Principal Investigator/Program Director (Last, First, Middle):
Principal Investigator/Program Director (Last, First, Middle):
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Provide the following information for the key personnel and other significant contributors in the order listed on Form Page 2.
Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FOUR PAGES.
NAME
POSITION TITLE
Sowmya R. Rao
Assistant Professor
eRA COMMONS USER NAME
SOWRAO
EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, and include postdoctoral training.)
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
DEGREE
(if applicable)
YEAR(s)
B.S.
M.S.
M.A.
Ph.D.
1983
1985
1992
2001
Madras Christian College, Madras University,
Bangalore University, India
State University of New York, Buffalo
Boston University
FIELD OF STUDY
Statistics
Statistics
Statistics
Biostatistics
A. Positions and Honors:
1985 – 1989
Senior Programmer, Eiko Computers Pvt. Ltd., India
1989 – 1990
Systems Executive, Grandslam Computers Pvt. Ltd., India
1990 – 1992
Teaching Assistant, Department of Statistics, State University of New York, Buffalo
1992 – 2001
Research Data Analyst/Statistical Analyst, Slone Epidemiology Unit, Boston University
School of Public Health
2001 – 2004
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Cancer Institute
2004 – 2005
Associate Scientist, Abt Associates Inc.
2005 – present Statistician, Massachusetts General Hospital Biostatistics Center, Boston
2006 – present Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Honors:
1985
Bangalore University Merit List
1991
President, Statistics Graduate Students Association, SUNY, Buffalo, NY
2001 – 2002
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics Representative on FELCOM, NCI
2002
National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics Fellowship
Recognition award
2002 – 2003
Chair, Mentoring subcommittee, FELCOM, NCI
2003
Fellows Award for Research Excellence
2003
National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics Fellowship
Recognition Award
B. Selected peer-reviewed publications (in chronological order):
1. Palmer JR, Rosenberg L, R Sowmya Rao, Shapiro S. Coffee consumption and myocardial
infarction in women. Am J Epidemiol 1995;141:724-31.
2. Palmer JR, Rosenberg L, R Sowmya Rao, Strom BL, Warshauer ME, Harlap S, Zauber A, Shapiro
S. Oral contraceptive use and breast cancer risk among African-American women. Cancer Causes
Control 1995;6:321-31.
3. Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, R Sowmya Rao, Zauber A, Strom BL, Warshauer ME, Harlap S, Shapiro
S. A case-control study of oral contraceptive use and risk of breast cancer. Am J Epidemiol
1996;143:25-37.
4. Palmer JR, Rosenberg L, Rao RS, Zauber A, Strom BL, Warshauer ME, Stolley PD, Shapiro S.
Induced and spontaneous abortion in relation to risk of breast cancer (United States). Cancer
Causes Control 1997;8:841-9.
5. Rosenberg L, Rao RS, Palmer JP, Strom BL, Zauber A, Warshauer ME, Stolley PD, Shapiro S.
Transitional cell cancer of the urinary tract and renal cell cancer in relation to acetaminophen use
(United States). Cancer Causes Control 1998;9:83-8.
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6. Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, R Sowmya Rao, Adams-Campbell LL. Correlates of postmenopausal
female hormone use among black women in the United States. Obstet Gynecol 1998;91:454-8.
7. Rosenberg L, Rao RS, Palmer JR, Strom BL, Stolley PD, Zauber AG, Warshauer ME, Shapiro S.
Calcium channel blockers and the risk of cancer. JAMA 1998;279:1000-4.
8. Rosenberg L, Stephenson WP, Rao RS, Palmer JR, Strom BL, Shapiro S. The diagnosis of renal
cell cancer in relation to hypertension (United States). Cancer Causes Control 1998;9:611-14.
9. Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Rao RS, Adams-Campbell LL. Risk factors for coronary heart disease in
African American women. Am J Epidemiol 1999;150:904-9.
10. Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Adams-Campbell LL, Rao RS. Obesity and hypertension among collegeeducated black women in the United States. J Hum Hypertens 1999;13:237-41.
11. Kelly JP, Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Rao RS, Strom BL, Stolley PD, Zauber AG, Shapiro S. Risk of
breast cancer according to use of antidepressants, phenothiazines, and antihistamines. Am J
Epidemiol 1999;150:861-8.
