Jack Siemiatycki

A former National Health Research Scientist of Health Canada’s National Health Research and Development Program and Distinguished Scientist of the Medical Research Council, Dr. Siemiatycki has held a Canada Research Chair since 2001. He has served on over 100 national and international expert advisory bodies such as: Health Effects Committee of International Joint Commission (Canada-US), Board of Directors of the National Cancer Institute of Canada, Scientific Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Scientific Council of the Institut de recherche en santé publique (France), Institute Advisory Board of CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health, FRSQ Advisory Committee on Ethics and Databanks, Board of Directors of the American College of Epidemiology, President of the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatisics, and many others. He is an elected member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He has served on editorial boards of journals such as the American Journal of Epidemiology and has served on many grant review panels.

Research

Dr. Siemiatycki has authored or co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles, 50 scientific reports, and nearly 200 presentations or posters. He has been an invited speaker at well over a hundred meetings. He has also co-authored children’s books.

He has received operating grant support from all the major health granting bodies in Canada and Quebec. Most of his research has been in the area of environmental and occupational etiology of cancer, with involvement also in such issues as: health survey methodology, water quality and health, and epidemiologic methodology.

The prevention of cancer depends critically on the identification of modifiable causes of cancer. Epidemiologic research is the primary tool available to accomplish this, but there are significant methodologic obstacles. Jack Siemiatycki is known for having developed novel and influential research methods in occupational etiology of cancer, and for results concerning a wide variety of possible environmental carcinogens.

He is currently involved in ongoing analyses of case-control studies conducted in the Montreal area over the past 25 years. These include one study of 12 different types of cancer, and other studies on lung cancer, on brain cancer, on prostate cancer and on ovarian cancer. There are international collaborations in combining the Montreal data on occupational exposures and lung cancer with data from various European centres aiming to explore interactions between known carcinogens, as well as well as collaborations to explore chemical and electro-magnetic radiation in the etiology of brain cancer.

His research team invites applications from prospective students, prospective post-docs, and prospective faculty members. Training opportunities include projects to analyse the voluminous datasets that have been amassed, to conduct methodological investigations of different methods of data collection or analysis, and to undertake new investigations. There is an emphasis in this team on methodological rigour and development.

Other on-going projects:

Analysis of a Montreal case-control study of occupational and non-occupational risk factors for lung cancer (Funded by CIHR, Co-PIs: J. Siemiatycki and M-É Parent).

Risk of lung cancer related to occupational and recreational physical activity and to dietary intake of flavonoids (Funded by the CCSRI, PI: A. Koushik).

Case-control study of cellular phone use and risk of tumors of the brain, parotid gland and acoustic nerve (Funded by CIHR, Montreal Co-PIs: J. Siemiatycki and M-É Parent).

Occupational exposures and brain cancer (Funded by NIH, PI: E. Cardis).

Pooled analysis of case-control studies on the joint effects of occupational carcinogens in the development of lung cancer: Montreal component (Funded by the German Statutory Accident Insurance – DGUV, PI : A. Koushik).

Selected other affiliations

Canada Research Chair and Professor,
Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université de Montréal

Guzzo Chair in Environmental Cancer Research

Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University

Education and training

Postdoctoral fellowship, International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO), Lyon, France

