Epidemiologist
Duncan Thomas named to Richter chair in
cancer research
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USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center director Peter Jones this week announced that USC genetic epidemiologist Duncan C. Thomas will be the first holder of the Verna R. Richter chair in cancer research. |
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The chair is one of two endowed by a $3 million donation from businessman and entrepreneur Walter Richter and his wife Verna earlier this year. |
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"I am deeply grateful to the Richters for this award," said Thomas, a professor of preventive medicine and director of the biostatistics division in the Keck School of Medicine. "It will make it possible for me to focus my attention on problems in the genetic epidemiology of cancer and the gene-environment interactions that may be involved. I sincerely hope I will be able to live up to this challenge." |
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A member of the American College of Epidemiology and current president of the International Genetic Epidemiological Society, Thomas has extensively investigated genetic risk factors for breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers in family studies. He has also carried out similar statistical studies of other diseases including insulin-dependent diabetes. |
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Thomas is also a preeminent expert on the carcinogenic effects of radiation, having studied such populations as Japanese atomic bomb survivors, uranium miners and Utah residents living downwind of the Nevada test site during the period before underground testing of nuclear weapons became the norm.
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He was the radiation epidemiology expert on President Clinton's 14-member advisory committee on human radiation experiments, which in 1994-95 investigated case studies of experiments including plutonium injections in the late 1940s, and intentional radiation releases in the 50s. |
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He also served as part of the National Academy of Sciences committee on the biological effects of ionizing radiation, as well as serving on radiation advisory committees for other government agencies. |
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Jones called Thomas, a widely recognized authority on statistical methods for determining the influence of environmental and genetic factors on the incidence of cancers, "uniquely qualified" in his field. |
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Thomas has also worked on evaluating other suspected environmental health risks, including those due to exposures to electromagnetic fields (EMFs), asbestos, malathion and air pollution. |
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A graduate of Haverford College,
majoring in mathematics, Thomas
received his doctorate in epidemiology
and health from McGill University.
The Richters donated funds
to establish the two chairs
because "cancer has hit
our family pretty hard, so
the one thing we really wanted
to do is help promote research,"
according to Verna Richter,
namesake for the chair Thomas
will hold. |
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She said she and her husband chose to donate to USC because family members had been treated here and also graduated from the university.
More importantly, they felt that in funding research at the Norris, they could do the most good and get the "most bang for the buck."
"I'd just love to see it help. The best thing that could happen is that it could help find a cure," she said. |
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