Faculty

Sara Lindstroem

Associate Professor, Epidemiology
Director of Research, Epidemiology

206-221-3148

Education

MSc Engineering Physics, Umea University, 2004
PhD Genetic Epidemiology, Umea University, 2007

Contact

206-221-3148

University of Washington
Box 351619
Department of Epidemiology
Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, 874A
Seattle, WA 98195
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Bio

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Dr. Lindstroem (Lindstrom/Lindström) is a genetic epidemiologist who seeks to understand the genetic contribution to complex disease with an emphasis on cancer. She works at the intersection of statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology, where she always seeks to apply novel statistical methods on large-scale -omics data. By leveraging large-scale population-based studies, she studies how our genes and environment affect our risk of developing disease. She leads multiple international efforts to study genetic risk factors for cancer and mammographic density (R01CA194393, R01CA244670), and she is studying the genetics underlying a range of outcomes in people living with HIV (R01DA047045). Dr. Lindstroem also teaches PHG511 “Genetic Epidemiology”, EPI583 “Epidemiology Seminars”, and co-teaches the “Genetic Epidemiology” module as part of the UW Summer Institute of Statistical Genetics (SISG).

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding the genetic contribution to common complex diseases, with a primary emphasis on cancer and linked traits. By leveraging long-running large population-based studies, I investigate how our genetics and environment affect our risk of developing disease.

Current research projects include studying the shared genetic origin between common cancers and the genetics underlying childhood obesity, breast tissue composition and venous thromboembolism. I am also interested in finding approaches to incorporate information about the functional characteristics of the genome in my studies. Finally, I am involved in several large-scale international collaborations that study the genetics underlying breast and prostate cancer.

Recent Publications (PubMed)

Prioritizing context-specific genetic risk mechanisms in 11 solid cancers.
(2025 Nov 2)
medRxiv
Wu X, Kim A, Breeze CE, O'Mara TA, Ramachandran D, Dörk T, Koutros S, Rothman N, Prokunina-Olsson L, Mancuso N, Lindström S, Kraft P

Genome-wide association study of Asian women identifies putative mammographic density-associated loci.
(2025 Nov 21)
Breast Cancer Res 27(1): 207
Mariapun S, Eriksson M, Tai MC, Mohd Taib NA, Yip CH, Rahmat K, Vachon CM, Lindstrom S, Li J, Hartman M, Hall P, Easton DF, Ho WK, Teo SH

Validation and context-dependent effects of a prostate cancer polygenic risk score in the All of Us Research Program.
(2025 Oct 3)
medRxiv
Cheng S, Suger AH, Goss LB, Zhang J, Fuller H, Guo B, Lindström S, Darst BF

Large-scale meta-analysis and precision functional assays identify FANCM regions in which PTVs confer different risks for ER-negative and triple-negative breast cancer.
(2025 Oct 30)
Breast 85(): 104619
Billaud A, Figlioli G, Mooser C, Casamassima I, Azzoni V, Srivatsa J, Colombo M, Caleca L, Ahearn TU, Andrulis IL, Antoniou AC, Beckmann MW, Behrens S, Bermisheva M, Bogdanova NV, Bolla MK, Bonanni B, Brüning T, Camp NJ, Campbell A, Castelao JE, Cessna MH, Chang-Claude J, NBCS Collaborators, Czene K, Dennis J, Devilee P, Dörk T, Dunning AM, Eriksson M, Evans DG, Fasching PA, Figueroa JD, Gabrielson M, Gago-Dominguez M, González-Neira A, Guénel P, Hadjisavvas A, Hahnen E, Hamann U, Hillemanns P, Hollestelle A, Hooning MJ, Hoppe R, Howell A, kConFab Investigators, Jakubowska A, Kristensen VN, Lubiński J, Lush M, Manoukian S, Mavroudis D, Milne RL, Mulligan AM, Newman WG, Obi N, Panayiotidis MI, Pita G, Rashid MU, Rhenius V, Saloustros E, Sawyer EJ, Schmutzler RK, Shah M, Southey MC, Spurdle AB, Tomlinson I, Truong T, Wang Q, Wendt C, Auer PL, Boddicker NJ, Bodelon C, Burnside ES, Chen F, Couch FJ, Domchek SM, Eliassen HA, Haiman C, Hodge JM, Hu C, Huang H, Lindstrom S, Martinez ME, Nathanson KL, Neuhausen SL, O'Brien KM, Olson JE, Palmer JR, Patel AV, Ruddy KJ, Sandler DP, Teras LR, Weinberg CR, Weitzel JN, Winham SJ, Yadav S, Yao S, Zirpoli G, Janatova M, Kleibl Z, Kleiblova P, Soukupova J, CZECANCA consortium, Zhao Q, Devereux L, James PA, Campbell IG, Nguyen-Dumont T, Dowty JG, Andrieu N, Lesueur F, Stoppa-Lyonnet D, GENESIS, Hoya M, Radice P, Sørensen CS, Peterlongo P

Isoform-level analyses of 6 cancers uncover extensive genetic risk mechanisms undetected at the gene-level.
(2025 Oct)
Br J Cancer 133(6): 874-885
Chang YH, Bresnahan ST, Taylor Head S, Harrison TA, Yu Y, Huff CD, Pasaniuc B, Lindström S, Bhattacharya A

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