NCI’s Hu Retires After 32 Years of Service

NCI's Dr. Nan Hu

Dr. Nan Hu, staff scientist in the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch (MEB) of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) retired in July after 32 years of service.

Hu integrated her training, experience and skill in widely varied but complementary disciplines—molecular genetics, bench work, epidemiologic field studies and statistical analysis—to play a fundamental role in MEB’s research on the etiology, prevention and early detection of upper gastrointestinal cancers. 

Hu received her medical degree from the Shanxi Medical College in Taiyuan, China in 1976, followed by a master’s degree in cytogenetics and medical genetics from the Beijing Medical College. After completing a doctorate in cancer genetics from the Peking Union Medical College under the mentorship of Dr. Wu Min, she served as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Janet Rowley at the University of Chicago, Illinois before coming to the NCI, first as a visiting associate, and then as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Dean Hamer.  

She joined the Cancer Prevention Fellowship program in 1994, earning an M.P.H. in epidemiology and biostatistics from the George Washington University in the process. Hu joined DCEG as a staff scientist and conducted research with several investigators, most recently in MEB.

Hu worked closely with Dr. Phil Taylor and Dr. Alisa M. Goldstein, senior investigators in the DCEG, to complete large-scale international multidisciplinary studies of esophageal and gastric cancer. This genetic-focused work included genome-wide association studies of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, gastric cardia adenocarcinoma and gastric noncardia adenocarcinoma, as well seminal molecular genetics studies of these same tumors.

Her work created a trove of biological samples that will be used for tumor sequencing studies for years to come. Most recently, she worked with a large international team to complete a whole genome sequencing study of esophageal squamous dysplasia, the precursor lesion for ESCC. —Jennifer K. Loukissas