Brandon Pierce, PhD

Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences

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Brandon Pierce’s research focuses on the interrelated roles of genetic, molecular, and environmental factors in cancer risk and prognosis. Dr. Pierce is interested in how genetic variation influences or alters the effects of environmental exposures and biomarkers on human health and biology. Dr. Pierce’s research interests include (1) telomere length as a biomarker of aging and cancer risk, (2) methods for assessing causal relationships among risk factors, biomarkers, and disease, (3) genome-wide association studies, and (4) susceptibility to the effects of environmental exposure to arsenic, a known carcinogen. The long-term goals of Dr. Pierce’s work are to understand toxicity mechanisms and disease biology, and to improve our ability to predict disease and target interventions to high-risk sub-populations.