PhD, Epidemiology and biostatistics, McGill University, QC

MSc,Statistics, McGill University, QC

Selected publications

Leffondré K, Abrahamowicz M, Siemiatycki J, Xiao Y. Modeling smoking history using a comprehensive smoking index. Statistics in Medicine, 2006; 25: 4132-4146.
Vrijheid M., Richardson L., Armstrong B.K., Auvinen A., Berg G., Carroll M., Chetrit A., Deltour I., Feychting M., Giles G.G., Hours M., Iavarone I., Lagorio S., Lönn S., McBride M., Parent M.-É., Sadetzki S., Salminen T., Sanchez M., Schlehofer B., Schüz J., Siemiatycki J., Tynes T., Woodward A., Yamaguchi N., Cardis E. Quantifying the impact of selection bias caused by non-participation in a case-control study of mobile phone use. Annals of Epidemiology 2009;19:33-42.
El-Zein M, Parent ME, Siemiatycki J, Rousseau MC. History of allergic diseases and lung cancer risk. Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. 2014;112(3):230-6.
McLean D, Fleming S, Turner MC, Kincl L, Richardson L, Benke G, … Siemiatycki J, et al. Occupational solvent exposure and risk of meningioma: results from the INTEROCC multicentre case-control study. Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 2014;71(4):253-8.
Siemiatycki J, Karp I, Sylvestre MP, Pintos J. Estimating the proportion of cases of lung cancer legally attributable to smoking: a novel approach for class actions against the tobacco industry. American Journal of Public Health. 2014;104(8):e60-e6.
Turner MC, Benke G, Bowman JD, Figuerola J, Fleming S, Hours M, … Richardson L, … Siemiatycki J, et al. Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields and brain tumor risks in the INTEROCC study. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. 2014;23(9):1863-72.
*Vida S, Richardson L, Cardis E, Krewski D, McBride M, Parent ME, … Siemiatycki J. Brain tumours and cigarette smoking: analysis of the INTERPHONE Canada case-control study. Environmental Health. 2014;13:55.
Vlaanderen J, Portengen L, Schuz J, Olsson A, Pesch B, Kendzia B, … Siemiatycki J, et al. Effect modification of the association of cumulative exposure and cancer risk by intensity of exposure and time since exposure cessation: a flexible method applied to cigarette smoking and lung cancer in the SYNERGY study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2014;179(3):290-8.
Denholm R, Schuz J, Straif K, Stucker I, Jockel KH, Brenner DR… Siemiatycki J, et al. Is previous respiratory disease a risk factor for lung cancer? American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2014;190(5):549-59.
Bigert C, Gustavsson P, Straif K, Pesch B, Bruning T, Kendzia B, … Siemiatycki J, et al. Lung cancer risk among cooks when accounting for tobacco smoking: a pooled analysis of case-control studies from Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and China. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2015;57(2):202-9.
*Vallieres E, Pintos J, Parent ME, Siemiatycki J. Occupational exposure to wood dust and risk of lung cancer in two population-based case-control studies in Montreal, Canada. Environmental Health. 2015;14(1):1.
*Christensen K Y, Lavoue J, Rousseau M-C, Siemiatycki J. Lack of a protective effect of cotton dust on risk of lung cancer: evidence from two population-based case-control studies. BMC Cancer 2015; 15: 212.
Consonni D, De Matteis S, Pesatori AC, Bertazzi PA, Olsson AC, Kromhout H, …, Siemiatycki J, et al. Lung cancer risk among bricklayers in a pooled analysis of case-control studies. International Journal of Cancer. 2015;136(2):360-71.
Pearce NE, Blair A, Vineis P, Ahrens W, Andersen A, Anto JM…, Siemiatycki J, et al. IARC Monographs: 40 Years of Evaluating Carcinogenic Hazards to Humans. Environ Health Perspect 2015;(6) :507-14.
Pesch B, Kendzia B, Hauptmann K, Van Gelder R, Stamm R…, Siemiatycki J, Lavoué J, Jöckel KH, Brüning T. Airborne exposure to inhalable hexavalent chromium in welders and other occupations: Estimates from the German MEGA database. International journal of hygiene and environmental health. 2015; 218(5):500-06.
Taeger D, Pesch B, Kendzia B, Behrens T,… Siemiatycki J, et al. Lung Cancer among Coal Miners, Ore Miners and Quarrymen – Smoking-adjusted Risk Estimates from the Synergy Pooled Analysis of Case-Control Studies. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. 2015;July.
*Lacourt A, Lavoué J, Pintos J, Siemiatycki J. Lung cancer risk in the construction industry. BMC Public Health. 15: 941. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-015-2237-9.
*Vila J, Bowman JD, Richardson L, Kincl L, Conover DL, McLean D, Mann S, Vecchia P, van Tongeren M, Cardis E, Group IS. A Source-based Measurement Database for Occupational Exposure Assessment of Electromagnetic Fields in the INTEROCC Study: A Literature Review Approach. Annals of Occupational Hygiene [Epub ahead of print]. 2015.
*Liu A, Abrahamowicz M, Siemiatycki J. Conditions for confounding of interactions. Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety [Epub ahead of print]. 2015.

Selected scientific and management committees and functions

– Director, Epidemiology Research Centre, Institut Armand-Frappier 1988-1991.

– Associate editor. American Journal of Epidemiology 1989-1998.

– Member, Governing council Institut national de la recherché scientifique, Université du Québec
1998-2001.

– Distinguished Scientist Award. Medical Research Council, Canada, 1999-2004.

– President. Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, 2001-2003.

– Member. Board of Directors. American College of Epidemiology. 2003-2006.

– Member. Board of Directors. National Cancer Institute of Canada. 2003-2007.

– Member, Insitute Advisory Board, Inst of Circulatory and Respiratory Health, 2002-2006.

– Member. Advisory Committee on Research Ethics and Databanks FRSQ 2003-.

– Member. Scientific Council of l’Institut de Recherche en Santé Publique (IReSP). France. 2004-.

– Member. Scientific Council. International Agency for Research on Cancer (WHO). 2005-2009.

– Distinguished Lecturer, National Cancer Institute (US) DCEG, 2006.

– Member. Advisory Council on Cancer Control, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC). 2007-.

– Canada Research Chair in Environmental Epidemiology and Population Health. 2001-2008.

– Fellow Canadian Academy of Health Sciences 2008.

Studentship and fellowship opportunities

Students interested in pursuing MSc, PhD, or postdoctoral studies in the area of cancer epidemiology are invited to contact me at: j.siemiatycki@umontreal.ca

Environmental Epidemiology and Population Health Research Group

Centre de recherche du CHUM (CRCHUM)
Pavillon S
850, Saint-Denis street, S02-422
Montreal (Quebec) H2X 0A9, Canada
Tél : 514-890-8166
Fax: 514-412-7106
Email: Enviroepicancer.cr.chum@ssss.gouv.qc.ca