Peter Kraft
Adjunct Faculty

Peter Kraft

Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology

Epidemiology

pkraft@hsph.harvard.edu

Other Positions

Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Biostatistics

Biostatistics

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health


Overview

My research concentrates on the design and analysis of genetic association studies, with particular emphasis on studies linking variation in germline DNA to cancer risk. I have played a key role in multiple international consortia studying genetics and other exposures in relation to cancer risk over the last ten years: I have been a member of the statistical working group of the Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium since its inception, and currently chair the BPC3 steering committee; I played a leading role in the design and analysis of GWAS of breast, prostate and pancreatic cancers as part of the NCI's Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility and PanScan projects; and I chair the Analytic Working Group for the NCI's "post-GWAS" GAME-ON consortium, which aims to better understand the biological mechanisms underlying GWAS-identified cancer risk markers at five cancer sites (including breast and lung) and their public health implications.

I am also the contact PI for the epidemiology project of the breast cancer arm of GAME-ON, which focuses on gene-environment interactions and risk prediction. I have been the primary statistical geneticist for the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) for over ten years, and oversee the genotype databases for both studies, including genome-wide association data on over 20,000 subjects. I have collaborated on numerous analyses in the NHS and HPFS examining associations between genetic markers, behaviors (including diet and smoking), and risk of complex diseases. I have also collaborated with NHS investigators on the analyses of metabolite profiles in a case-control study of pancreatic cancer.

My current methodological research focuses on 1) efficient and interpretable "gene x environment interaction" analyses, 2) genetic risk prediction using common and rare genetic variation, biomarkers (including metabolites), and clinical and environmental risk factors, and 3) methods linking low-frequency variation, emerging functional annotation, and risk of complex disease.


Bibliography

Genetic Susceptibility to Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Risk for Pancreatic Cancer: Mendelian Randomization.

King SD, Veliginti S, Brouwers MCGJ, Ren Z, Zheng W, Setiawan VW, Wilkens LR, Shu XO, Arslan AA, Beane Freeman LE, Bracci PM, Canzian F, Du M, Gallinger SJ, Giles GG, Goodman PJ, Haiman CA, Kogevinas M, Kooperberg C, LeMarchand L, Neale RE, Visvanathan K, White E, Albanes D, Andreotti G, Babic A, Berndt SI, Brais LK, Brennan P, Buring JE, Rabe KG, Bamlet WR, Chanock SJ, Fuchs CS, Gaziano JM, Giovannucci EL, Hackert T, Hassan MM, Katzke V, Kurtz RC, Lee IM, Malats N, Murphy N, Oberg AL, Orlow I, Porta M, Real FX, Rothman N, Sesso HD, Silverman DT, Thompson IM, Wactawski-Wende J, Wang X, Wentzensen N, Yu H, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Yu K, Wolpin BM, Duell EJ, Li D, Hung RJ, Perdomo S, McCullough ML, Freedman ND, Patel AV, Peters U, Riboli E, Sund M, Tjønneland A, Zhong J, Van Den Eeden SK, Kraft P, Risch HA, Amundadottir LT, Klein AP, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ, Antwi SO.

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2023 09 01. 32(9):1265-1269. PMID: 37351909

ENIGMA CHEK2gether Project: A Comprehensive Study Identifies Functionally Impaired CHEK2 Germline Missense Variants Associated with Increased Breast Cancer Risk.

