Roles
Professor
Secondary Appointment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Division Director of Epidemiology and Population Health Sciences
-
Biography
Jennifer Hu, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, with secondary appointments in the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Human Genetics and Genomics. She serves as director of the epidemiology and population health sciences division.
Dr. Hu is a transdisciplinary cancer researcher with training in biochemistry, molecular biology, biostatistics, and epidemiology. Her research focuses on the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying breast cancer risk, survival disparities, and the role of DNA damage and repair in precision medicine.
Her work includes studies on DNA repair deficiencies and elevated DNA damage in cancer risk; development of race- and ethnicity-specific polygenic models of DNA repair; investigation of the functional impact of DNA repair genotypes on cancer risk and targeted therapies; and examination of gene-diet interactions in colon and breast cancer. She has also contributed to genome-wide association studies identifying susceptibility loci for breast cancer, including estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer, among women of African ancestry.
Dr. Hu directs courses in molecular and genetic epidemiology and cancer epidemiology and prevention. Her research program has received continuous funding through peer-reviewed grants for more than 20 years from agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the state of Florida.
Her expertise includes basic laboratory research in DNA damage and repair, molecular and genetic epidemiology, genomic prediction models, precision medicine, and cancer health disparities. She has mentored early-career scientists and trainees in cancer research and population health.
Dr. Hu has served on numerous federal study sections, including as a member of National Cancer Institute training grant review panels, and has held leadership roles in review committees for cancer research programs. -
Education & Training
Education
-
Research Interests
Dr. Hu research program mainly focuses on DNA repair pathways and immune/inflammatory responses in breast cancer risk, treatment responses, adverse responses, and survival disparities. Her current research has been devoted to translating cancer genomics to targeted intervention using multiple OMICs approaches to characterize metabolomics reprogramming and dysregulated cancer genomic pathways in breast cancer. -
Publications
Disclaimer: The information presented in this section has been consolidated using AI and machine learning technologies. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, errors may occur. If you identify any inaccuracies, please use this link to inform our data team. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and helps us improve the quality of our content.