Administrative Title

Professor Emeritus

Biography

Dr. Severson served as the instructor for FPH 7240 Epidemiology I and as the Director of the MPH Program.  He is trained as a cancer epidemiologist, and for several decades has been involved in cohort and case-control studies of prostate cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, pancreas cancer, kidney cancer, soft tissue sarcomas, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, and multiple myeloma.

Education Training

• University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, BS Environmental Health, 1971
• University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, BS Mathematics, 1977
• University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, MS Biostatistics, 1979
• University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, PhD Epidemiology, 1986

Training and Experience

• Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 1988-1993
• Associate Professor, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 1993
• Associate Member, Division of Epidemiology, Michigan Cancer Foundation, Detroit, MI, 1993-1995
• Associate Professor (tenure granted 8/97), Karmanos Cancer Institute and Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 1995-1999
• Associate Chair, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 1997-2011
• Program Leader, Population Studies and Prevention, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 1998-2003
• Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences and Karmanos Cancer Institute, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 1999-present

Interests

• Cancer epidemiology
• Study methods

Area of Expertise

MPH

Publications

• Pronk A, Nuckols JR, De Roos AJ, Airola M, Colt JC, Cerhan JR, Morton L, Cozen W, Severson R, Blair A, Cleverly D, Ward MH. Residential proximity to industrial combustion facilities and risk of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A case-control study. Env Health, in press.
• Pranathiageswaran S, Badr MS, Severson R, Rowley JA. The influence of race on the severity of sleep-disordered breathing. J Clin Sleep Med, in press.
• Wang SS, Purdue M, Cerhan JR, Zheng T, Menashe I, Armstrong B, Lan Q, Hartge P, Kricker A, Zhang Y, Morton LM, Valdjic C, Holford T, Severson RK, Grulich A, Leaderer B, Davis S, Zahm S, Cozen W, Yeager M, Chanock SJ, Chatterjee N, Rothman N. Common Genetic Variations in the Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) and TNF Receptor Superfamilies and Nuclear Factor Kappa Beta Transcription Factors and Risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. PLoS ONE, in press.
• Kato I, Boleijb A, Djuric Z, Severson RK, Tjalsmab H. Partial Associations of Dietary Iron, Smoking and Intestinal Bacteria with Colorectal Cancer Risk. Nutr Cancer 65:169-177, 2013.
• Wang J, Cozen W, Thorne PS, Berhane K, Cerhan JR, Hartge P, Ward MH, De Roos AJ, Severson R, Morton LM, Bernstein L, Linet M, Colt JS. Household endotoxin levels and the risk of non Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer Causes Control, 24:357-364, 2013.
• Nieters A, Conde L, Slager SL, Brooks-Wilson A, Morton L, Skibola DR, Novak AJ, Riby J, Ansell SM, Halperin E, Shanafelt TD, Agana L, WangAH, De Roos AJ, Severson RK, Cozen W, Spinelli J, Butterbach K, Becker N, de Sanjose S, Benavente Y, Cocco P, Staines A, Maynadi M, Foretova L, Boffetta P, Brennan P, Lan Q, Zhang Y, Zheng T, Purdue M, Armstrong B, Kricker A, Vajdic C, Grulich A, Smith MT, Bracci PM, Chanock SJ, Hartge P, Cerhan JR, Wang SS, Rothman N, Skibola CF. PRRC2A and BCL2L11 gene variants influence risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma  Results from the InterLymph consortium. Blood 120:4645-4648, 2012.
• Becker N, Falster MO, Vajdic CM, de Sanjose S, Martinez-Maza O, Bracci PM, Melbye M, Smedby KE, Engels EA, Turner J, Vineis P, Costantini AS, Holly EA, Spinelli JJ, La Vecchia C, Zheng T, Chiu BCH, Montella M, Cocco P, Maynadi M, Foretova L, Staines A, Brennan P, Davis S, Severson R, Cerhan JR, Breen EC, Birmann B, Cozen W, Grulich AE, Newton R. Self-reported history of infections and the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: an InterLymph pooled analysis. Int J Cancer 131:2342-2348, 2012.
• Deziel NC, Nuckols JR, Colt JC, De Roos AJ, Pronk A, Gourley C, Severson RK, Cozen W, Cerhan JR, Hartge P, Ward MH. Determinants of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans in house dust samples from four areas of the United States. Sci Total Environ 433:516-22, 2012.
• Wells KE, Peterson EL, Severson RK, Gleason-Comstock J, Williams LK. The relationship between combination inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta-agonist use and severe asthma exacerbations in a racially diverse population. J Allergy Clin Immunol 129:1274-1279, 2012.
• Djuric Z, Severson RK, Kato I. Association of Dietary Quercetin with Reduced Risk of Proximal Colon Cancer. Nutr Cancer 64:351-360, 2012.
• Zierhut H, Linet MS, Robison LL, Severson RK, Spector L. Family history of cancer and non-malignant diseases and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: A Children's Oncology Group Study. Cancer Epidemiol 36:45-51, 2012.

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