Stolarova L, Kleiblova P, Zemankova P, Stastna B, Janatova M, Soukupova J, Achatz MI, Ambrosone C, Apostolou P, Arun BK, Auer P, Barnard M, Bertelsen B, Blok MJ, Boddicker N, Brunet J, Burnside ES, Calvello M, Campbell I, Chan SH, Chen F, Chiang JB, Coppa A, Cortesi L, Crujeiras-González A, De Leeneer K, De Putter R, DePersia A, Devereux L, Domchek S, Efremidis A, Engel C, Ernst C, Evans DGR, Feliubadaló L, Fostira F, Fuentes-Ríos O, Gómez-García EB, González S, Haiman C, Hansen TVO, Hauke J, Hodge J, Hu C, Huang H, Ishak NDB, Iwasaki Y, Konstantopoulou I, Kraft P, Lacey J, Lázaro C, Li N, Lim WK, Lindstrom S, Lori A, Martinez E, Martins A, Matsuda K, Matullo G, McInerny S, Michailidou K, Montagna M, Monteiro ANA, Mori L, Nathanson K, Neuhausen SL, Nevanlinna H, Olson JE, Palmer J, Pasini B, Patel A, Piane M, Poppe B, Radice P, Renieri A, Resta N, Richardson ME, Rosseel T, Ruddy KJ, Santamariña M, Dos Santos ES, Teras L, Toland AE, Trentham-Dietz A, Vachon CM, Volk AE, Weber-Lassalle N, Weitzel JN, Wiesmuller L, Winham S, Yadav S, Yannoukakos D, Yao S, Zampiga V, Zethoven M, Zhang ZW, Zima T, Spurdle AB, Vega A, Rossing M, Del Valle J, De Nicolo A, Hahnen E, Claes KBM, Ngeow J, Momozawa Y, James PA, Couch FJ, Macurek L, Kleibl Z.

Clin Cancer Res. 2023 08 15. 29(16):3037-3050. PMID: 37449874

Functional and Clinical Characterization of Variants of Uncertain Significance Identifies a Hotspot for Inactivating Missense Variants in RAD51C.

Hu C, Nagaraj AB, 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, Lindstrom 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.

Cancer Res. 2023 08 01. 83(15):2557-2571. PMID: 37253112

Integrating genetics and metabolomics from multi-ethnic and multi-fluid data reveals putative mechanisms for age-related macular degeneration.

Han X, Lains I, Li J, Li J, Chen Y, Yu B, Qi Q, Boerwinkle E, Kaplan R, Thyagarajan B, Daviglus M, Joslin CE, Cai J, Guasch-Ferré M, Tobias DK, Rimm E, Ascherio A, Costenbader K, Karlson E, Mucci L, Eliassen AH, Zeleznik O, Miller J, Vavvas DG, Kim IK, Silva R, Miller J, Hu F, Willett W, Lasky-Su J, Kraft P, Richards JB, MacGregor S, Husain D, Liang L.

Cell Rep Med. 2023 07 18. 4(7):101085. PMID: 37348500

Genome-wide analyses characterize shared heritability among cancers and identify novel cancer susceptibility regions.

Lindström S, Wang L, Feng H, Majumdar A, Huo S, Macdonald J, Harrison T, Turman C, Chen H, Mancuso N, Bammler T, Gallinger S, Gruber SB, Gunter MJ, Le Marchand L, Moreno V, Offit K, De Vivo I, O'Mara TA, Spurdle AB, Tomlinson I, 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 DC, Johansson M, Mckay J, Aldrich MC, Amos CI, Landi MT, Tardon A, Bishop DT, Demenais F, Goldstein AM, Iles MM, Kanetsky PA, Law MH, Amundadottir LT, Stolzenberg-Solomon R, Wolpin BM, Klein A, Petersen G, Risch H, Chanock SJ, Purdue MP, Scelo G, Pharoah P, Kar S, Hung RJ, Pasaniuc B, Kraft P.

J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 06 08. 115(6):712-732. PMID: 36929942

Author Correction: The power of genetic diversity in genome-wide association studies of lipids.

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Nature. 2023 Jun. 618(7965):E19-E20. PMID: 37237109


News

Dozens of new genetic regions linked to breast cancer

Two studies represent the largest-ever examination of the inherited genetic contribution to the risk of getting breast cancer For immediate release: October 23, 2017 Boston, MA – Two large genome-wide association studies of thousands of women have identified…