Eugenia E. "Jeanne" Calle (January 5, 1952 – February 17, 2009) was an American cancer epidemiologist. Calle gained a doctoral degree in epidemiology from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

(Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine). She subsequently worked at

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...

in the area of cancer risk assessment, and later the

Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...

and Prevention on the

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...

Projects. In 1989, Calle joined the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

(ACS) as the director of their Study Management Group. She rose further through the organization's ranks, and conducted two landmark studies on the link between

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

and cancer, advancing understanding of the risk factors for

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

and

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

, and research on hormone replacement therapy and female cancers. She served as an adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the

Rollins School of Public Health The Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) is the public health school of Emory University. Founded in 1990, Rollins has more than 1,100 students pursuing master's degrees ( MPH/MSPH) and over 150 students pursuing doctorate degrees (PhD). The ...

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

. Roughly two weeks before her death, Calle retired as Vice President of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research at the ACS. She planned to sell her

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. A man posing as a prospective buyer killed her with a blow to the head. In August 2010, Shamal Thompson was sentenced to a

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

for Calle's murder.

Early life and education

Calle grew up in

Fairlawn, Ohio Fairlawn is a city in western Summit County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Akron. The population was 7,710 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. History Fairlawn was incorporated as Fairlawn Village in 1960. It ...

, and attended

Copley High School Copley High School is a public high school in Copley Township, just west of Akron, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Copley–Fairlawn City School District and competes athletically in the American Division of the Suburban L ...

in the 1960s. She received her bachelor's degree in medical communications from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and her doctoral degree in epidemiology from

(Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine).

Academic career

After working at

in the area of cancer risk assessment, and later the

and Prevention on the Agent Orange Projects, Calle joined the

(ACS) in 1989 as the director of their Study Management Group. She became the director of Analytic Epidemiology in Epidemiology and Surveillance at the ACS in 1999, and was later promoted to Vice President of Epidemiology there. While at the ACS, she directed the Cancer Prevention Study, and also conducted two landmark studies on the link between obesity and cancer, advancing understanding of the risk factors for breast and ovarian cancers, and research on hormone replacement therapy and female cancers. She was also instrumental in developing the ACS Cancer Prevention Studies into major resources for groundbreaking research on air pollution, nutrition, physical activity, medications, and inherited susceptibility genes. She served as a member of the National Cancer Institute's Board of Scientific Counselors, the

American Epidemiological Society The American Epidemiological Society is an American honorary society dedicated to epidemiology. It was established in 1927, and has held annual meetings since 1968. It is the oldest epidemiology organization in the United States. Past members of the ...

, an adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the

, and on the editorial boards of several prominent cancer journals. Roughly two weeks before her death, Calle retired as Vice President of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research at the ACS.

Death

Calle died on February 17, 2009, in her condominium in

, at the age of 57. She died from a blow to the head inflicted by a man posing as a prospective buyer for her condominium, which she had been planning on selling. Shamal Thompson later pleaded guilty to killing Calle and was sentenced to life in prison in August 2010.

Selected works and publications

# Calle EE, Rodriguez C, Walker-Thurmond K, Thun MJ
Overweight, obesity, and mortality from cancer in a prospectively studied cohort of U.S. adults
''New England Journal of Medicine''. 2003;348(17):1625-38. # Calle EE, Thun MJ, Petrelli JM, Rodriguez C, Heath CW Jr
Body-mass index and mortality in a prospective cohort of U.S. adults
''New England Journal of Medicine''. 1999;341(15):1097-105. # Daniel CR, McCullough ML, Patel RC, Jacobs EJ, Flanders WD, Thun MJ, Calle EE. Dietary intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids and risk of colorectal cancer in a prospective cohort of U.S. men and women. ''Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev''. 2009 Feb;18(2):516-25. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-08-0750. Epub 2009 Feb 3. # Calle EE, Feigelson HS, Hildebrand JS, Teras LR, Thun MJ, Rodriguez C
Postmenopausal hormone use and breast cancer associations differ by hormone regimen and histologic subtype
''Cancer''. 2009 Mar 1;115(5):936-45. doi: 10.1002/cncr.24101.

References

External links

Remembering Dr. Eugenia 'Jeanne' Calle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calle, Eugenia 1952 births 2009 deaths People murdered in 2009 20th-century American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century American women academics 21st-century American women academics Cancer epidemiologists Ohio State University College of Medicine alumni Columbia University alumni People from Fairlawn, Ohio American Cancer Society people American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists People murdered in Georgia (U.S. state) Female murder victims in the United States Deaths by beating in the United States 2009 murders in the United States