Faculty

Sara Lindstroem

Associate Professor, Epidemiology

206-221-3148
saralind@uw.edu

Education

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

Contact

206-221-3148
saralind@uw.edu

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)

Functional and clinical characterization of variants of uncertain significance identifies a hotspot for inactivating missense variants in RAD51C.
(2023 May 30)
Cancer Res
Hu C, Belur Nagaraj A, Shimelis H, Montalban G, Lee KY, Huang H, Lumby CA, Na J, Susswein LR, Roberts ME, Marshall ML, Hiraki S, LaDuca H, Chao E, Yussuf A, Pesaran T, Neuhausen SL, Haiman CA, Kraft P, Lindström S, Palmer JR, Teras LR, Vachon CM, Yao S, Ong I, Nathanson KL, Weitzel JN, Boddicker N, Gnanaolivu R, Polley EC, Mer G, Cui G, Karam R, Richardson ME, Domchek SM, Yadav S, Hruska KS, Dolinsky J, Weroha SJ, Hart SN, Simard J, Masson JY, Pang YP, Couch FJ

Polygenic risk scores point toward potential genetic mechanisms of type 2 myocardial infarction in people with HIV.
(2023 May 4)
Int J Cardiol
Lee WJ, Cheng H, Whitney BM, Nance RM, Britton SR, Jordahl K, Lindstrom S, Ruderman SA, Kitahata MM, Saag MS, Willig AL, Burkholder G, Eron JJ, Kovacic JC, Björkegren JLM, Mathews WC, Cachay E, Feinstein MJ, Budoff M, Hunt PW, Moore RD, Keruly J, McCaul ME, Chander G, Webel A, Mayer KH, Delaney JA, Crane PK, Martinez C, Crane HM, Hao K, Peter I

StocSum: stochastic summary statistics for whole genome sequencing studies.
(2023 Apr 7)
bioRxiv
Wang N, Yu B, Jun G, Qi Q, Durazo-Arvizu RA, Lindstrom S, Morrison AC, Kaplan RC, Boerwinkle E, Chen H

Genome-Wide Analyses Characterize Shared Heritability Among Cancers and Identify Novel Cancer Susceptibility Regions.
(2023 Mar 17)
J Natl Cancer Inst
Lindström S, Wang L, Feng H, Majumdar A, Huo S, Macdonald J, Harrison T, Turman C, Chen H, Mancuso N, Bammler T, Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), Gallinger S, Gruber SB, Gunter MJ, Le Marchand L, Moreno V, Offit K, Colorectal Transdisciplinary Study (CORECT), Colon Cancer Family Registry Study (CCFR), Genetics And Epidemiology Of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO), de Vivo I, O'Mara TA, Spurdle AB, Tomlinson I, Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium (ECAC), Fitzgerald R, Gharahkhani P, Gockel I, Jankowski J, Macgregor S, Schumacher J, Barnholtz-Sloan J, Bondy ML, Houlston RS, Jenkins RB, Melin B, Wrensch M, Brennan P, Christiani D, Johansson M, Mckay J, Aldrich MC, Amos CI, Landi MT, Tardon A, International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), Bishop DT, Demenais F, Goldstein AM, Iles MM, Kanetsky PA, Law MH, Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC), Amundadottir LT, Stolzenberg-Solomon R, Wolpin BM, Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium (Panscan), Klein A, Petersen G, Risch H, Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Consortium (Panc4), PRACTICAL Consortium, Chanock SJ, Purdue MP, Scelo G, Pharoah P, Kar S, Hung RJ, Pasaniuc B, Kraft P

Long-term cardiac symptoms following COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
(2023 Jan 17)
medRxiv
Guo B, Zhao C, He MZ, Senter C, Zhou Z, Peng J, Li S, Fitzpatrick AL, Lindström S, Stebbins RC, Noppert GA, Li C

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