksan V, Jacobs R, Davis B, Teo KK, Yusuf S, Anand SS on behalf of the SHARE AND SHARE-AP investigators. Interrelation of saturated fat, trans fat, alcohol intake and sub-clinical atherosclerosis. Am J Clin Nutr 2008; 87:168-74.

Vachon CM., Sellers TA, Carlson E, Cunningham JM, Hilker C, Smalley R, Schaid D, Kelemen LE, Couch F, Pankratz VS. Strong evidence of a genetic determinant for mammographic breast density, a major risk factor for breast cancer. Cancer Research 2007; 67:8412-8.

Lim U, Wang SS, Hartge P, Cozen W, Kelemen LE, Chanock S, Davis S, Blair A, Schenk M, Rothman N, Lan Q. Gene-nutrient interactions among determinants of folate and one-carbon metabolism on the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: NCI-SEER Case-Control Study. Blood, 109:3050-9, 2007.

Kelemen LE. Nutritional epidemiology (Review). Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2007; 25:401-7.

Merchant AT, Anand SS, Kelemen LE, Vuksan V, Jacobs R, Davis B, Teo KK, Yusuf S. Carbohydrate intake and HDL in a multi-ethnic population. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85:225-30, 2007.

Kelemen LE. Food frequency questionnaires: not irrelevant yet (Letter). Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prevention 2006;15:1054.

Knutson KL, Krco C, Goodman K, Kelemen LE, Low PS, Hartmann LC, Kalli KR. T cell immunity to the folate receptor alpha is prevalent in women with breast or ovarian cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 24:4254-61, 2006.

Kelemen LE. The role of folate receptor alpha in cancer development, progression and treatment: cause, consequence, or innocent bystander? (Review) Int J Cancer 2006;119:243-50.

Kelemen LE, Sellers TA, Keeney GL, Lingle WL. Multivitamin and alcohol intake and folate receptor alpha (FR) expression in ovarian cancer.  Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 14:2168-2172, 2005.

Kelemen LE, Cerhan JR, Lim U, Davis S, Cozen W, Schenk M, Hartge P, Ward MH. Vegetables, fruits and antioxidant-related nutrients and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: an NCI-SEER population-based case-control study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 83:1400-09, 2006.

Lim U, Schenk M, Kelemen LE, Davis S, Cozen W, Hartge P, Ward MH, Stolzenberg-Solomon R. Dietary determinants of one-carbon metabolism and the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: SEER-NCI case-control study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 162:953-964, 2005.

Harvie M, Howell A, Vierkant RA, Kumar N, Cerhan JR, Kelemen LE, Folsom AR, Sellers TA. Association of gain and loss of weight before and after menopause with risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in the Iowa Women’s Health Study (IWHS). Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 14:656-661, 2005.

Kelemen LE, Kushi LH, Jacobs DR Jr, Cerhan JR. Associations of dietary protein with disease and mortality in a prospective study of postmenopausal women. American Journal of Epidemiology, 161:239-249, 2005.

Kelemen LE, Sellers TA, Vierkant RA, Harnack L, Cerhan JR. Association of folate and alcohol with risk of ovarian cancer in a prospective study of postmenopausal women. Cancer Causes and Control, 15:1085-1093, 2004.

Kelemen LE, Anand SS, Hegele RA, Stampfer MJ, Rosner B, Willett WC, Montague PA, Lonn E, Vuksan V, Teo KK, Devenesen S, Yusuf S. Association between homocysteine and the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism with carotid intima media thickness among South Asian, Chinese and European Canadians. Atherosclerosis, 176:361-370, 2004.

Kelemen LE, Anand SS, Vuksan V, Yi Q, Teo KK, Devenesen S, Yusuf S. Development and evaluation of cultural food frequency questionnaires for South Asians, Chinese and Europeans in North America. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 103:1178-1184, 2003.


Book Chapters

Kelemen LE. Nutritional Epidemiology. In: Talley NJ, Locke III GR, Saito-Loftus YA, eds. Epidemiology of Gastroenterological Diseases. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing; May 2007.