Research Programs: Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention, Prevention & Etiology
Professor and Director, Division of Pediatric Epidemiology & Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics
Adjunct Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health

rossx014@umn.edu
612-626-2902, office

Dr. Ross received a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota in 1994 and joined the faculty of the Division of Pediatric Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of Minnesota, in 1995. She is currently professor and director of the Division of Pediatric Epidemiology & Clinical Research. She holds an adjunct appointment in the Division of Epidemiology & Community Health in the School of Public Health and is a full member of the graduate faculty. In addition to her training in epidemiology, she has considerable laboratory experience in molecular biology. She has over 100 scientific publications. She is the principal investigator of two NCI grants investigating the causes of leukemia in children and adults. She also directs a laboratory that is investigating genetic and environmental mechanisms in cancer. Dr. Ross is currently chair of the Epidemiology Committee in the Children's Oncology Group (C.O.G.), a consortium of hospitals and institutions in North America that treat approximately 90 percent of all children diagnosed with cancer. As chair, Dr. Ross is overseeing the direction of epidemiological research of childhood cancer in C.O.G. She is overseeing the launch of Childhood Cancer Research Network, which will serve as a childhood cancer research registry in C.O.G. and will enroll children and their parents in order to facilitate studies in the causes and consequences of childhood cancer.

Research Interests

Integrating molecular biology with epidemiologic studies of cancer; current areas of research include: etiology of infant and adult leukemia, regulation of gene expression by environmental agents, and investigating developmental origins of cancer using in vivo models.

Selected Publications

Linabery AM, Olshan AF, Gamis AS, Smith FO, Heerema NA, Blair CK, Ross JA. Exposure to medical test irradiation and acute leukemia among children with Down syndrome: a report from the Children's Oncology Group. Pediatrics 2006; 118:e1499-1508.

Peters AM, Blair CK, Verneris MR, Neglia JP, Robison LL, Spector LG, Reaman GH, Felix CA, Ross JA. Maternal hemoglobin concentration during pregnancy and risk of infant leukemia: a Children's Oncology Group study. Br J Cancer 2006; 95:1274-6.

Spector LG, Davies SM, Robison LL, Hilden JM, Roesler M, Ross JA. Birth characteristics, maternal reproductive history, and the risk of infant leukemia: a report from the Children's Oncology Group. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007; 16:128-34.

Johnson KJ, Spector LG, Klebanoff MA, Ross JA. Childhood cancer and birthmarks in the collaborative perinatal project. Pediatrics. 2007 May;119(5):e1088-93.

Bunin GR, Spector LG, Olshan AF, Robison LL, Roesler MR, Grufferman S, Shu XO, Ross JA. Secular trends in response rates for controls selected by random digit dialing in childhood cancer studies: A report from the Children's Oncology Group. Am J Epidemiol 2007;166:109-16.

Spector LG, Hecht SS, Ognjanovic S, Carmella SG, Ross JA. Detection of cotinine in newborn dried blood spots. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007; 16:902-5.

Puumula S, Ross JA, Olshan AF, Robison LL, Smith FO, Spector LG. Reproductive history, infertility treatment, and the risk of acute leukemia in children with Down syndrome: a report from the Children's Oncology Group. Cancer 2007; 110:2067-74.

Prizment AE, Folsom AR, Cerhan JR, Flood A, Ross JA, Anderson KE. History of allergy and reduced incidence of colorectal cancer, Iowa Women's Health Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007; 16:2357-62.

Blair CK, Roesler M, Xie Y, Gamis AS, Olshan AF, Heerema NA, Robison LL, Ross JA. Vitamin supplement use among children with Down's syndrome and risk of leukaemia: a Children's Oncology Group Study. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2008; 22:288-95.

Linabery AS, Ross JA. Trends in childhood cancer incidence in the U.S. (1992-2004). Cancer 2008; 112:416-32.

Schouten LJ, Rivera C, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, Adami HO, Arslan A, Beeson WL, van den Brandt PA, Buring JE, Folsom AR, Fraser GE, Freudenheim JL, Goldbohm RA, Hankinson SE, Lacey JV Jr., Leitzmann M, Lukanova A, Marshall JR, Miller AB, Patel AV, Rodriquez C, Rohan TE, Ross JA, Wolk A, Zhang SM, Smith-Warner SA. Height, body mass index, and ovarian cancer: a pooled analysis of 12 cohort studies. Cancer Epi Biom Prev 2008; 17:902-12.

Cutler GJ, Nettleton JA, Ross JA, Harnack LJ, Jacobs DR Jr, Scrafford CG, Barraj LM, Mink PJ, Robien K. Dietary flavonoid intake and risk of cancer in postmenopausal women: the Iowa Women's Health Study. Int J Cancer 2008; 123:664-71.

Johnson KJ, Soler JT, Puumula SE, Ross JA, Spector LG. Parental and infant characteristics and childhood leukemia in Minnesota. BMC Pediatr. 2008 Feb 25;8:7.

Daniels JL, Pan I-J, Olshan AF, Breslow NE, Bunin GR, Ross JA. Obstetric history and birth characteristics and Wilms tumor: a report from the Children's Oncology Group. Cancer Causes Control 2008; May 29 [Epub ahead of print].

Johnson LA, Ross JA. Host factors and consequences of chemotherapy in pediatric cancer patients. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2008 Sep;51(3):320-6.

Johnson KJ, Alexander BH, Doody MM, Sigurdson AJ, Linet MS, Spector LG, Hoffbeck RW, Simon SL, Weinstock RM, Preston DL, Ross JA. Childhood cancer in the offspring of U.S. radiologic technologists born from 1921-1984. Br J Cancer. 2008 Aug 5;99(3):545-50.

Linabery AS, Ross JA. Childhood cancer survival in the United States: 1975-2004. Cancer, in press.

Johnson LJ, Orchard P, Baker KS, Brundage R, Cao Q, Wang X, Langer E, Farag-El Maasah S, Ross JA, Remmel R, Jacobson PA. Glutathione-s-transferase A1 genetic variants reduce busulfan clearance in children undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation. J Clin Pharmacol. 2008 Jul 17. [Epub ahead of print].

Ross JA. Environmental and genetic susceptibility to MLL-defined infant leukemia. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 2008;(39):83-6.