NAME
Cassano, Patricia A.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
POSITION TITLE
Associate Professor eRA COMMONS USER NAME pac6cornell
EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, and include postdoctoral training.)
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
Mt. Holyoke College, So. Hadley, MA
Columbia Univ., School of Public Health, NY, NY
Univ. Washington, School of Public Health,
Seattle, WA
DEGREE
(if applicable)
B.A.
M.P.H.
Ph.D.
YEAR(s)
1976
1980
1987
FIELD OF STUDY
Biological Sciences
Epidemiology
Epidemiology
A. Personal Statement
The Cassano research group investigates investigates the relation between nutritional status and chronic disease to elucidate disease causation, with the overall objective to improve the health of populations. The overarching goal of our work is to define the role of nutrition and it’s interaction with the genome in lung function decline and the etiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Past studies supported a role of nutrients with antioxidant properties in the etiology of lung disease, leading to a randomized trial of nutritional supplementation. In the trial, vitamin E effects were confirmed, and publications are in process. Several ongoing studies investigate whether nutrient —lung outcome associations are mediated by changes in gene expression in lung tissues; a study of serum vitamin D in relation to gene expression in lung epithelial cells identified 13 genes with vitamin D response elements that were differentially expressed in persons with high vs. low vitamin D. This study has spurred our interest in defining population-level associations of vitamin D, vitamin D metabolic genes and vitamin D response genes with pulmonary health, which is the topic of this
R21. The role of vitamin D in lung health is a new area of study, and mechanistic as well as epidemiologic studies are needed to provide evidence for public health decision-making. The Cassano research group is leading a GWAS of longitudinal rate of decline in FEV1 in the CHARGE consortium, working with 6 epidemiologic cohorts studies in CHARGE and 8 cohort studies in the European consortium group known as
SpiroMeta; through this work the expertise in my group in longitudinal modeling and in genotype —phenotype methodologies is keeping pace with this fast-changing area. The Cassano group also investigates the role of variation in the network of folate-related genes in relation to cardiovascular disease. Understanding the role of genetic variation, and the interaction between genes and nutrients is a common theme in our projects, with the overall objective to identify prevention targets.
This research program was funded by several recentlyl completed NIH grants, and new grant support is actively being sought; much of the research is conducted primarily in the context of PhD graduate student training. Professor Cassano teaches the foundation course in
Epidemiology for graduate students and is the Director of Graduate Studies in the Field of Epidemiology,
Cornell University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
B. Positions and Honors
Positions and Employment
6/76-8/78
8/79-6/82
Research Assistant, Lipid Research Laboratory, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY
Research Assistant, Developmental Epidemiologic Research Unit, Columbia University School of Public Health, NY, NY
12/87-12/88 Research Fellow in Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and
Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
12/88-7/94 Research Associate IV, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
8/94-10/99 Senior Research Associate, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
8/97-1/98 Visiting Scholar, Green College, University of Oxford, Oxford, England
10/99-5/06 Assistant Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
6/06- Associate Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
9/07- Director of Graduate Studies, Field of Epidemiology, Cornell University

Other Experience and Professional Memberships
1981-
1988-
Member, Society for Epidemiologic Research
Member, American Public Health Association
1988-
2000-
2002-
Member, International Epidemiological Association
Member, American Thoracic Society
Member, American Society for Nutritional Sciences and SINR
Honors and Awards (selected)
2005 Kappa Omicron Nu/Human Ecology Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Advising,
Cornell University
C. Selected peer-reviewed publications
1. Hu, G, Zhang X, Chen J, Peto R, Campbell TC and P Cassano (1998). Dietary vitamin C intake and lung function in rural China. American Journal of Epidemiology, 148: 594-99.
2. Hu G and PA Cassano (2000). Antioxidant nutrients and pulmonary function in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). American Journal of Epidemiology, 151:975-81.
3. Rubin, R N, Navon L and PA Cassano (2004). Relationship of Serum Antioxidants to Asthma Prevalence in Youth. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 169: 393-398. [published online
November 20 2003 as doi:10.1164/rccm.200301-055OC].
4. McKeever TM, SA Lewis, HA Smit, P Burney, JR Britton, PA Cassano (2004). Serum nutrient markers and skin prick testing using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 114(6): 1398-402.
5. Zhang D, Wells, MT, Turnbull BW, Sparrow D and PA Cassano (2005). Hierarchical Graphical Models: An
Application to Pulmonary Function and Cholesterol Levels in the Normative Aging Study. Journal of the
American Statistical Association, 2005, 100(471):719-27.
6. McKeever TM, SA Lewis, HA Smit, P Burney, JR Britton, PA Cassano (2005). The association of acetaminophen, aspirin, and ibuprofen with respiratory disease and lung function. American Journal of
Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 2005, 171(9): 966-71 [published online February 2005 as doi:10.1164/rccm.200409-1269OC].
