Laura Fejerman, PhD

Associate Professor

Dr. Fejerman is an associate professor at the UCSF Department of Medicine. She focuses on the discovery of genetic and non-genetic factors that contribute to breast cancer risk and prognosis in Latinas. Her past work established a relationship between genetic ancestry and breast cancer risk, where higher European ancestry in U.S. and Mexican Latinas was associated with an increased risk. Her subsequent research has built upon this observation, exploring genetic variants, through admixture mapping and genome-wide association approaches, as well as the possible environmental and lifestyle related factors, and ancestry-gene interactions. Recent work explores disparities in breast cancer prognosis by genetic ancestry in Latinas and its potential causes.

Publications:

A polygenic risk score for breast cancer in U.S. Latinas and Latin-American women.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Shieh Y, Fejerman L, Lott PC, Marker K, Sawyer SD, Hu D, Huntsman S, Torres J, Echeverry M, Bohorquez ME, Martínez-Chéquer JC, Polanco-Echeverry G, Estrada-Florez AP

Plasma glucocorticogenic activity, race/ethnicity and alcohol intake among San Francisco Bay Area women.

PloS one

Tachachartvanich P, Sanchez SS, Gomez SL, John EM, Smith MT, Fejerman L

Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Positive Breast Cancer Is Associated with Indigenous American Ancestry in Latin American Women.

Cancer research

Marker KM, Zavala VA, Vidaurre T, Lott PC, Vásquez JN, Casavilca-Zambrano S, Calderón M, Abugattas JE, Gómez HL, Fuentes HA, Picoaga RL, Cotrina JM, Neciosup SP, Castañeda CA, Morante Z, Valencia F, Torres J, Echeverry M, Bohórquez ME, Polanco-Echeverry G, Estrada-Florez AP, Serrano-Gómez SJ, Carmona-Valencia JA, Alvarado-Cabrero I, Sanabria-Salas MC, Velez A, Donado J, Song S, Cherry D, Tamayo LI, Huntsman S, Hu D, Ruiz-Cordero R, Balassanian R, Ziv E, Zabaleta J, Carvajal-Carmona L, Fejerman L

Breast Cancer Precision Medicine in Hispanics/Latinas: Focus on Luminal B Tumors.

Jovanny Zabaleta, Silvia J. Serrano-Gómez, Laura Fejerman, Teresita Muñoz-Antonia, Doug Cress, Cathy Meade, Lucio Miele

Breast Cancer Risk and Mortality in Women of Latin American Origin.

Laura Fejerman, Silvia J. Serrano-Gómez, Lizeth I. Tamayo

Molecular Profiles of Breast Cancer in Hispanic/Latina.

Silvia J. Serrano-Gómez, Maria C. Sanabria, Jone Garai, Li Li, Melody Baddoo, Lucio Miele, Laura Fejerman, Jovanny Zabaleta

Breast Cancer in San Francisco: Disentangling Disparities at the Neighborhood Level.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Guan A, Lichtensztajn DY, Oh D, Jain J, Tao L, Hiatt RA, Gomez SL, Fejerman L

Risk factors for triple negative breast cancer among Latina women.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Rey-Vargas L, Sanabria Salas MC, Fejerman L, Serrano-Gómez SJ

Estrogenic activity, race/ethnicity, and Indigenous American ancestry among San Francisco Bay Area women.

PloS one

Sanchez SS, Tachachartvanich P, Stanczyk FZ, Gomez SL, John EM, Smith MT, Fejerman L

Genetic Epidemiology of Breast Cancer in Latin America.

Genes

Zavala VA, Serrano-Gomez SJ, Dutil J, Fejerman L

Identification of novel common breast cancer risk variants at the 6q25 locus among Latinas.

Breast cancer research : BCR

Hoffman J, Fejerman L, Hu D, Huntsman S, Li M, John EM, Torres-Mejia G, Kushi L, Ding YC, Weitzel J, Neuhausen SL, Lott P, Echeverry M, Carvajal-Carmona L, Burchard E, Eng C, Long J, Zheng W, Olopade O, Huo D, Haiman C, Ziv E

Breast cancer subtype and survival among Indigenous American women in Peru.

PloS one

Tamayo LI, Vidaurre T, Navarro Vásquez J, Casavilca S, Aramburu Palomino JI, Calderon M, Abugattas JE, Gomez HL, Castaneda CA, Song S, Cherry D, Rauscher GH, Fejerman L

The San Francisco Cancer Initiative: A Community Effort To Reduce The Population Burden Of Cancer.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Hiatt RA, Sibley A, Fejerman L, Glantz S, Nguyen T, Pasick R, Palmer N, Perkins A, Potter MB, Somsouk M, Vargas RA, van 't Veer LJ, Ashworth A

Breast Cancer in Latinas: A Focus on Intrinsic Subtypes Distribution.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Serrano-Gómez SJ, Fejerman L, Zabaleta J

Genetic Ancestry Is not Associated with Breast Cancer Recurrence or Survival in U.S. Latina Women Enrolled in the Kaiser Permanente Pathways Study.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Engmann NJ, Ergas IJ, Yao S, Kwan ML, Roh JM, Ambrosone CB, Kushi LH, Fejerman L

Ancestry as a potential modifier of gene expression in breast tumors from Colombian women.

