Qin Research Program

Research Overview:

Dr. Qin's research program aims to elucidate multilevel modifiable factors affecting cancer health and health disparities. This program integrates multilevel and transdisciplinary components, including investigations of diet, lifestyle, and social and built environment factors, into breast and ovarian cancer epidemiology research, with a primary focus on underserved populations. Another research line integrates metabolomics with epidemiology to identify new pathways and biomarkers for adverse breast cancer outcomes.

Support for her research program includes the NIH R00 award (R00MD013300) and the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant (RSG-23-114-3513-01-CTPS), among others, and both focus on the research direction of elucidating multilevel risk factors for breast cancer survivorship and survival among Black and African American women. The team uses a society-to-cell framework to uncover the intricate connections between social determinants of health, lifestyle patterns, and inflammatory pathway biomarkers that contribute to patient-reported outcomes and breast cancer survival. Publications can be found on Google Scholar.

Dr. Qin's research program collaborates with several epidemiological studies, particularly the Women's Circle of Health Follow-up Study (WCHFS), one of the largest population-based longitudinal studies of Black breast cancer survivors, and a pilot study of Hispanic breast cancer survivors in New Jersey. Other studies and consortia involved include the African American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES), the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC), and others.

Research Interests:

• Breast cancer epidemiology
• Ovarian cancer epidemiology
• Cancer health disparities
• Social determinants of health
• Neighborhoods and health
• Lifestyle factors, diet, and nutrition
• Metabolomics