New York: Columbia University Medical Center

Dr. Mary Beth Terry, Principal Investigator

Dr. Terry received her PhD in Epidemiology from Columbia University in 1999, after receiving her MA in Economics from the University of Washington in 1990. Dr. Terry is funded through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as Principal Investigator of a study investigating the role of early life exposures in breast cancer and of the New York Breast Cancer Family Registry.

Dr. Terry focuses her research on breast cancer and on the molecular epidemiology and lifecourse methods of the disease, in particular she is investigating how adult health and diseases such as breast cancer may be influenced by prenatal and early life exposures. She recently reported that prenatal exposures affect the timing of menarche, adult body size, and epigenetic changes - all indicators of future cancer risk. Dr. Terry teaches introductory and advanced epidemiologic methods at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

Dr. Wendy Chung, Co-Principal Investigator

Dr. Chung received her PhD in genetics from the Rockefeller University in 1996 and her MD from Cornell University in 1998. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center as well as a fellowship in both Clinical Genetics and Molecular Genetics.

Dr. Chung focuses her research on the genetic basis of human diseases including obesity, diabetes, cancer, congenital heart disease, congenital diaphragmatic hernias, cardiomyopathies, and spinal muscular atrophy. She is the Director of the Pediatric Neuromuscular Network Molecular Core, the New York Obesity Center Molecular Genetics Core and the Diabetes and Endocrine Research Center Molecular Genetics Core. She is also the Director of the Clinical Genetics Program, Clinical Cancer Genetics program, and Director of the fellowship program in Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics, and supervises medical education in human genetics for Columbia University Medical School.

Dr. Regina Santella, Co-Investigator

Dr. Santella received her PhD in 1976 from the City University of New York in 1976. She is currently a Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and the Director of Columbia’s NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan. She also directs the Biomarkers Shared Resource of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Santella's research involves the development of laboratory methods for the detection of human exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens and their use in molecular epidemiology studies to identify causative factors, susceptible populations, and preventive interventions. Her work has allowed the determination of exposure to carcinogens by the measurement of their binding to DNA with highly specific and sensitive immunoassays using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies that her laboratory has developed. These studies have demonstrated higher levels of DNA damage in those with environmental or occupational exposures and in subjects with breast, lung, and liver cancer compared to controls. In addition, the interaction between environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility on cancer risk is being investigated using high throughput genotyping to determine polymorphisms in carcinogen metabolism, oxidative stress, and DNA repair genes.

Ann Johnston Cloud, MPH, Project Director

Ann received her Master’s of Public Health degree from Columbia University in 2010, with a focus on cancer epidemiology and her Bachelor’s degree from Emory University in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. She has spent the last three years working with Dr. Terry on the New York site of the Breast Cancer Family Registry (BCFR). She will continue serving as the Project Director for the BCFR and has begun serving as Project Director for The LEGACY Girls Study this year. Previous to her work at Columbia University, Ann was based in Atlanta and worked for Emory University School of Medicine at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. She was involved with clinical neuroimaging trials and neuropsychological testing of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and frontotemporal dementia.

Ann’s research interests include evaluating the effectiveness of national cancer prevention guidelines among women with a family history of breast cancer, DNA methylation of genetic promoter regions, and the methodology of family-based data collection. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two dogs, one beagle and one shepard mutt. Ann’s interests include cooking, biking, walking her dogs and traveling whenever possible.

Melissa White, MSSW, Project Coordinator

Melissa received her Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University in 2002, with a focus on policy analysis, in addition to clinical training. Working in public health and social science research since 2001, she has coordinated studies of domestic violence risk assessment, sexual assault revictimization, and the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS, and she served as scientific coordinator of the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Prior to engaging in research, Melissa worked in organizations and programs serving women, people of color, immigrants and refugees, youth, adoptees, cancer survivors, people living with HIV/AIDS, survivors of violence, and bereaved individuals. She is currently Project Coordinator of the LEGACY Girls Study and is also a staff therapist at a psychotherapy institute in Manhattan.
Melissa’s professional and research interests include health and mental health, trauma and resilience, the psychosocial impacts of breast cancer on women and families, and cancer disclosure in families. She is also interested in social justice, individual and collective agency, identity, narrative, and community. She has two cats and enjoys taking classes, hiking, traveling, and attending music and dance performances.

Natalie Engmann, MSc, Research Associate

Natalie received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Emory University, and her Masters of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 2012, with a focus on Reproductive Health Research. Her Masters thesis evaluated the use of digital, volumetric measures of mammographic density, a well-known risk factor for breast cancer. After completing her Masters degree, Natalie joined Dr. Terry’s team at the New York site, and is involved with the LEGACY Study as well as several other of Dr. Terry’s studies focusing on mammographic density and breast cancer.

Prior to graduate school, Natalie worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and was involved in a large interagency effort to develop and expand clinical and research capacity Sub-Saharan Africa. Natalie’s research interests include mammographic density and influence of early life exposures on overall breast cancer risk, and the epidemiology of breast cancer in Africa. She lives in Manhattan with her fiancée and their beagle, and enjoys running, walking her dog in Central Park, and trying out new recipes in the kitchen!

Dr. Jasmine McDonald, Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. McDonald received her PhD in Biological Sciences in Public Health in 2009 from Harvard University. Prior to her doctoral program, she received her B.S. in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2003), where she was a Meyerhoff Scholar. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia Unviersity continuing her training in breast cancer prevention. 

Dr. McDonald has postdoctoral training in examining modifiable factors for breast cancer prevention in high breast cancer risk populations. Upon completion of her doctoral degree, Dr. McDonald joined the University of Pennsylvania where she examined sociobehavioral issues related to genomic medicine among populations at high cancer risk. As a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia, Dr. McDonald continues to investigate modifiable behaviors for breast cancer prevention in high risk populations, but with a focus on epidemiological methodology. Her research examines the role of modifiable factors (i.e., alcohol) on mammographic breast density, an intermediate marker of breast cancer. Dr. McDonald has had the privilege of working with the LEGACY Girls Study since 2011. She lives in New York with her cat and enjoys dancing, making soup, and being with family.