Research Assistant: Breast Cancer and Mammography EfficacySemester Course

DIS Copenhagen, Research Assistant, Mammography Screening
Major Discipline(s)
Pre-Medicine / Health Science, Public Health
Type
Elective Course
Available
Fall/Spring semester
Credit(s)
3

Breast cancer is globally the most common cancer in women today. Mammography screening for early detection of breast cancer is offered in most European countries, as well as in the U.S. However, do all women profit equally from attending mammography screenings? For example, breast density has turned out to be one of the more significant risk factors for breast cancer, but mammography is less sensitive for very dense breasts. A woman’s mammographic breast density (MBD) is a measure collected in many screening programs and MBD varies greatly with population, age, ethnicity etc.  Recently, efforts have been made for research aimed at evaluating the possibilities and benefits of offering more personalized screening. Efforts have been put into studying the possibility of adding computer assisted diagnostics (CAD) or artificial intelligence (AI) for automated breast density analysis and cancer detection, thus departing a bit from the one-size-fits-all model that has been most common thus far. Studying participation patterns, the impact of morbidity and defining high risk groups is all a part of it.
In order to assess whether screening works differently in women with different types of breasts in terms of density and texture, participation patterns, morbidity and long-term cancer risk, we are currently using:

1) Data from the Capital Region mammography program, Denmark.

2) Extensive review writing and international literature research.

We are comparing the sensitivity and specificity within the mammography program, evaluating participation patterns in a socio-demographic context and assessing long term risk for cancer as well as covering some of these parameters on a global level.

With this background, the Research Assistant will have the possibility to collaborate with a senior researcher in a project studying recent data from a Danish mammography program and/or partake in larger meta studies. The Research Assistants will learn about the research process, work on real data and be able to take independent decisions regarding the analysis and presentation of results. Please Note: This project involves systematic literature reviews, online research, and work with large data sets. It is not a lab- or clinically-based research opportunity.

 

Select Mentor Publications

Von Euler-Chelpin, M., Lynge, E., Vejborg, I., Lillholm, M., Nielsen, M., Napolitano, G. (2023). Breast density and risk of breast cancer. International Journal of Cancer, 152(6), 1150–1158.

Von Euler-Chelpin, M., Lauritzen, A. D., Rodríguez-Ruiz, A., M. C., Lynge, E., Vejborg, I., Nielsen, M., Karssemeijer, N., & Lillholm, M. (2022). An Artificial Intelligence-based Mammography Screening Protocol for Breast Cancer: Outcome and Radiologist Workload. Radiology, 304(1), 41–49.

Faculty

My von Euler-Chelpin

DIS Copenhagen Semester Faculty

Associate Professor (Section for Environmental Health, Dept. of Public Health, University of Copenhagen) Ph.D. (Public Health, University of Copenhagen, 2007). Research Consultant at UNESCO, Paris and Nairobi, and International Committee of the Red Cross, 1986-2002. Researcher, Dept. of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, 2002–present. With DIS since 2011.

Public Health, My Catarina von Euler Chelpin