Research Summary

I became a UCSF faculty member in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 1985 and joined the Department of Neurological Surgery in 2004. I began one of the first large-scale population based epidemiologic studies of adult glioma in 1991 and have since served as PI of this NCI funded R01 entitled “Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology of Adult Glioma”. I have been a Project co-Leader of the Brain Tumor SPORE project “San Francisco Bay Area Adult Glioma Survival Study” since 2002. In 2009, we completed one of the first genome-wide association studies of adult glioma in which we identified several glioma risk loci. In 2012, we discovered a glioma risk allele that confers a six-fold risk of oligodendroglial tumors and IDH mutated astrocytomas. In 2015, we published another study in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic that defined five glioma molecular groups based on 1p/19q co-deletion, IDH mutation, and mutations in the TERT promoter that appear to have distinct mechanisms of pathogenesis and that account for over 95% of grade II-IV gliomas. We are in the process of conducting large-scale genome wide association studies of glioma survival, meningioma, and childhood leukemia. In addition, I have been a co-investigator for other multi-site studies of glioma risk and of familial glioma risk, genetic epidemiology of lung cancer, and breast cancer epidemiology. I am a leader in the brain tumor epidemiology research community having served as US Co-President of the Brain Tumor Epidemiology Consortium. My service to the NIH includes participation in numerous review panels over my 30-year career, as well as recently serving as a member on the EPIC-CASE study section.

Research Funding

  • September 20, 2002 - August 31, 2023 - Brain Tumor SPORE Grant , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P50CA097257
  • May 15, 1991 - March 31, 2017 - Genetic and molecular epidemiology of adult glioma , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA052689
  • December 1, 1992 - November 30, 1997 - ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND ADULT MALIGNANT GLIOMA , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01ES006285
  • September 30, 1992 - September 29, 1995 - HA-RAS RARE ALLELES IN MALIGNANT GLIOMA , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R03CA057220

Education

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, B.Sc., 1971, Genetics
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, M.Sc., 1973, Population Genetics
University of California, Berkeley, CA, M.P.H., 1977, Epidemiology
University of California, Berkeley, CA, Ph.D., 1983, Epidemiology