7. Lim U, Peng K, Shane B, Stover PJ, Litonjua AA, Weiss ST, Gaziano JM, Strawderman RL F Raiszadeh,
J Selhub, K Tucker and PA Cassano (2005). Polymorphisms in cytoplasmic serine hydroxymethyltransferase and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase affect the risk of cardiovascular disease in Men. Journal of Nutrition, 135:1989-94.
8. Bentley A, Emrani P, and PA Cassano . Genetic Variation and Gene Expression in Antioxidant-Related
Enzymes and Risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Systematic Review. (2008). Thorax,
63(11):956-61 [Epub 2007 June 19].
9. McKeever TM, SA Lewis, HA Smit, P Burney, PA Cassano , JR Britton (2008). A multivariate analysis of serum nutrient levels and lung function. Respir Res. Sep 29;9(1):67. PMCID: PMC2565672
10. Cassano, PA . (2009). Nutritional Effects on Asthma Aetiology and Progression: Editorial. Thorax,
64(7):560.
PMID: 19561277
11. Carolan BJ, Harvey B-G, Hackett NR, O'Connor TP, Cassano PA , and Crystal RG (2009). Disparate oxidant gene expression of airway epithelium compared to alveolar macrophages in smokers. Respiratory
Research, 10:111-.
PMCID: PMC2787510
12. Bentley A, Raiszadeh F, Hunter D, Stover P and PA Cassano (2010). Polymorphisms in cytoplasmic serine hydroxymethyltransferase (cSHMT) and the risk of breast cancer in the Nu rses’ Health Study.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64(1):108-10. PMID: 16046727
13. TM McKeever, SA Lewis, PA Cassano , M Ocké, P Burney, J Britton HA Smit (2010). Patterns of dietary intake and the relation to respiratory disease, FEV
1
and 5-year FEV1 decline. American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition; 92(2):408-15. PMID: 20554789
14. SM Wernimont, F Raiszadeh, PJ Stover, EB Rimm, DJ Hunter, W Tang, and PA Cassano (2011).
Polymorphisms in Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase 1 and Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Interact to Increase Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Humans. Journal of Nutrition; 141(2):255-60. PMID: 21178087

15. A. Agler, T. Kurth, J.M. Gaziano, J. E. Buring and PA Cassano (2011). Randomized Vitamin E
Supplementation and Risk of Chronic Lung Disease (CLD) in t he Women’s Health Study. Thorax;
66(4):320-5. PMCID: PMC3062677
16. AR Bentley, SB Kritchevsky, TB Harris, P Holvoet, RL Jensen, RO Crapo, AB Newman, JS Lee, EA
Tolley, S Yende, and PA Cassano (2011). Dietary Antioxidants and Lung Function Decline: the Health
Aging and Body Composition Study. European Respiratory Journal. 2011 Oct 27. [Epub ahead of print]
17. MS Artigas, DW Loth, LV Wain, SA Gharib, M Obeidat, W Tang of 170 authors (2011). Genome-wide association and large scale follow-up identifies 16 new loci influencing lung function. Nature Genetics.
2011 Sep 25;43(11):1082-90. doi: 10.1038/ng.941. [W Tang, whose major advisor is PA Cassano, is a starred first author on this paper]
18. SM Wernimont, AG Clark, PJ Stover, MT Wells, AA Litonjua, ST Weiss, JM Gaziano, KL Tucker, A
Baccarelli, J Schwartz, V Bolati, and PA Cassano (2011). Folate Network Genetic Variation, Plasma
Homocysteine, and Global Genomic Methylation Content. BMC Medical Genetics. 2011 Nov 21;12(1):150.
[Epub ahead of print]
