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Faculty Member

Joanne Kotsopoulos MSc, PhD

Email Address(es)
Joanne.Kotsopoulos(at)wchospital.ca
Office Phone
(416) 351-3732 2126
Office Address
Womens College Research Institute 76 Grenville St., 6th Floor Toronto, Ontario M5S 1B2
Website(s)
Division(s)/Institute(s)
Epidemiology Division
Position
Professor
SGS Status
Full Member
Appointment Status
Status Only

Research Interests

  • Cancer epidemiology
  • Breast cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • BRCA1/2 mutation carriers
  • Prevention
  • Genetics
  • Lifestyle (physical activity, dietary exposures)
  • Biomarkers
  • Hereditary cancer
  • Prognostic factors

Education & Training History

Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 2009

Ph.D., Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, 2007

Masters of Sciences, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, 2002

Bachelor of Science (Honours), Human Biology (Specialist Program), University of Toronto, 1999

Primary Teaching Responsibilities

  • Supervision of graduate and undergraduate students
  • Course Coordinator and Lecturer: Nutrition and Cancer (NFS1216)
  • Faculty Tutor: Scientific Overviews (CHL5418)

affliations

2015-present

2012-present

Associate Professor – Dalla Lana School of Public Health & Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto

Assistant Professor – Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto (cross-appointment)

2009-present Assistant Professor – Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
2009-present Scientist – Women’s College Research Institute, Women’s College Hospital

Honours & Awards

  • Victoria University Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Toronto
  • Canadian Cancer Society Career Development Award in Prevention
  • Canadian Gene Cure Foundation – CIHR Institute of Genetics Champions of Genetics
  • Cancer Care Ontario Research Chair, Population Studies
  • National Cancer Institute of Canada, Post Ph.D. Fellowship
  • Cohorts and Consortia, University of Calgary, Scholar-in-Training Travel Award
  • AACR/Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Scholar-In-Training Award
  • Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation-Ontario Chapter, Doctoral Fellowship

Current Research Projects

  • Identifying modifiable risk factors for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (reproductive, lifestyle, hormonal)
  • Identifying factors that predict recurrence and outcome in ovarian cancer patients (clinical, genetic, biomarkers)
  • Evaluating the use of circulating markers to predict cancer risk or outcome (sex hormones, circulating tumour DNA)
  • Evaluating the role of genetic and non-genetic factors in a cohort of high-risk, BRCA-negative women

Representative Publications

  • Kotsopoulos J, Rosen B, Fan I, McLaughlin JR, Risch HA, May T, Sun P, Narod SA. Ten-year Survival after Epithelial Ovarian Cancer is Not Associated with BRCA Mutation Status Gyn Oncology. 2015 Nov 7. IF: 3.929
  • Pettapiece-Phillips R, Kotlyar M, Chehade R, Salmena L, Narod SA, Akbari M, Jurisica I, Kotsopoulos J. Uninterrupted sedentary behavior downregulates BRCA1 gene expression. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2015 Nov 2.
  • Kotsopoulos J, Lubinski J, Salmena L, Lynch HT, Kim-Sing C, Foulkes WD, Ghadirian P, Neuhausen S, Demsky R, Tung N, Ainsworth P, Senter L, Eisen A, Eng C, Singer C, Ginsburg O, Huzarski T, Poll A, Sun P, Narod SA and the Hereditary Breast Cancer Clinical Study Group.  Timing of oral contraceptive use and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 mutation carriers. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2014;143(3):579-86.
  • Kotsopoulos J, Zhang S, Akbari M, Salmena L, Llacuachaqui M, Zeligs M, Sun P, Narod SA. BRCA1 mRNA Levels Following a 4-6 Week Intervention with Oral 3,3′-di-indolylmethane. Br J Cancer. 2014; 111(7):1269-74.
  • Kotsopoulos J, Prescott J, DeVivo I, Fan I, Rosen B, Risch HA, McLaughlin JR, Sun P, Narod SA. Telomere Length and Mortality Following a Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2014;23(11):2603-6.
  • Kotsopoulos J, Shafrir A, Rice M, Hankinson S, Eliassen A.H, Tworoger SS, Narod, SA.  The Relationship Between Bilateral Oophorectomy and Plasma Hormone Levels in Postmenopausal Women. Horm Cancer. 2015;6(1):54-63.
  • Kotsopoulos J, Lubinski J, Gronwald J, Cybulski C, Demsky R, Neuhausen SL, Mitchell G, Tung N, Friedman S, Senter L, Weitzel J, Karlan B, Moller P, Sun P, Narod SA and the Hereditary Breast Cancer Clinical Study Group. Factors Influencing Ovulation and the Risk of Ovarian Cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers. Int J Cancer. 2014 Dec 6.
  • Ivanova A, Loo, A, Tworoger S, Crum CP, Fan  I, McLaughlin JR, Rosen B, Risch HA, Narod SA, Kotsopoulos J. Ovarian cancer survival by tumor dominance, a surrogate for site of origin. Cancer Causes Control. 2015;26(4):601-8.
  • Cybulski C, Lubinski J, Huzarski T, Lynch HT, Randall SA, Neuhausen SL, Senter L, Friedman S, Ainsworth P, Singer C, Foulkes WD, Narod SA, Sun P, Kotsopoulos J. Prospective evaluation of alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2015;151(2):435-41.
  • Kotsopoulos J, Lubinski J, Gronwald J, Cybulski C, Demsky R, Neuhausen SL, Senter L, Weitzel J, Karlan B, Moller P, Sun P, Narod SA and the Hereditary Breast Cancer Clinical Study Group. Hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers: a case-control study. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2016 Jan; 155(2):365-73.