PHS postdoc wins cancer prevention fellowship

Dr. Scott Adams, a postdoctoral fellow in the Public Health Sciences Division, recently received a two-year fellowship grant worth $80,000 to study the impact of inflammatory bowel disease on mortality following a colorectal cancer diagnosis.

Individuals with IBD (which includes chronic inflammatory conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) are at higher risk of colorectal cancer. However, it remains unclear whether patients with these coexisting problems fare better or worse than other people when diagnosed with colorectal cancer, so Adams will use the American Society of Preventive Oncology/Prevent Cancer Foundation/ASCO 2010 Cancer Prevention Research fellowship to answer this question.

Adams is part of the PHS Cancer Prevention Program. He works with Drs. Polly Newcomb and Bill Grady, principal investigators of the Seattle Colon Cancer Family Registry. He previously researched cellular and molecular physiology before switching his career focus to cancer epidemiology and prevention research, a transition supported by a postdoctoral training grant from the National Cancer Institute. Adams completed a master’s degree in public health at the University of Washington in June.

The Prevent Cancer Foundation advocates for and supports the prevention and early detection of cancer through research, education and community outreach. Since 1985, the foundation has funded nearly 400 scientists nationwide.