Genitourinary Cancer Epidemiology Group
The Genitourinary Cancer Epidemiology Group is a dynamic group of students, researchers, faculty, and staff led by Dr. Lorelei Mucci. We investigate research questions focused on cancer etiology, mortality, and survivorship, particularly among individuals with prostate cancer and other genitourinary cancers.
677 Huntington Ave
Kresge Building, Office 920E
Boston, MA 02115
Our Team
The Genitourinary Cancer Epidemiology Group, led by Dr. Lorelei Mucci, is made up of a vibrant team of faculty members, postdoctoral research fellows, students, and research staff.
Faculty
My major area of research and teaching is cancer epidemiology. I am the director of the Cancer Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention Program in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; deputy associate director for population science for the Cancer Epidemiology Program at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), and director of strategic research partnerships at the American Cancer Society.
After receiving my doctoral degree in epidemiology at Harvard Chan School, I trained as a postdoctoral fellow in cancer epidemiology at the Karolinska Institutet. Since 2012, my primary faculty appointment has been at Harvard Chan School, where my research uses integrative molecular epidemiology approaches in U.S. and global cohorts to investigate questions on cancer etiology, mortality, and survivorship. I serve as co-Principal Investigator for the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and IRONMAN.
Education:
1992: ScD Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health
1988: MPH Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health
1984-1986: Residency in Pathology, University of Connecticut Health Center
1984: MD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
1980: BS Biology, Harvard University
Research Interests: My main research focuses on how nutritional, lifestyle, and genetic factors affect the risk of development and progression of cancers. A specific interest has been understanding etiologic mechanisms underlying the relation between diet, physical activity, body weight and composition, and metabolic dysfunction, and cancer risk.
Education:
2021: Postdoctoral training, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
2017: Residency in Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic
2014: MPH, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2013: MD, University of Freiburg
Research Interests: My main research interest is how potentially modifiable exposures cause solid tumors through genomic heterogeneity and influence cancer progression. I am passionate about combining state-of-the-art genomics and well-defined observational studies in order to inform primary prevention, risk stratification, and biomarker-guided treatment. My methodologic and teaching interests include the application of epidemiologic methods to biomarker and clinical studies.
Education:
2019: PhD in Cancer Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet
2013: MSc in Public Health Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet
2007: MSc in Biomedical Sciences, Uppsala University
Research Interests: Genetic and lifestyle markers of aggressive prostate cancer
Education:
2022 – 2024: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Mass General Brigham
2017-2022: PhD, Population Health Sciences, University of Utah
2015-2017: Visiting Scholar, Hunstman Cancer Institute, Utah
2012-2015: Medicine, Hamburg University, Germany
Research Interests: Energy balance and cancer survivorship, cardiovascular disease prevention in cancer survivors
Education
2020-2023 Postdoctoral Fellow, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
2015-2020 PhD in Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University
2013-2015 Master of Medicine in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
2008-2013 Bachelor of Medicine in Clinical Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
Research Interests: My research focuses on nutritional and behavioral factors in cancer development, progression, and survivorship, with a particular emphasis on prostate and bladder cancer, and integrates multi-omics approaches to identify genetic and tissue-based biomarkers.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Education:
2021-2025: PhD in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2019-2021: MPH Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health
2013-2017: B.S. Biology and Community Health, Tufts University
Research Interests: Cancer health disparities/inequities; Interventions to decrease cancer disparities/inequities
Education:
2018-2023: PhD in Epidemiology, University of Southern California
2016-2018: ScM in Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
2011-2016: Bachelor in Medicine, Peking University, China
Research: Genetic and molecular factors of prostate cancer
Education:
2020-2024: University of Cambridge, PhD in Public Health and Primary Care
Research Interests: Progression and treatment of lower-risk cancers
Doctoral, MD/PhD, and Masters Students
Education:
2025 – Present: MS in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2021-2025: BS Health: Science, Society, Policy, Brandeis University
Research Interests: cancer prevention, prostate cancer risk factors
Education:
2024 – Present: MS in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2020: BS in Nutritional Sciences, Boston University
Research Interests: lifestyle and dietary factors related to cancer prevention and survival
Education:
2024 – Present: PhD in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2022-2024: MS Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2021: BSPH Environmental Health Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research Interests: Bladder cancer prevention, environmental risk factors for cancer
Education:
2022-Present: PhD in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2020-2022: MS in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2014-2018: BA Health and Societies, University of Pennsylvania
Research Interests: cancer survivorship, lifestyle factors and quality-of-life in cancer survivors
Education:
2025-Present: PhD in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2023-2025: MS Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2016-2020: BSA Mathematics, University of Texas at Austin
Research Interests: genetic and lifestyle factors for prostate cancer
Education:
2024-Present: MS in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2019-2020: Study Abroad in Economics and Psychology, London School of Economics and Political Science
2017-2021: BA in Economics and Psychology, Wheaton College (MA)
Research Interests: Cancer prevention, genetic risk, lifestyle factors, cancer screening behaviors
Research Team
Education:
2020-2022: Basic Specialist Training in Histopathology, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
2021: MPH, University College of Cork, Ireland
2018: Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Obstetrics, University College Cork, Ireland
2014: BSc in Physiotherapy, University of Limerick, Ireland
Research Interests: cancer prevention and early detection, tumor biomarkers and patho-epidemiology, cancer survivorship
Education:
2023: MS in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
2021: BS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Public Health Sciences, UMass Amherst
Research Interests: Aging in cancer survivors, quality of life in cancer survivors
Education:
2025: AA in Psychology, Dean College
Research Interests: environmental and lifestyle risk factors for cancer, health inequities and disparities in cancer outcomes, quality of life in cancer survivors
Education:
2018-2022: Psychology B.A. & Sociology B.A., University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Education and employment history:
2000-Present: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Senior Lab and Project Manager – Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center High Throughput Genotyping Core/Support Core/Mucci Lab- High Throughput Collection and Extraction Services
1974- 2000: New England Deaconess Hospital Dept of Pathology, Blood Bank and Transfusion Medicine, Clinical Research in Autologous Transfusion/ HLA Tissue Typing for organ transplantation/Transfusuin Service, Senior Technologist in Cardiothoracic and Liver Transplant Cell Saver Implementation Team
Syracuse University B.S. Biology
Education:
2020: MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Boston University
2016: BS in Biology and Spanish, Gordon College
Research Interests: Early cancer detection and screening, quality of life in cancer survivors, disparities in prostate cancer
Education:
2025: MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health
2020: BS in Microbiology, University of Washington
Research Interests: Nutritional and behavioral impacts on cancer development and healthy aging
Interns
Education:
2025 – Present: Boston College
Research Interests: cancer prevention and early detection, health disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, and risk factors for genitourinary cancer
Education:
2022 – Present: BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a Minor in Economics, Bowdoin College
Research Interests:
I aim to pursue cancer biology, with a particular interest in discovering and developing novel molecules that can be translated into effective therapies for human disease and cancer. I am especially interested in understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive tumor initiation, progression, and treatment resistance, and using these insights to identify, optimize, and evaluate new therapeutic candidates that can meaningfully improve patient outcomes.
Education:
2023-Present: Integrative biology with a secondary in mathematical sciences at Harvard College
Research Interests: genetic prostate cancer risk, epidemiologic and environmental risk factors for prostate cancer