Address

87 E. Canfield Ave. Detroit, MI 48201

Office Address

87 E. Canfield Ave.
Detroit, MI 48201 

Mentoring

 Natalie Snider and Abigail Fielder

Department

 Oncology

Research Interests

• Clinically relevant molecular and immune profiles of breast and colorectal tumors in AAs
• Heritable susceptibility to cancer among AAs
• Variability in estrogen receptor protein expression and racial disparities in ER+/HER2- breast cancer
 

Research Description

My research focuses on the impact of tumor biology and microenvironment on racial disparities in clinical outcomes for African Americans with cancer. Specifically, I have three main areas of active research: (1) Characterizing clinically relevant molecular and immune profiles of breast and colorectal tumors in AAs, (2) understanding heritable susceptibility to breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer among AAs, particularly characterizing variants of uncertain significance in known cancer susceptibility genes, and (3) understanding the role of variability in estrogen receptor protein expression in racial disparities in ER+/HER2- breast cancer survival and treatment with endocrine therapy. I am also interested in the combination of genetic factors and traditional epidemiologic risk factors, such as hormonal exposures and mammographic density, and how these may explain risk, biological changes in tumors, and ultimately survival. Much of my research utilizes data and biospecimens from the Detroit Research on Cancer Survivors (ROCS) cohort study, an NCI-funded prospective cohort study of African Americans recently diagnosed with breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancers.

Recent Publications

Watza D, Lusk CM, Dyson G, Purrington KS, Wenzlaff AS, Neslund-Dudas C, Soubani AO, Gadgeel SM, Schwartz AG. COPD-dependent effects of genetic variation in key inflammation pathway genes on lung cancer risk. Int J Cancer. 2020;147:747-56.

Purrington KS, Knight J 3rd, Dyson G, Ali-Fehmi R, Schwartz AG, Boerner JL, Bandyopadhyay S. CLCA2 expression is associated with survival among African American women with triple negative breast cancer. PLoS One. 2020;15:e0231712.

Purrington KS, Raychaudhuri S, Simon MS, Clark J, Ratliff V, Dyson G, Craig DB, Boerner JL, Beebe-Dimmer JL, Schwartz AG. Heritable Susceptibility to Breast Cancer among African-American Women in the Detroit Research on Cancer Survivors Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2020;29:2369-75.

Duric N, Sak M, Fan S, Pfeiffer RM, Littrup PJ, Simon MS, Gorski DH, Ali H, Purrington KS, Brem RF, Sherman ME, Gierach GL. Using Whole Breast Ultrasound Tomography to Improve Breast Cancer Risk Assessment: A Novel Risk Factor Based on the Quantitative Tissue Property of Sound Speed. J Clin Med. 2020;9:367.

Purrington KS, Schwartz AG, Ruterbusch JJ, Manning MA, Nair M, Wenzlaff AS, Pandolfi SS, Simon MS, Beebe-Dimmer J. Patterns of cancer family history and genetic counseling eligibility among African Americans with breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers: A Detroit Research on Cancer Survivors cohort study. Cancer. 2020;126:4744-52.

Purrington KS, Gorski D, Simon MS, Hastert TA, Kim S, Rosati R, Schwartz AG, Ratnam M. Racial differences in estrogen receptor staining levels and implications for treatment and survival among estrogen receptor positive, HER2-negative invasive breast cancers. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2020;181:145-54.

Teslow EA, Mitrea C, Bao B, Mohammad RM, Polin LA, Dyson G, Purrington KS, Bollig-Fischer A. Obesity-induced MBD2_v2 expression promotes tumor-initiating triple-negative breast cancer stem cells. Mol Oncol. 2019;13:894-908.

Manning M, Albrecht TL, Penner L, Purrington K. Ann Behav Between-Race Differences in Processes Predicting Physician Communication for African American and European American Recipients of Breast Density Notifications. Med. 2019;53:721-31.

Lusk CM, Watza D, Dyson G, Craig D, Ratliff V, Wenzlaff AS, Lonardo F, Bollig-Fischer A, Bepler G, Purrington K, Gadgeel S, Schwartz AG. Profiling the Mutational Landscape in Known Driver Genes and Novel Genes in African American Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients. Clin Cancer Res. 2019;25:4300-8.

Manning M, Albrecht TL, O'Neill S, Purrington K. Between-Race Differences in Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening Before and After Breast Density Notification Law. J Am Coll Radiol. 2019;16:797-803.

Teslow E, Mitrea C, Bao B, Mohammad RM, Polin LA, Dyson G, Purrington KS, Bollig-Fischer A. The SRSF2–MBD2_v2 signaling axis links obesity and tumor-initiating triple negative breast cancer stem cells. Mol Oncol. 2019;13:894-908.

Holowatyj AN, Cote ML, Ruterbusch JJ, Ghanem K, Schwartz AG, Vigneau FD, Gorski DH, Purrington KS.Racial Differences in 21-Gene Recurrence Scores Among Patients With Hormone Receptor-Positive, Node-Negative Breast Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2018;36:652-8.

Watza D, Purrington KS, Chen K, Schwartz AG. Transcriptional programs of tumor infiltrating T-cells provide insight into mechanisms of immune response and new targets for immunotherapy. J Thorac Dis. 2017;9):4162-4

Education/Training

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, (2010-2013) Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic - Rochester, MN
Ph.D. Epidemiology, 2010 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, Rackham Graduate School
M.A. Statistics, 2010 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, Rackham Graduate School
M.P.H. Epidemiology, 2007 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, School of Public Health
B.S. Cellular and Molecular Biology, 2005 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, College of Literature, Arts and Sciences
 

Courses Taught

CB7430 Cancer Epidemiology
FPH7240 Epidemiology
CB7210 Fundamentals of Cancer Biology (lecturer)
CB7300 Biomarkers in Cancer (lecturer)
CB7800 Rigor and Reproducibility in Cancer Biology (lecturer)
 

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