SPH Alum Explores Cancer Risks Associated with Environmental Contaminants

ALBANY, N.Y. (November 9, 2021) – Rena Jones (MS class of 2006, PhD class of 2012) works in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), assessing environmental exposures to identify and clarify how they may cause cancer.

Jones began studying cancer epidemiology as a postdoctoral fellow at NCI after graduating from UAlbany. She became a research fellow in 2014 and was appointed to the tenure-track in 2017. Now as an Investigator, she uses geographic information systems along with novel approaches to better understand how environmental contaminants, especially those in water and air, may pose a health risk.

“I’ve always been interested in the impacts of environment on health, and specifically how we characterize those exposures for epidemiologic studies,” says Jones. “I sought out my NCI postdoctoral fellowship because of the unique and interesting challenges in assessing environmental exposures over long periods of time, a necessary component of cancer studies. It gave me an opportunity to learn and apply novel methods to my work and was (and continues to be) intellectually stimulating and fun.”

Jones’ work has far-reaching impacts, as the contaminants she studies are common exposures. For example, in one of her studies, she examines whether ultrafine particles from vehicle exhaust are a cause of lung cancer. Another study looks at air pollutants from industrial sources, an exposure that much of the U.S. population experiences. She also addresses emerging concerns with drinking water and has developed exposure metrics for nitrate and disinfection byproducts in public water supplies. Using these metrics, Jones and colleagues are investigating the associations of these contaminants with several cancers.

“It is incredibly interesting and rewarding to do work that may be used to inform public health regulation and other interventions, and be impactful for so many people,” says Jones.

In addition, Jones develops estimates of human exposure to environmental contaminants, taking into account how exposure pathways, environmental transport and persistence, and individual exposure determinants—which are typically relied on to create estimates— and which may be difficult to predict in retrospective studies. To improve these estimates, she optimizes the spatial accuracy of residential addresses and exposure sources, characterizes participant mobility and time spent in microenvironments, and incorporates information from surveys, regulatory monitoring data and other external datasets.

Jones’ work has been recognized with several awards, including the DCEG Fellows Award for Research Excellence, the DCEG Intramural Research Award, the NCI Director’s Innovation Award, and the Sallie Rosen Kaplan Fellowship for Women Scientists in Cancer Research.

Jones also holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor position in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health.