Rate My Professor Montserrat Garcia-Closas

Professor Montserrat Garcia-Closas is a Professor of Epidemiology and Group Leader of the Integrative Cancer Epidemiology group within the Division of Genetics and Epidemiology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London. A physician epidemiologist, she specializes in genetic susceptibility, etiologic heterogeneity, and risk prediction for breast cancer. Since 2023, she has co-led the Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Unit jointly with Imperial College London and serves as Principal Investigator for the Generations Study, a major cohort investigating breast cancer risk factors. She is a member and leader of several large international consortia in cancer epidemiology, including the Breast Cancer Association Consortium.

Prior to joining the Institute of Cancer Research, Professor Garcia-Closas held prominent roles at the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, including Deputy Director from 2015 to 2022, Director of the Trans-Divisional Research Program from 2020 to 2023, and Interim Branch Chief of the Integrative Tumor Epidemiology Branch from 2016 to 2020. She began her career at the same division as a postdoctoral fellow following her DrPH and advanced to tenured senior investigator in 2007. She also served as a visiting scientist at the University of Cambridge from 2008 to 2010 and was appointed Professor of Epidemiology at the University of London in 2010. Her research has advanced understanding of breast and bladder cancer etiology through genome-wide association studies and integrative analyses of genetic and environmental risk factors. Notable publications include 'Genome-wide association study identifies novel breast cancer susceptibility loci' (Nature, 2007), 'Assessing the probability that a positive report is false: an approach for molecular epidemiology studies' (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2004), and 'Association analysis identifies 65 new breast cancer risk loci' (Nature, 2017). She has contributed to over 750 publications, earning recognition for her impact in the field. Awards include the NIH MERIT Award (2001), National Cancer Institute Intramural Research Award (2004), DCEG Women Scientist Advisory Award (2007), NCI Mentor of Merit Award (2007), and American Statistical Association mentoring award (2022).