Selected Publications

  1. Guerra G, Kachuri L, Wendt G, Hansen HM, Mack SJ, Molinaro AM, Rice T, Bracci P, Wiencke JK, Kasahara N, Eckel-Passow JE, Jenkins RB, Wrensch M, Francis SS. The immunogenetics of viral antigen response is associated with subtype-specific glioma risk and survival. Am J Hum Genet. 2022 May 06.  View on PubMed
  2. Zhang Y, Lucas CG, Young JS, Morshed RA, McCoy L, Oberheim Bush NA, Taylor JW, Daras M, Butowski NA, Villanueva-Meyer JE, Cha S, Wrensch M, Wiencke JK, Lee JC, Pekmezci M, Phillips JJ, Perry A, Bollen AW, Aghi MK, Theodosopoulos P, Chang EF, Hervey-Jumper SL, Berger MS, Clarke JL, Chang SM, Molinaro AM, Solomon DA. Prospective genomically-guided identification of 'early/evolving' and 'undersampled' IDH-wildtype glioblastoma leads to improved clinical outcomes. Neuro Oncol. 2022 Apr 08.  View on PubMed
  3. Molinaro AM, Wiencke JK, Warrier G, Koestler DC, Chunduru P, Lee JY, Hansen HM, Lee S, Anguiano J, Rice T, Bracci PM, McCoy L, Salas LA, Christensen BC, Wrensch M, Kelsey KT, Taylor JW, Clarke JL. Interactions of Age and Blood Immune Factors and Noninvasive Prediction of Glioma Survival. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2022 03 08; 114(3):446-457.  View on PubMed
  4. Reimer N, Hafke R, Wrensch M, Horst P, Bloch W, Hahn T, Kirchhoff A, Kluck KL, Stein J, Baumann FT. Influence of a 12-month supervised, intensive resistance, aerobic and impact exercise intervention on muscle strength in prostate cancer patients undergoing anti-hormone therapy: Study protocol for the randomized, controlled Burgdorf study. Contemp Clin Trials. 2022 03; 114:106685.  View on PubMed
  5. Graff M, Justice AE, Young KL, Marouli E, Zhang X, Fine RS, Lim E, Buchanan V, Rand K, Feitosa MF, Wojczynski MK, Yanek LR, Shao Y, Rohde R, Adeyemo AA, Aldrich MC, Allison MA, Ambrosone CB, Ambs S, Amos C, Arnett DK, Atwood L, Bandera EV, Bartz T, Becker DM, Berndt SI, Bernstein L, Bielak LF, Blot WJ, Bottinger EP, Bowden DW, Bradfield JP, Brody JA, Broeckel U, Burke G, Cade BE, Cai Q, Caporaso N, Carlson C, Carpten J, Casey G, Chanock SJ, Chen G, Chen M, Chen YI, Chen WM, Chesi A, Chiang CWK, Chu L, Coetzee GA, Conti DV, Cooper RS, Cushman M, Demerath E, Deming SL, Dimitrov L, Ding J, Diver WR, Duan Q, Evans MK, Falusi AG, Faul JD, Fornage M, Fox C, Freedman BI, Garcia M, Gillanders EM, Goodman P, Gottesman O, Grant SFA, Guo X, Hakonarson H, Haritunians T, Harris TB, Harris CC, Henderson BE, Hennis A, Hernandez DG, Hirschhorn JN, McNeill LH, Howard TD, Howard B, Hsing AW, Hsu YH, Hu JJ, Huff CD, Huo D, Ingles SA, Irvin MR, John EM, Johnson KC, Jordan JM, Kabagambe EK, Kang SJ, Kardia SL, Keating BJ, Kittles RA, Klein EA, Kolb S, Kolonel LN, Kooperberg C, Kuller L, Kutlar A, Lange L, Langefeld CD, Le Marchand L, Leonard H, Lettre G, Levin AM, Li Y, Li J, Liu Y, Liu Y, Liu S, Lohman K, Lotay V, Lu Y, Maixner W, Manson JE, McKnight B, Meng Y, Monda KL, Monroe K, Moore JH, Mosley TH, Mudgal P, Murphy AB, Nadukuru R, Nalls MA, Nathanson KL, Nayak U, N'Diaye A, Nemesure B, Neslund-Dudas C, Neuhouser ML, Nyante S, Ochs-Balcom H, Ogundiran TO, Ogunniyi A, Ojengbede O, Okut H, Olopade OI, Olshan A, Padhukasahasram B, Palmer J, Palmer CD, Palmer ND, Papanicolaou G, Patel SR, Pettaway CA, Peyser PA, Press MF, Rao DC, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Redline S, Reiner AP, Rhie SK, Rodriguez-Gil JL, Rotimi CN, Rotter JI, Ruiz-Narvaez EA, Rybicki BA, Salako B, Sale MM, Sanderson M, Schadt E, Schreiner PJ, Schurmann C, Schwartz AG, Shriner DA, Signorello LB, Singleton AB, Siscovick DS, Smith JA, Smith S, Speliotes E, Spitz M, Stanford JL, Stevens VL, Stram A, Strom SS, Sucheston L, Sun YV, Tajuddin SM, Taylor H, Taylor K, Tayo BO, Thun MJ, Tucker MA, Vaidya D, Van Den Berg DJ, Vedantam S, Vitolins M, Wang Z, Ware EB, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Weir DR, Wiencke JK, Williams SM, Williams LK, Wilson JG, Witte JS, Wrensch M, Wu X, Yao J, Zakai N, Zanetti K, Zemel BS, Zhao W, Zhao JH, Zheng W, Zhi D, Zhou J, Zhu X, Ziegler RG, Zmuda J, Zonderman AB, Psaty BM, Borecki IB, Cupples LA, Liu CT, Haiman CA, Loos R, Ng MCY, North KE. Discovery and fine-mapping of height loci via high-density imputation of GWASs in individuals of African ancestry. Am J Hum Genet. 2021 04 01; 108(4):564-582.  View on PubMed
