Email

spitz@bcm.edu

Positions

Professor

Department of Medicine
Epidemiology and Population Science
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US

Member

Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States

Education

MD from University Of Witwatersrand

Johannesburg, South Africa

MPH from The University of Texas School of Public Health

Houston, TX

Honors & Awards

Abraham Lilienfeld Award for Overall Excellence in Epidemiology

155th Cutter Lecture on Preventive Medicine

Harvard School of Public Health

Founding Member

International Lung Cancer Consortium

Institutes’ Distinguished Scientist Award

Association of American Cancer Institute

Professional Interests

• Lung Cancer
• Epidemiology

Professional Statement

Dr. Margaret Spitz is a professor in the Department of Medicine and the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine where she provides strategic direction for its population sciences program. Prior to her appointment at Baylor, she had a 27-year history on the faculty at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, serving as founding chair of the Department of Epidemiology. Dr. Spitz earned her medical degree from the University of Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa, and her Master of Public Health from The University of Texas School of Public Health. Dr. Spitz has a long standing interest in genetic susceptibility to lung cancer. She has developed a lung cancer risk prediction model, has participated in lung cancer GWAS and is a founding member of the International Lung Cancer Consortium. She has outlined an integrative approach to extend the boundaries of molecular cancer epidemiology by integrating modern and rapidly evolving “omics” technologies into state-of-the-art molecular epidemiology in order to comprehensively explore the mechanistic underpinnings of epidemiologic observations into cancer risk and outcome. Dr. Spitz has been a recipient of numerous honors, most recently the Association of American Cancer Institutes’ Distinguished Scientist Award. She has served as co-chair of the National Cancer Institute’s Lung Cancer Progress Review Group and was a member of its Board of Scientific Advisors. She also participates in the external scientific advisory committees of several major cancer centers and SPORES.

Websites