19. AR Bentley, S Kritchevsky, T Harris, A Newman, D Bauer, B Meibohm, A Clark and PA Cassano (2012).
Genetic Variation in Antioxidant Enzymes and Lung Function. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, May 1;
52(9): 1577-1583. [Epub ahead of print Feb 2012] PMID: 22005919, PMCID:PMC3390784
20. S M Wernimont, A G Clark, P J Stover, M T Wells, A A Litonjua, S T Weiss, J M Gaziano, K L Tucker and
P A Cassano (2012). Folate network genetic variation and cardiovascular disease risk: a network association study. BMC Medical Genetics, 142: 1 –8, 2012. PMID 22103690, PMCID: PMC3266217
21. Wilk JB, et al; 79 co-authors including PA Cassano (2012). Genome wide association studies identify
CHRNA5/3 and HTR4 in the development of airflow obstruction. American Journal of Respiratory and
Critical Care Medicine. Epub ahead of print on July 26, 2012 as doi:10.1164/rccm.201202-0366OC. PMID
22837378; PMCID:PMC3480517
22. Hancock DB*, Soler Artigas M*, Gharib SA*, Henry A*, Manichaikul A*, Ramasamy A*, Loth DW*,
Imboden M, Koch B, McArdle WL, Smith AV, Smolonska J, Sood A, Tang W, Wilk JB, Zhai G, Zhao JH,
Aschard H, Burkart KM, Curjuric I, Eijgelsheim M, Elliott P, Gu X, Harris TB, Janson C, Homuth G, Hysi
PG, Liu JZ, Loehr LR, Lohman K, Loos RJF, Manning AK, Marciante KD, Obeidat M, Postma DS, Aldrich
MC, Brusselle GG, Chen T-H, Eiriksdottir G, Franceschini N, Heinrich J, Rotter JI, Wijmenga C, Williams
OD, Bentley AR, Hofman A, Laurie CC, Lumley T, Morrison AC, Joubert BR, Rivadeneira F, Couper DJ,
Kritchevsky SB, Liu Y, Wjst M, Wain LV, Vonk JM, Uitterlinden AG, Rochat T, Rich SS, Psaty BM,
O’Connor GT, North KE, Mirel DB, Meibohm B, Launer LJ, Khaw K-T, Hartikainen A-L, Hammond CJ,
Gläser S, Marchini J, Kraft P, Wareham NJ, Völzke H, Stricker BHC, Spector TD, Probst-Hensch NM,
Jarvis D, Jarvelin M-
R, Heckbert SR, Gudnason V, Boezen HM, Barr RG, Cassano PA†, Strachan DP†,
Fornage M†, Hall IP†, Dupuis J†, Tobin MD†, and London SJ† (2012). Genome-wide joint meta-analysis of SNP and SNP-by-smoking interaction identifies novel loci for pulmonary function. PLoS Genetics, 8(12): e1003098. *These authors contributed equally to this work. †These authors jointly directed the work. PA
Cassano is one of 7 equally responsible for directing research. PMID: 23284291, PMCID: PMC3527213
23. AH Agler, RG Crystal, J Mezey and PA Cassano. Differential Expression of Vitamin E and Selenium-
Responsive Genes by Disease Severity in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (2012). (in press at
COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). PMCID pending.
Completed Research Support
RC1 AG035835 S Kritchevsky (PI)
National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health
“Discovering Pathways of Functional Decline: A GWAS Approach”
09/30/09 – 08/31/11
The overall goal is to investigate genetic markers associated with total mortality and the onset of functional limitations using Health ABC study data, a 12-year longitudinal study of physical function in communitydwelling older adults. A subcontract to Cornell Univ. (PI: PA Cassano) investigates the relation of genetic variation to the trajectory of change in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV
1
).
Role: Subcontract PI
5R01 HL071022-05 Cassano (PI)
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
“Supplemental Se and Vitamin E and Pulmonary Function”
08/01/03 – 07/31/11

This randomized clinical trial investigates the effect of supplementation with vitamin E and/or selenium on the rate of decline in pulmonary function in 3,000 adult men followed for 3 years at 18 clinical sites in the US. This study is an ancillary to the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT).
5R03 HL HL095414-02 Cassano (PI) 05/11/09 – 04/30/11
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH
“Gene Expression Effect of Antioxidant Supplementation on Epithelium of Lung: ExSEL”
This project explores the relation of antioxidant supplementation to lung cell gene expression in a small randomized study. Using samples from the Lung Tissue Research Consortium, the expression of genes in lung tissue homogenate of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients will be investigated in relation to plasma and lung biomarkers of nutrients with antioxidant properties, oxidative stress and/or stage of disease.
Role: PI
G107 Cassano (PI) 12/07 to 12/08
NHLBI, NIH, DNA Resequencing and Genotyping (RS&G) Service, Genotyping award
“Genetic Variation in Selenoproteins and Risk of Rapid Decline in Lung Function”
This project genotyped 384 SNPs characterizing variation in 50 selected candidate genes in 3003 unique individuals (a total of 1,206,912 SNPs). Genotyping was completed 12/08, and analysis of the hypothesis that
SNPs contribute to decreased selenoprotein activity or diminished substrate availability is in progress.
Role: PI
G105 Cassano (PI) 12/07 to 12/08
NHLBI, NIH, DNA Resequencing and Genotyping (RS&G) Service, Genotyping award
"Genetic Variation in the Folate Metabolic Network and Cardiovascular Disease"
The research project genotyped 384 SNPs in candidate genes (52 genes that comprise the folate metabolic network) to investigate genetic variants in relation to cardiovascular disease risk. Genotyping was completed
12/08, and the study is in progress as of October 2009.
Role: (PI)