  6. Eckel-Passow JE, Drucker KL, Kollmeyer TM, Kosel ML, Decker PA, Molinaro AM, Rice T, Praska CE, Clark L, Caron A, Abyzov A, Batzler A, Song JS, Pekmezci M, Hansen HM, McCoy LS, Bracci PM, Wiemels J, Wiencke JK, Francis S, Burns TC, Giannini C, Lachance DH, Wrensch M, Jenkins RB. Adult diffuse glioma GWAS by molecular subtype identifies variants in D2HGDH and FAM20C. Neuro Oncol. 2020 11 26; 22(11):1602-1613.  View on PubMed
  7. Zhang YD, Hurson AN, Zhang H, Choudhury PP, Easton DF, Milne RL, Simard J, Hall P, Michailidou K, Dennis J, Schmidt MK, Chang-Claude J, Gharahkhani P, Whiteman D, Campbell PT, Hoffmeister M, Jenkins M, Peters U, Hsu L, Gruber SB, Casey G, Schmit SL, O'Mara TA, Spurdle AB, Thompson DJ, Tomlinson I, De Vivo I, Landi MT, Law MH, Iles MM, Demenais F, Kumar R, MacGregor S, Bishop DT, Ward SV, Bondy ML, Houlston R, Wiencke JK, Melin B, Barnholtz-Sloan J, Kinnersley B, Wrensch MR, Amos CI, Hung RJ, Brennan P, McKay J, Caporaso NE, Berndt SI, Birmann BM, Camp NJ, Kraft P, Rothman N, Slager SL, Berchuck A, Pharoah PDP, Sellers TA, Gayther SA, Pearce CL, Goode EL, Schildkraut JM, Moysich KB, Amundadottir LT, Jacobs EJ, Klein AP, Petersen GM, Risch HA, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ, Wolpin BM, Li D, Eeles RA, Haiman CA, Kote-Jarai Z, Schumacher FR, Al Olama AA, Purdue MP, Scelo G, Dalgaard MD, Greene MH, Grotmol T, Kanetsky PA, McGlynn KA, Nathanson KL, Turnbull C, Wiklund F, Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), Barrett’s and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium (BEACON), Colon Cancer Family Registry (CCFR), Transdisciplinary Studies of Genetic Variation in Colorectal Cancer (CORECT), Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium (ECAC), Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO), Melanoma Genetics Consortium (GenoMEL), Glioma International Case-Control Study (GICC), International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), Integrative Analysis of Lung Cancer Etiology and Risk (INTEGRAL) Consortium, International Consortium of Investigators Working on Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Epidemiologic Studies (I, Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC), Oral Cancer GWAS, Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Consortium (PanC4), Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium (PanScan), Prostate Cancer Association Group to Investigate Cancer Associated Alterations in the Genome (PRACTI, Renal Cancer GWAS, Testicular Cancer Consortium (TECAC), Chanock SJ, Chatterjee N, Garcia-Closas M. Assessment of polygenic architecture and risk prediction based on common variants across fourteen cancers. Nat Commun. 2020 07 03; 11(1):3353.  View on PubMed
  8. Molinaro AM, Hervey-Jumper S, Morshed RA, Young J, Han SJ, Chunduru P, Zhang Y, Phillips JJ, Shai A, Lafontaine M, Crane J, Chandra A, Flanigan P, Jahangiri A, Cioffi G, Ostrom Q, Anderson JE, Badve C, Barnholtz-Sloan J, Sloan AE, Erickson BJ, Decker PA, Kosel ML, LaChance D, Eckel-Passow J, Jenkins R, Villanueva-Meyer J, Rice T, Wrensch M, Wiencke JK, Oberheim Bush NA, Taylor J, Butowski N, Prados M, Clarke J, Chang S, Chang E, Aghi M, Theodosopoulos P, McDermott M, Berger MS. Association of Maximal Extent of Resection of Contrast-Enhanced and Non-Contrast-Enhanced Tumor With Survival Within Molecular Subgroups of Patients With Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma. JAMA Oncol. 2020 04 01; 6(4):495-503.  View on PubMed
  9. Saunders CN, Cornish AJ, Kinnersley B, Law PJ, Claus EB, Il'yasova D, Schildkraut J, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Olson SH, Bernstein JL, Lai RK, Chanock S, Rajaraman P, Johansen C, Jenkins RB, Melin BS, Wrensch MR, Sanson M, Bondy ML, Houlston RS. Lack of association between modifiable exposures and glioma risk: a Mendelian randomization analysis. Neuro Oncol. 2020 02 20; 22(2):207-215.  View on PubMed
  10. Muskens IS, Zhou M, Mccoy L, Bracci PM, Hansen HM, Gauderman WJ, Wiencke JK, Wrensch MR, Wiemels JL. Immune factors preceding diagnosis of glioma: a Prostate Lung Colorectal Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial nested case-control study. Neurooncol Adv. 2019 May-Dec; 1(1):vdz031.  View on PubMed
