Halcyon G Skinner, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Population Health Sciences

Email: hgskinner@wisc.edu

Biography:

A long recognized feature of many cancers is that their incidence increases with increasing age. Although this phenomenon has attracted the attention of epidemiologists through the years, very little is known about the specific mechanisms whereby increasing age increases the risk for cancer in the population. My work relates broadly to the molecular epidemiology of fatal cancers. In the context of population-level studies of cancer risk, I examine specific hypotheses about the role that aging plays in increasing the risk for pancreatic and colon cancers. I am presently examining interactions between markers in candidate genes related to cellular aging and environmental factors that may influence the risk for pancreatic and colon cancers. The aim is to better understand if processes surrounding cellular aging are important determinants of an individual’s propensity to develop either of these malignancies. A second important area of my work relates to understanding the role that variability in the vitamin D endocrine system plays in the etiology and progression of cancer.

Affiliations/Associations:

• Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Institute on Aging
• Institute for Clinical and Translational Research
• Society for Epidemiologic Research
• American College of Epidemiology
• American Society for Preventive Oncology
• American Association for Cancer Research

Select Publications:

Schwartz GG, Skinner HG.  Prospective Studies of Total and Ionized Serum Calcium in Relation to Incident and Fatal Ovarian Cancer. Gynecol. Oncol. 2013 [In Press]

Skinner HG, Gangnon RE, Litzelman K, Johnson RA, Chari ST, Petersen GM. Telomere length and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2012 Nov;21(11):2095-100

Schwartz GG, Skinner HG.  A prospective study of total and ionized serum calcium and time to fatal prostate cancer.  Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2012 Oct;21(10):1768-73.

* Sprague BL, Trentham-Dietz A, Gangnon RE, Buist DS, Burnside ES, Aiello Bowles EJ, Stanczyk FZ, Sisney GS, Skinner HG.  The vitamin D pathway and mammographic breast density among postmenopausal women. Breast Cancer Res Treat.  2011 PMCID: PMC3250989

Skinner HG, Litzelman K, Schwartz GG. Recent clinical trials of vitamin D3 supplementation and serum calcium levels in humans: Implications for vitamin D-based chemoprevention. Curr Opin Investig
Drugs. 2010 Jun;11(6):678-87.

Sprague BL, Skinner HG, Trentham-Dietz A, Lee KE, Klein BEK, Klein R. Serum calcium and breast cancer risk in a prospective cohort study. Annals of Epidemiology. 2010 Jan;20(1):82-5. PMCID: PMC2796253

Maenner MJ, Denlinger LC, Langton AJ, Meyers KJ, Engelman CD, Skinner HG. Detecting interactions in a genome-wide association study of early onset coronary heart disease using random forests. BMC Proceedings. 2009 Dec 15; 3 Suppl 7:S88. PMCID: PMC2795991

Skinner HG, Schwartz GG. The Relation of Serum Parathyroid Hormone and Serum Calcium to Serum Levels of Prostate-Specific Antigen: A Population-Based Study. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. 2009 Nov; 18(11). 2869-73.

Schmitz KJ, Skinner HG, Bautista LE, Fingerlin TE, Langefeld CD, Hicks PJ, Haffner SM, Bryer-Ash M, Wagenknecht LE, Bowden DW, Norris JM, Engelman CD. Association of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D With Blood Pressure in Predominantly 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Deficient Hispanic and African Americans. Am J Hypertens. 2009 Aug;22(8);867-70.

Skinner HG, Boardman L. Using biomarkers of aging to identify modifiable mechanisms underlying age-related risk for cancer. Wisconsin Medical Journal. 2009 Aug; 108(5):280-1.

Skinner HG, Schwartz GG. A Prospective Study of Total and Ionized Serum Calcium and Fatal Prostate Cancer. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. 2009 Feb; 18(2):575-8.

Skinner HG, Schwartz GG. Serum calcium and incident and fatal prostate cancer in theNational Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. 2008 Sep; 17(9):2302-5.

Gawron AJ, Gapstur SM, Fought AJ, Talamonti MS, Skinner HG. Sociodemographic and tumor characteristics associated with pancreatic cancer surgery in the United States. Journal of Surgical Oncology. 2008 Jun ;97(7):578-82.

Schwartz GG, Skinner HG. Vitamin D status and cancer: new insights. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. 2007 Jan;10(1):6-11.

Skinner HG, Michaud DS, Giovannucci EL, Willett WC, Colditz GA, Fuchs CS. Vitamin D intake and the risk for pancreatic cancer in two cohort studies. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. 2006 Sep;15(9):1688-95.

Matsubayashi H, Skinner HG, Iacobuzio-Donahue C, Abe T, Sato N, Riall TS, Yeo CJ, Kern SE, Goggins M. Pancreaticobiliary cancers with deficient methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase genotypes. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology,2005;3(8):752-760.

Michaud DS, Skinner HG, Wu K, Hu F, Giovannucci E, Willett WC, Colditz GA, Fuchs CS. Dietary patterns and pancreatic cancer risk in men and women. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2005;97(7):518-24.

Skinner HG, Michaud DS, Giovannucci EL, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Colditz GA, Fuchs CS. A prospective study of folate intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer in men and women. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2004;1(3):248-258.

Skinner HG, Michaud DS, Colditz GA, Giovannucci EL, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC, Fuchs CS. Parity, reproductive factors, and the risk of pancreatic cancer in women. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, 2003;12: 433-438.

Tascilar M, Skinner HG, Rosty C, Sohn T, Wilentz RE, Offerhaus GJA, Adsay V, Abrams RA, Cameron JL, Kern SE, Yeo CJ, Hruban RH, Goggins M. The SMAD4 protein and prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. Clinical Cancer Research, 2001;12:4115-4121.

Ueki T, Toyota M, Skinner HG, Walter KM, Yeo CJ, Issa JPJ, Hruban RH, Goggins M. Identification and characterization of differentially methylated CpG islands in pancreatic carcinoma. Cancer Research, 2001;61: 8540-8546.

Courses Taught:

• (PHS-797) Introduction to Epidemiology (Syllabus)

Contact Information:

Address:
610 Walnut Street
Room 1007b, WARF Building
Madison WI 53726 

Phone: 608-265-4654
Fax: 608-265-4654
Email: hgskinner@wisc.edu