PloS one

Serrano-Gómez SJ, Sanabria-Salas MC, Garay J, Baddoo MC, Hernández-Suarez G, Mejía JC, García O, Miele L, Fejerman L, Zabaleta J

IL1B-CGTC haplotype is associated with colorectal cancer in admixed individuals with increased African ancestry.

Scientific reports

Sanabria-Salas MC, Hernández-Suárez G, Umaña-Pérez A, Rawlik K, Tenesa A, Serrano-López ML, Sánchez de Gómez M, Rojas MP, Bravo LE, Albis R, Plata JL, Green H, Borgovan T, Li L, Majumdar S, Garai J, Lee E, Ashktorab H, Brim H, Li L, Margolin D, Fejerman L, Zabaleta J

Alta prevalencia del subtipo intrínseco luminal B en mujeres colombianas con cáncer de mama.

Revista Colombiana de Cancerología

Silvia J. Serrano Gómez, Maria C. Sanabria, Gustavo Hernández, Óscar García, Camilo Silva, Alejandro Romero, Juan Carlos Mejía, Laura Fejerman, Lucio Miele, Jovanny Zabaleta

Genetic ancestry in relation to the metabolic response to a US versus traditional Mexican diet: a randomized crossover feeding trial among women of Mexican descent.

European journal of clinical nutrition

Santiago-Torres M, De Dieu Tapsoba J, Kratz M, Lampe JW, Breymeyer KL, Levy L, Song X, Villaseñor A, Wang CY, Fejerman L, Neuhouser ML, Carlson CS

The Interaction between Genetic Ancestry and Breast Cancer Risk Factors among Hispanic Women: The Breast Cancer Health Disparities Study.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Hines LM, Sedjo RL, Byers T, John EM, Fejerman L, Stern MC, Baumgartner KB, Giuliano AR, Torres-Mejia G, Wolff RK, Harrall KK, Slattery ML

Genomic Disparities in Breast Cancer Among Latinas.

Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center

Lynce F, Graves KD, Jandorf L, Ricker C, Castro E, Moreno L, Augusto B, Fejerman L, Vadaparampil ST

Association of lifestyle and demographic factors with estrogenic and glucocorticogenic activity in Mexican American women.

Carcinogenesis

Fejerman L, Sanchez SS, Thomas R, Tachachartvanich P, Riby J, Gomez SL, John EM, Smith MT

Variability in Cancer Risk and Outcomes Within US Latinos by National Origin and Genetic Ancestry.

Current epidemiology reports

Stern MC, Fejerman L, Das R, Setiawan VW, Cruz-Correa MR, Perez-Stable EJ, Figueiredo JC

High prevalence of luminal B breast cancer intrinsic subtype in Colombian women.

Carcinogenesis

Serrano-Gomez SJ, Sanabria-Salas MC, Hernández-Suarez G, García O, Silva C, Romero A, Mejía JC, Miele L, Fejerman L, Zabaleta J

Red meat, poultry, and fish intake and breast cancer risk among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic white women: The Breast Cancer Health Disparities Study.

Cancer causes & control : CCC

Kim AE, Lundgreen A, Wolff RK, Fejerman L, John EM, Torres-Mejía G, Ingles SA, Boone SD, Connor AE, Hines LM, Baumgartner KB, Giuliano A, Joshi AD, Slattery ML, Stern MC

Corrigendum: Genome-wide association study identifies variants at 16p13 associated with survival in multiple myeloma patients.

Nature communications

Ziv E, Dean E, Hu D, Martino A, Serie D, Curtin K, Campa D, Aftab B, Bracci P, Buda G, Zhao Y, Caswell-Jin J, Diasio R, Dumontet C, Dudzinski M, Fejerman L, Greenberg A, Huntsman S, Jamroziak K, Jurczyszyn A, Kumar S, Atanackovic D, Glenn M, Cannon-Albright LA, Jones B, Lee A, Marques H, Martin T, Martinez-Lopez J, Rajkumar V, Sainz J, Juul Vangsted A, Watek M, Wolf J, Slager S, Camp NJ, Canzian F, Vachon C

Interaction between common breast cancer susceptibility variants, genetic ancestry, and nongenetic risk factors in Hispanic women.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Fejerman L, Stern MC, John EM, Torres-Mejía G, Hines LM, Wolff RK, Baumgartner KB, Giuliano AR, Ziv E, Pérez-Stable EJ, Slattery ML

Genome-wide association study identifies variants at 16p13 associated with survival in multiple myeloma patients.

Nature communications

Ziv E, Dean E, Hu D, Martino A, Serie D, Curtin K, Campa D, Aftab B, Bracci P, Buda G, Zhao Y, Caswell-Jin J, Diasio R, Dumontet C, Dudzinski M, Fejerman L, Greenberg A, Huntsman S, Jamroziak K, Jurczyszyn A, Kumar S, Atanackovic D, Glenn M, Cannon-Albright LA, Jones B, Lee A, Marques H, Martin T, Martinez-Lopez J, Rajkumar V, Sainz J, Vangsted AJ, Watek M, Wolf J, Slager S, Camp NJ, Canzian F, Vachon C

Genome-wide association study of breast cancer in Latinas identifies novel protective variants on 6q25.

