Population Science Research

Started in 2022, the Southern Environmental Health Study is a prospective research project investigating the causes and burden of cancer and other diseases in the general population. Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center is partnering with scientists and healthcare providers across the southern United States to recruit 33,000 individuals to understand how our environment affects our health. This study asks participants to take surveys and wear a silicone wristband for a week to measure their environmental exposures. Health outcomes will be monitored using follow-up surveys. The study is still taking new participants. 

The Southern Community Cohort study began in 2001 to determine unresolved questions about the causes of cancer and other chronic diseases. Most of the participants were recruited from community health centers across the southeastern United States. Geographic and environmental factors can play a significant role in cancer risk. By enrolling over 84,000 participants, the study has identified location-based risk factors and led to more than 450 publications that advance our knowledge of oncology and other diseases. 

The Shanghai Women study (1996) and the Shanghai Men study (2000) are two National Cancer Institute-funded population-based studies based in Shanghai, China. These two combined studies collected more than 380,000 biological specimens from over 130,000 individuals. Data from these specimens have led to more than 900 publications investigating genetic, biomarker, and lifestyle factors that influence cancer risk and prognosis, as well as other chronic diseases. 

Conducted between 2001 and 2010, the Nashville Breast Health Study investigated factors related to breast cancer risk, subtypes, and predispositions. The primary aim of this project was to look at genetic factors and gene-environment interactions in relationship to breast cancer risk. The team also studied how lifestyle factors such as exercise and diet impacted breast cancer risk. The study included more than 6,000 participants and resulted in multiple publications. 

More than 5,000 men participated in a study that explored the relationship between nutrition and physical activity among White, Latino, and Black men in Nashville. The aim of this research was to determine strategies to increase healthy behaviors among men that would have a direct impact on cancer incidence and mortality.  

The Tennessee Colorectal Polyp Study project was conducted as part of the VICC SPORE in GI Cancer. For this study 7,000 individuals were recruited to evaluate lifestyle factors and biomarkers that influence the risk and recurrence of colorectal polyps. The patients were accrued from the Vanderbilt Health system and the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare system. Recruitment to this study ended in 2010; however, samples and data are still being used in multiple ongoing studies. 

Started in 2012, this study focused on Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia patients who were identified by the cancer registries of these states. The aim of this study was to investigate risk factors, genetics, and etiologic drivers of subtypes of breast cancer. More than 3,000 women agreed to participate by providing survey data, and many provided DNA samples, too. The final patient was accrued to this study in 2018. The data and specimens from this study are still combined and used with other studies listed on this page, providing a deep look at the risk factors that align with breast cancer incidence and mortality. 

The Thoracic Biorepository at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center is actively accruing more than 150 biospecimens a year. Currently the biorepository houses material from more than 1,700 patients. The samples include but are not limited to bronchial biopsies, EDTA plasma, streck plasma, serum, genomic PBMC DNA, pleural fluid, and images (CT). Many of the samples are from treatment-naive, early-detection participants. There is further epidemiological and outcome data available for each participant and their biospecimens.