Shelia Hoar Zahm is an American cancer epidemiologist specialized in pesticides and cancer, the etiology of

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredn ...

, and

occupational cancer Occupational cancer is cancer caused by occupational hazards. Several cancers have been directly tied to occupational hazards, including chimney sweeps' carcinoma, mesothelioma, and others. Types of hazards Occupational exposure to chemicals, dus ...

among women. She was deputy director of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

's division of cancer epidemiology and genetics from 1998 to 2011.

Life

Zahm completed a S.M. (1977) and Sc.D. (1980) in epidemiology from the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

. In 1980, she joined the

(NCI) as a Staff Fellow in 1980. During the mid-1980s into the 1990s, her supervisor, Joseph F. Fraumeni Jr. allowed Zahm, and her colleagues Debra T. Silverman and Patricia Hartge to all work part-time so they could raise families. She was tenured in 1987 in the Occupational Studies Section, became Deputy Chief of the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch in 1996, and served as Deputy Director of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) from 1998 to 2011. Zahm has received the

American Occupational Medical Association American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is a United States-based professional society for health care professionals in the field of occupational safety and health Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational ...

's Merit in Authorship Award for a paper on job-exposure matrices, the Harvard School of Public Health Alumni Award of Merit, the U.S. DHHS Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service, the

NIH Merit Award The NIH MERIT award (Method To Extend Research in Time) Award (R37) was created by the National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical an ...

and the PHS Special Recognition Award for her work on the relationship between pesticides and the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the NIH Director's Award for her program of research on cancer among migrant and seasonal farm workers, the NIH Director’s Award for developing NIH biospecimen storage and tracking guidelines, the NIH Merit Award for implementation of the NIH Reform Act of 2006, two NIH Quality of Work Life Awards, the DCEG Mentoring Award, and the DCEG Exemplary Service Award. Zahm was elected to 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 ...

in 1995 and is an adjunct faculty member at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

. Her research interests include pesticides and cancer, the etiology of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and occupational cancer among women. Zahm retired in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahm, Shelia Hoar Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Cancer epidemiologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health alumni National Institutes of Health people Members of the American Epidemiological Society