Nature communications

Fejerman L, Ahmadiyeh N, Hu D, Huntsman S, Beckman KB, Caswell JL, Tsung K, John EM, Torres-Mejia G, Carvajal-Carmona L, Echeverry MM, Tuazon AM, Ramirez C

Genetic variants and non-genetic factors predict circulating vitamin D levels in Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women: the Breast Cancer Health Disparities Study.

International journal of molecular epidemiology and genetics

Wang W, Ingles SA, Torres-Mejía G, Stern MC, Stanczyk FZ, Schwartz GG, Nelson DO, Fejerman L, Wolff RK, Slattery ML, John EM

Genetic ancestry and risk of mortality among U.S. Latinas with breast cancer.

Cancer research

Fejerman L, Hu D, Huntsman S, John EM, Stern MC, Haiman CA, Pérez-Stable EJ, Ziv E

Association between rs2981582 polymorphism in the FGFR2 gene and the risk of breast cancer in Mexican women.

Archives of medical research

Murillo-Zamora E, Moreno-Macías H, Ziv E, Romieu I, Lazcano-Ponce E, Angeles-Llerenas A, Pérez-Rodríguez E, Vidal-Millán S, Fejerman L, Torres-Mejía G

Telomere length, telomere-related genes, and breast cancer risk: the breast cancer health disparities study.

Genes, chromosomes & cancer

Pellatt AJ, Wolff RK, Torres-Mejia G, John EM, Herrick JS, Lundgreen A, Baumgartner KB, Giuliano AR, Hines LM, Fejerman L, Cawthon R, Slattery ML

Genetic ancestry modifies the association between genetic risk variants and breast cancer risk among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women.

Carcinogenesis

Fejerman L, Stern MC, Ziv E, John EM, Torres-Mejia G, Hines LM, Wolff R, Wang W, Baumgartner KB, Giuliano AR, Slattery ML

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of breast cancer identifies two novel susceptibility loci at 6q14 and 20q11.

Human molecular genetics

Siddiq A, Couch FJ, Chen GK, Lindström S, Eccles D, Millikan RC, Michailidou K, Stram DO, Beckmann L, Rhie SK, Ambrosone CB, Aittomäki K, Amiano P, Apicella C

Heterogeneity in genetic admixture across different regions of Argentina.

PloS one

Avena S, Via M, Ziv E, Pérez-Stable EJ, Gignoux CR, Dejean C, Huntsman S, Torres-Mejía G, Dutil J, Matta JL, Beckman K, Burchard EG, Parolin ML, Goicoechea A, Acreche N, Boquet M, Ríos Part Mdel C, Fernández V, Rey J, Stern MC, Carnese RF, Fejerman L

Admixture mapping identifies a locus on 6q25 associated with breast cancer risk in US Latinas.

Human molecular genetics

Fejerman L, Chen GK, Eng C, Huntsman S, Hu D, Williams A, Pasaniuc B, John EM, Via M, Gignoux C, Ingles S, Monroe KR, Kolonel LN, Torres-Mejía G, Pérez-Stable EJ, Burchard EG, Henderson BE, Haiman CA, Ziv E

History shaped the geographic distribution of genomic admixture on the island of Puerto Rico.

PloS one

Via M, Gignoux CR, Roth LA, Fejerman L, Galanter J, Choudhry S, Toro-Labrador G, Viera-Vera J, Oleksyk TK, Beckman K, Ziv E, Risch N, Burchard EG, Martínez-Cruzado JC

European ancestry is positively associated with breast cancer risk in Mexican women.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Fejerman L, Romieu I, John EM, Lazcano-Ponce E, Huntsman S, Beckman KB, Pérez-Stable EJ, González Burchard E, Ziv E, Torres-Mejía G

An admixture scan in 1,484 African American women with breast cancer.

Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology

Fejerman L, Haiman CA, Reich D, Tandon A, Deo RC, John EM, Ingles SA, Ambrosone CB, Bovbjerg DH, Jandorf LH, Davis W, Ciupak G, Whittemore AS, Press MF, Ursin G, Bernstein L, Huntsman S, Henderson BE, Ziv E, Freedman ML

Admixture mapping of 15,280 African Americans identifies obesity susceptibility loci on chromosomes 5 and X.

PLoS genetics

Cheng CY, Kao WH, Patterson N, Tandon A, Haiman CA, Harris TB, Xing C, John EM, Ambrosone CB, Brancati FL, Coresh J, Press MF, Parekh RS, Klag MJ, Meoni LA, Hsueh WC, Fejerman L, Pawlikowska L, Freedman ML, Jandorf LH, Bandera EV, Ciupak GL, Nalls MA, Akylbekova EL, Orwoll ES, Leak TS, Miljkovic I, Li R, Ursin G, Bernstein L, Ardlie K, Taylor HA, Boerwinckle E, Zmuda JM, Henderson BE, Wilson JG, Reich D