12. Coogan PF, Rao RS, Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Strom BL, Zauber AG, Stolley PD, Shapiro S. The
relationship of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use to the risk of breast cancer. Prev Med
1999;29:72-6.
13. Palmer JR, Driscoll SG, Rosenberg L, Berkowitz RS, Lurain JR, Soper J, Twiggs LB, Gershensan
DM, Kohorn EI, Berman M, Shapiro S, Rao RS. Oral contraceptive use and risk of gestational
trophoblastic tumors. J Natl Cancer Inst 1999;91:635-40.
14. Palmer JR, Rao RS, Adams-Campbell LL, Rosenberg L. Correlates of hysterectomy among AfricanAmerican women. Am J Epidemiol 1999;150:1309-15.
15. Shapiro S, Rosenberg L, Hoffman M, Truter H, Cooper D, Rao S, Dent D, Gudgeon A, van Zyl J,
Katzenellenbogen J, Bailie R. Risk of breast cancer in relation to the use of injectable progestogen
contraceptives and combined estrogen/progestogen contraceptives. Am J Epidemiol 2000;151:396403.
16. Adams-Campbell LL, Rosenberg L, Washburn RA, Rao RS, Kim KS, Palmer JR. Descriptive
epidemiology of physical activity in African-American women. Prev Med 2000;30:43-50.
17. Rao RS, Glynn RJ, Werler MM, Van Bennekom CM, Mitchell AA. Comparison of alternative survey
methods for sensitive self-reported behaviours in a follow-up study of isotretinoin. J Epidemiol
Biostat 2000;5:133-6.
18. Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Rao RS, Coogan PF, Strom BL, Zauber AG, Stolley PD, Shapiro S. A
case-control study of analgesic use and ovarian cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
2000;9:933-7.
19. Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Rao RS, Shapiro S. Low-dose oral contraceptive use and the risk of
myocardial infarction. Arch Intern Med 2001;161:1065-70.
20. Palmer JR, Rao RS, Adams-Campbell L, Rosenberg L. Height and breast cancer risk: results from
the Black Women’s Heath Study. Cancer Causes Control 2001 May;12(4):343-8.
21. Adams-Campbell LL, Rosenberg L, Rao RS, Palmer JR. Strenuous physical activity and breast
cancer risk in African-American women. J Natl Med Assoc 2001 Jul-Aug;93(7-8):267-75.
22. Palmer JR, Hatch EE, Rao RS, Kaufman RH, Herbst AL, Noller KL, Titus-Ernstoff L, Hoover RN.
Infertility among women exposed prenatally to diethylstilbestrol.
Am J Epidemiol. 2001 Aug
15;154(4):316-21.
23. Rosenberg L, Palmer JR, Rao RS, Adams-Campbell LL. Patterns and Correlates of alcohol
consumption among African-American women. Ethn Dis, 2002 Fall;12(4):548-54.
24. Palmer, JR, Hatch EE, Rosenberg C, Hartge P, Kaufman RH, Titus-Ernstoff L, Noller KL, Herbst AL,
Rao RS, Troisi R, Colton T, Hoover RN. Risk of Breast Cancer in women exposed to
Diethylstilbestrol in Utero: preliminary results (United States). Cancer Causes Control, 2002;13:7538.
25. Rosenberg L, Rao RS, Palmer JR. A case-control study of acetaminophen use in relation to the risk
of first myocardial infarction in men. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 2003 Sep;12(6):45965.
26. Freedman DM, Sigurdson A, Rao RS, Hauptmann M, Alexander B, Mohan A, Doody MM, Linet MS.
Risk of melanoma among radiologic technologists in the United States. International Journal of
Cancer 2003;103:556-62.
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Principal Investigator/Program Director (Last, First, Middle):
27. Sigurdson AJ, Doody MM, Rao RS, Freedman DM, Alexander BH, Hauptmann M, Mohan AK,
Yoshinaga S, Hill DA, Tarone R, Mabuchi K, Ron E, Linet MS. Cancer Incidence in the U. S.
Radiologic Technologists Health Study, 1983–1998. Cancer 2003;97:3080-9.
28. Freedman AN, Graubard BI, Rao RS, McCaskill-Stevens W, Ballard-Barbash R, Gail MH. Estimates
of the Number of U.S. Women Who Could Benefit from Tamoxifen for Breast Cancer
Chemoprevention. J Natl Cancer Inst 2003;95:526-32.
