Tell us about the current work you’re doing related to the BC Generations Project (BCGP) and how the BCGP could help support precision health research?
With biospecimens (DNA, serum, urine) and detailed data for nearly 30,000 participants, the BCGP is a great resource for clinical and public health research. Through annual linkage with the BC Cancer Registry, we have detailed data on all cancers diagnosed among our participants. I have been working to expand the BCGP resource so that it can support innovative research in the area of precision health. This includes collection of a second set of blood samples and, for the first time, stool samples on a subset of participants. I’m also working on establishing a system by which to obtain tumor samples for cancer cases diagnosed in BCGP. The BCGP is already supporting some exciting research in the area of precision health. In collaboration with Dr. Rachel Murphy, who has established expertise in the application of metabolomics assays to population-based studies, we are conducting a large-scale study to identify metabolic markers that could be used to identify overweight/obese women at the highest risk of developing breast cancer. If successful, this research would support a precision prevention approach, whereby these women could be targeted with resource-intensive weight loss programs to reduce their future risks of developing breast cancer.
Why is precision health research an important area for cancer epidemiology?
Identifying modifiable risk factors that can be targeted for preventing cancer has always been the primary goal of cancer epidemiology research. Unfortunately, there have been few examples of interventions that have successfully modified these risk factors to significantly reduce the population burden of cancer. Precision health approaches allow us to move beyond “one size fits all” strategies for delivery of interventions, by not only identifying those individuals who would benefit the most from more resource-intensive interventions but allowing us to tailor interventions to improve the chances of success.
From your perspective, where does cancer epidemiology go from here?
Many cancer epidemiologists have recognized the promise of precision prevention, but, multiple barriers remain to this area of research, including limited access to rich administrative data resources, high costs of generating “omics” data, and siloed approaches to research. With respect to the latter, this initiative in Precision Health by the Faculty of Medicine represents a great opportunity to explore and build the necessary collaborative relationships for conducting innovative research in the area of precision prevention.
About Parveen Bhatti, PhD
Dr. Bhatti is a Senior Scientist at BC Cancer and an Associate Professor in the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is also the Scientific Director of the BC Generations Project (BCGP).
Dr. Bhatti is an active epidemiologist whose international research program focuses on the use of molecular markers to improve understanding of occupational and environmental risk factors for cancer and identify potential targets for intervention. His research interests include nightshift work, cancer, and epigenetic and metabolomic mediators of cancer risk.