NCI’s Silverman to Retire after 50 Years

Dr. Debra Silverman

Dr. Debra T. Silverman, former director of the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB) and senior investigator in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), will retire in November, after more than 50 years of service and 16 years leading OEEB.

Silverman dedicated her career to investigating occupational, environmental and host factors associated with cancers of the bladder, lung and pancreas. She has directed highly influential epidemiologic studies, yielding definitive answers on the causes of these malignancies. Her work resulted in the classification of diesel exhaust as a human lung carcinogen, which affected regulatory actions around the world, and identified arsenic contamination in drinking water as the cause of excess bladder cancer mortality in New England, leading to remediation efforts.

Her investigations of bladder carcinogens and diesel exhaust piqued an interest in related environmental factors. She expanded her research on air pollution and water contaminants, where she has made important discoveries. Most recently, she has studied perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of chemicals widely used in industry and consumer products.  In 2014, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was classified as a possible human carcinogen based in part on limited epidemiologic evidence of associations with kidney and testis cancers in heavily exposed subjects.

To expand understanding of the role of PFOA in cancer etiology, particularly at the population level, Silverman established and led the NCI PFAS working group. In this role, she directed the initiation of DCEG studies to evaluate cancers associated with PFAS at exposure levels found in the general population. Those studies confirmed important associations with kidney and testis cancers.

Some of her earliest work focused on pancreatic cancer. In the 1980s and 1990s, Silverman’s research led to definitively establishing cigarette smoking as a cause of pancreatic cancer. Her research also identified etiologic roles for obesity, longstanding diabetes, heavy alcohol consumption and family history of an array of tumors. She also identified factors contributing to the high rates of pancreatic cancer experienced by African American individuals. These studies laid the foundation for current research.

For the past 25 years, Silverman has served on the Promotions and Tenure Review Panel (PTRP) for the division. PTRP plays a crucial role in career advancement, particularly for tenure-track investigators. Silverman has participated in the reviews of almost all tenured investigators in DCEG.

In addition to research that has informed regulatory standards and protected public health, Silverman has developed and overseen a robust research and training program in her branch. She has mentored countless junior researchers who have gone on to successful careers in government, academia and industry.

When she arrived at NIH, Silverman was one of just a handful of women in cancer research. Throughout her career, she paved the way for other women to enter the field of biostatistics and epidemiology, shepherding junior investigators to senior roles. Those individuals are now completing their own rigorous investigations at NCI, universities and research institutions around the world.