29. Joni L. Rutter, R. Sowmya Rao (joint first authors), Isabella Bouchelet, GraÇa Dores, Helen Green,
James Gulley, Jennifer Koblinski, Martha Lundberg, Rachel Stolzenberg-Soloman, Robert
Wheelock, Wendol Williams, Tyra Wolfsberg, Barry Graubard, Patricia Hartge, Sholom Wacholder,
and Joan P. Schwartz. Survey of Mentoring Experiences of NIH Postdoctoral Fellows. Shortreport in
Nature 2003. http://http://felcom.nih.gov/Mentoring/Survey.html.
30. Freedman DM, Sigurdson A, Doody MM, Rao RS, Linet MS. Risk of melanoma in relation to
smoking, alcohol intake, and other factors in a large occupational cohort. Cancer Causes and
Control 2003;14:847-57.
31. Freedman AN, Graubard B, Rao SR, McCaskill-Stevens W, Ballard-Barbash R, Gail MH. How Many
U.S. Women are Eligible to Tamoxifen for Breast Cancer Chemoprevention? How Many Women
Would Benefit? American Journal of Oncology Review 2004:3;44-54.
32. Rao RS, Graubard BI, Breen N, Gastwirth JL. Improving our understanding of the factors underlying
disparities in cancer screening rates between race/ethnic and gender groups using the PetersBelson approach. Medical Care 2004:42(8);789-800.
33. Rao RS, Glickman ME, Glynn MJ. Use of covariates and survey wave to adjust for nonresponse.
Biometrical Journal 2004;46(5):579-88.
34. Rao RS, Sigurdson AJ, Doody MM, Graubard MI. An Application of the Weighting Method to Adjust
For Nonresponse in Cohort Studies. Annals of Epidemiol 2005;15:129-136.
35. Graubard BI, Rao, RS, Gastwirth, JL. Using the Peters-Belson Method to Measure Disparity in
Complex Surveys. Statist Med 2005;24:2659-68.
36. Jatoi I, Anderson WF, Rao RS, Devesa SS. Breast Cancer Mortality Trends among Black and White
Women in the United States: an Age-Period-Cohort Analysis. JOC, 2005;23(31):7836-41.
37. Doody MM, Freedman DM, Alexander BH, Hauptmann M, Miller JS, Rao RS, Mabuchi K, Ron E,
Sigurdson AJ, Linet MS. Breast cancer incidence in U.S. radiologic technologists. Cancer 2006; April
25.
38. Rao RS, Schoenfeld DA. Survival Methods in Cardiovascular Research. Circulation. 2007;115;109113
39. Rao RS, Glickman ME, Glynn RJ. Stopping rules for surveys with multiple waves of non-respondent
follow-up. Statist Med. 2008;27(12): 2196 – 2213.
40. Sullivan AF, Camargo CA Jr, Cleary PD, Gordon JA, Guadagnoli E, Kaushal R, Magid DJ, Rao SR,
Blumenthal D. The National Emergency Department Safety Study: Study rationale and design. Acad
Emerg Med 2007; 14: 1182-1189.
41. Campbell EG, Regan S, Gruen RL, Ferris TG, Rao RS, Cleary PD, Blumenthal D. Professionalism in
Medicine: Results of a National survey of Physicians. Annals of Int Med. 2007 Dec 4; 147(11): 795802.
42. Campbell EG, Weissman JS, Ehringhaus S, Rao RS, Moy B, Feibelmann S, Goold SD. Institutional
Academic Industry Relationships: Results of a National Survey of Department Chairs. JAMA Oct 17;
298 (15): 1779-86.
43. Rao RS, Graubard BI, Schmid CH, Morton SC, Louis TA, Zaslavsky AM, Finkelstein DM. MetaAnalysis of Survey Data: Application to Health Services Research. HSORM 2008;8(2): 98-114.
44. DesRoches CM, Camppbell EG, Rao SR, Donelan K, Ferris TG, Jha A, Kaushal R, Levy DE,
Rosenbaum S, Shields AE, Blumenthal D. Electronic Health Record Adoption in the Ambulatory
Setting: Findings from a National Survey of Physicians. NEJM 2008;359:50-60.
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