  11. Molinaro AM, Taylor JW, Wiencke JK, Wrensch MR. Genetic and molecular epidemiology of adult diffuse glioma. Nat Rev Neurol. 2019 07; 15(7):405-417.  View on PubMed
  12. Takahashi H, Cornish AJ, Sud A, Law PJ, Kinnersley B, Ostrom QT, Labreche K, Eckel-Passow JE, Armstrong GN, Claus EB, Il'yasova D, Schildkraut J, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Olson SH, Bernstein JL, Lai RK, Schoemaker MJ, Simon M, Hoffmann P, Nöthen MM, Jöckel KH, Chanock S, Rajaraman P, Johansen C, Jenkins RB, Melin BS, Wrensch MR, Sanson M, Bondy ML, Turnbull C, Houlston RS. Publisher Correction: Mendelian randomisation study of the relationship between vitamin D and risk of glioma. Sci Rep. 2019 May 23; 9(1):7924.  View on PubMed
  13. Ostrom QT, Egan KM, Nabors LB, Gerke T, Thompson RC, Olson JJ, LaRocca R, Chowdhary S, Eckel-Passow JE, Armstrong G, Wiencke JK, Bernstein JL, Claus EB, Il'yasova D, Johansen C, Lachance DH, Lai RK, Merrell RT, Olson SH, Sadetzki S, Schildkraut JM, Shete S, Houlston RS, Jenkins RB, Wrensch MR, Melin B, Amos CI, Huse JT, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Bondy ML. Glioma risk associated with extent of estimated European genetic ancestry in African Americans and Hispanics. Int J Cancer. 2020 02 01; 146(3):739-748.  View on PubMed
  14. Jones CC, Bradford Y, Amos CI, Blot WJ, Chanock SJ, Harris CC, Schwartz AG, Spitz MR, Wiencke JK, Wrensch MR, Wu X, Aldrich MC. Cross-Cancer Pleiotropic Associations with Lung Cancer Risk in African Americans. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2019 04; 28(4):715-723.  View on PubMed
  15. Eckel-Passow JE, Decker PA, Kosel ML, Kollmeyer TM, Molinaro AM, Rice T, Caron AA, Drucker KL, Praska CE, Pekmezci M, Hansen HM, McCoy LS, Bracci PM, Erickson BJ, Lucchinetti CF, Wiemels JL, Wiencke JK, Bondy ML, Melin B, Burns TC, Giannini C, Lachance DH, Wrensch MR, Jenkins RB. Using germline variants to estimate glioma and subtype risks. Neuro Oncol. 2019 03 18; 21(4):451-461.  View on PubMed
  16. Muskens IS, Hansen HM, Smirnov IV, Molinaro AM, Bondy ML, Schildkraut JM, Wrensch M, Wiemels JL, Claus EB. Longer genotypically-estimated leukocyte telomere length is associated with increased meningioma risk. J Neurooncol. 2019 May; 142(3):479-487.  View on PubMed
  17. Atkins I, Kinnersley B, Ostrom QT, Labreche K, Il'yasova D, Armstrong GN, Eckel-Passow JE, Schoemaker MJ, Nöthen MM, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Swerdlow AJ, Simon M, Rajaraman P, Chanock SJ, Shildkraut J, Bernstein JL, Hoffmann P, Jöckel KH, Lai RK, Claus EB, Olson SH, Johansen C, Wrensch MR, Melin B, Jenkins RB, Sanson M, Bondy ML, Houlston RS. Transcriptome-Wide Association Study Identifies New Candidate Susceptibility Genes for Glioma. Cancer Res. 2019 04 15; 79(8):2065-2071.  View on PubMed
  18. Takahashi H, Cornish AJ, Sud A, Law PJ, Disney-Hogg L, Calvocoressi L, Lu L, Hansen HM, Smirnov I, Walsh KM, Schramm J, Hoffmann P, Nöthen MM, Jöckel KH, Schildkraut JM, Simon M, Bondy M, Wrensch M, Wiemels JL, Claus EB, Turnbull C, Houlston RS. Mendelian randomization provides support for obesity as a risk factor for meningioma. Sci Rep. 2019 01 22; 9(1):309.  View on PubMed
  19. Ostrom QT, Coleman W, Huang W, Rubin JB, Lathia JD, Berens ME, Speyer G, Liao P, Wrensch MR, Eckel-Passow JE, Armstrong G, Rice T, Wiencke JK, McCoy LS, Hansen HM, Amos CI, Bernstein JL, Claus EB, Houlston RS, Il'yasova D, Jenkins RB, Johansen C, Lachance DH, Lai RK, Merrell RT, Olson SH, Sadetzki S, Schildkraut JM, Shete S, Andersson U, Rajaraman P, Chanock SJ, Linet MS, Wang Z, Yeager M, GliomaScan consortium, Melin B, Bondy ML, Barnholtz-Sloan JS. Sex-specific gene and pathway modeling of inherited glioma risk. Neuro Oncol. 2019 01 01; 21(1):71-82.  View on PubMed
  20. Amirian ES, Ostrom QT, Armstrong GN, Lai RK, Gu X, Jacobs DI, Jalali A, Claus EB, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Il'yasova D, Schildkraut JM, Ali-Osman F, Sadetzki S, Jenkins RB, Lachance DH, Olson SH, Bernstein JL, Merrell RT, Wrensch MR, Johansen C, Houlston RS, Scheurer ME, Shete S, Amos CI, Melin B, Bondy ML. Aspirin, NSAIDs, and Glioma Risk: Original Data from the Glioma International Case-Control Study and a Meta-analysis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2019 03; 28(3):555-562.  View on PubMed

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