Jennifer Beebe-Dimmer, assistant professor of internal medicine in Wayne State University’s School of Medicine and the Karmanos Cancer Institute, received a $664,290 training grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health for research involving the influence of genetic susceptibility on the development of prostate and bladder cancers.

The grant, which also includes laboratory training and genetics coursework at Wayne State and the University of Michigan, is designed to provide formal background for Beebe-Dimmer in cancer genetics research and build on her experience as a cancer epidemiologist. The two studies for which she is the primary investigator apply traditional approaches of genetic analysis to novel areas of genetic research. Both are sub-studies of larger projects of the University of Michigan.

The first study is a follow-up to a recent finding by the UM Prostate Cancer Genetics Project, which investigates genes associated with the inherited forms of prostate cancer. Results from PCGP suggest a region on chromosome 22 is linked to prostate cancer in African Americans. Beebe-Dimmer will continue the research by assessing where specifically on the chromosome these prostate cancer-susceptibility genes are located. Additionally, she will work to develop new recruitment strategies to increase the participation of African Americans with hereditary prostate cancer in clinical studies.

In the second study, Beebe-Dimmer will investigate the genes suspected of influencing the body’s ability to metabolize and eliminate inorganic arsenic and bladder cancer risk.

The research is a sub study of UM’s Arsenic and Bladder Cancer Research Study, and will eventually combine data with a similar study conducted in New England. In her work, Beebe-Dimmer will assess the separate and joint effects that genes and arsenic exposure have on the development of bladder cancer.

Because prostate and bladder cancers are suspected to be influenced by genetic susceptibility, Beebe-Dimmer’s research is of exceeding importance in identifying populations at an increased risk for developing these diseases. In the future, people who have a known genetic predisposition may avoid being diagnosed with these forms of cancer by employing strategies aimed at primary prevention or avoid being diagnosed with more aggressive forms of cancer because of early detection.