Chris Wild & Paolo Vineis 
Molecular Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases 

‘I think this is an excellent book-I recommend it
to anyone involved in molecular epidemiology… The 26 chapters are
written by topic specialists, in an explanatory, east to read
style.’ -BTS Newsletter, Summer 2009

‘This text provides an accessible and useful handbook for the
epidemiologist who wants to survey the field, to become better
informed, to look at recent developments and get some background on
these or simply to appreciate further the relatively rapid changes
in informatic and analytical technologies which increasingly will
serve and underpin future epidemiological studies. One of the
strengths in this book is the extensive array of practical
illustrative examples, and it would also in my opinion have useful
potential as a teaching text.’ -American Journal of Human
Biology, March 2009

With the sequencing of the human genome and the mapping of millions
of single nucleotide polymorphisms, epidemiology has moved into the
molecular domain. Scientists can now use molecular markers to track
disease-associated genes in populations, enabling them to study
complex chronic diseases that might result from the weak
interactions of many genes with the environment. Use of these
laboratory generated biomarker data and an understanding of disease
mechanisms are increasingly important in elucidating disease
aetiology.

Molecular Epidemiology of Disease crosses the
disciplinary boundaries between laboratory scientists,
epidemiologists, clinical researchers and biostatisticians and is
accessible to all these relevant research communities in focusing
on practical issues of application, rather than reviews of current
areas of research.

* Covers categories of biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility and
disease

* Includes chapters on novel technologies: genomics,
transcriptomics, proteomics and metabonomics, which are
increasingly finding application in population studies

* Emphasizes new statistical and bioinformatics approaches
necessitated by the large data sets generated using these new
methodologies

* Demonstrates the potential applications of laboratory
techniques in tackling epidemiological problems while considering
their limitations, including the sources of uncertainty and
inaccuracy

* Discusses issues such as reliability (compared to traditional
epidemiological methods) and the timing of exposure

* Explores practical elements of conducting population studies,
including biological repositories and ethics

Molecular Epidemiology of Disease provides an
easy-to-use, clearly presented handbook that allows epidemiologists
to understand the specifics of research involving biomarkers, and
laboratory scientists to understand the main issues of
epidemiological study design and analysis. It also provides a
useful tool for courses on molecular epidemiology, using many
examples from population studies to illustrate key concepts and
principles.

Table of Content

Contributors.

Acknowledgements.

1. Introduction: why molecular epidemiology? (Chris Wild,
Seymour Garte and Paolo Vineis).

2. Study design (Paolo Vineis).

3. Molecular epidemiological studies that can be nested within
cohorts (Andrew Rundle and Habibul Ahsan).

4. Family studies, haplotypes and gene association studies
(Jennifer H. Barrett, D. Timothy Bishop and Mark M. Iles).

5. Individual susceptibility and gene-environment interaction
(Seymour Garte).

6. Biomarker validation (Paolo Vineis and Seymour Garte).

7. Exposure assessment (Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen).

8. Carcinogen metabolites as biomarkers (Stephen S. Hecht).

9. Biomarkers of exposure: adducts (David H. Phillips).

10. Biomarkers of mutation and DNA repair capacity (Marianne
Berwick and Richard J. Albertini).

11. High-throughput techniques -genotyping and genomics (Alison
M. Dunning and Craig Luccarini).

12. Proteomics and molecular epidemiology (Jeff N. Keen and John
B.C. Findlay).

13. Exploring the contribution of metabolic profiling to
epidemiological studies (M. Bictash, Elaine Holmes, H. Keun, P.
Elliott and J. K. Nicholson).

14. Univariate and multivariate data analysis (Yu-Kang Tu and
Mark S. Gilthorpe).

15. Meta-analysis and pooled analysis – genetic and
environmental data (Camille Ragin and Emanuela Taioli).

16. Analysis of Complex datasets (Jason H. Moore, Margaret R.
Karagas and Angeline S. Andrew).

17. Some implications of random exposure measurement errors in
occupational and environmental epidemiology (S. M. Rappaport and L
. L. Kupper).

18. Bioinformatics (Jason H. Moore).

19. Biomarkers, disease mechanisms and their role in regulatory
decisions (Pier Alberto Bertazzi and Antonio Mutti).

20. Biomarkers as endpoints in intervention studies (Lynnette R.
Ferguson).

21. Biological resource centres in molecular epidemiology:
collecting, storing and analysing biospecimens (Elodie Caboux,
Pierre Hainaut and Emmanuelle Gormally).

22. Molecular epidemiogy and ethics: biomarkers for disease
susceptibility (Kirsi Vähäkangas).

23. Biomarkers for dietary carcinogens: the example of
heterocyclic amines in epidemiological studies (Rashmi Sinha,
Amanda Cross and Robert J. Turesky).

24. Practical examples: hormones (Sabina Rinaldi and Rudolf
Kaaks).

25. Aflatoxin, hepatitis B virus and liver cancer: a paradigm
for molecular epidemiology (John D. Gropman, Thomas. W. Kensler and
Chris Wild).

26. Complex exposures – air pollution (Steffen Loft, Elvira
Vaclavik Brauner, Lykke Forchhammer, Marie Pedersen, Lisbeth E.
Knudsen and Peter Moller).

Index.

About the author

Professor Chris Wild. Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Head, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The LIGHT Laboratories, University of Leeds, UK.

Professor Paolo Vineis. Chair in Environmental Epidemiology, Div of Primary Care and Population Health Sciences, Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK.

Professor Seymour Garte. Professor of Environmental and Community Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Scientific Director, Genetics Research Institute, Milan, Italy. Center for Environmental Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, ?PA, ?USA.