Professor Ruth Travis
Research groups
- An investigation into cancer risk factors and mechanisms: a DPhil in molecular epidemiology
- An investigation into cancer risk factors and mechanisms: a DPhil in molecular epidemiology
- Analysing the blood proteome of three poorly understood cancers in Europe
- Assessing the links between shift work, sleep, circadian disruption and subsequent health
- Assessing the role of structural variation on the blood proteome and cancer risk
- Diet and disease: a comprehensive investigation of the impact of plant-based diets on long-term health
- Hormones, growth factors and health outcomes in middle and old age: a PheWAS approach in UK Biobank
- Prostate cancer epidemiology
- The molecular epidemiology of prostate cancer
Colleges
Websites
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Prostate Cancer
Research Group
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EPIC Prostate
Research Group
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UK Biobank Prostate Cancer Epidemiology Consortium
Research Group
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Endogenous Hormones and Prostate Cancer Collaborative Group
Research Group
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Epidemiology of Shift Work and Disease
Research Group
Ruth Travis
BA, MSc, DPhil
Professor of Epidemiology and Senior Molecular Epidemiologist
- Cancer Epidemiology Unit
- MSc in Global Health Module Lead: Non-Communicable Diseases
Ruth Travis is a molecular epidemiologist, whose main research interests are the molecular and lifestyle determinants of common non-communicable diseases, particularly cancer. Her work involves combining the resources of established large cohort studies and international consortia with study designs that take advantage of new technology, both in terms of ‘omics’ and electronic data linkage. She leads a programme of research on prostate cancer aetiology funded by Cancer Research UK, with a particular focus on risk factors for aggressive disease. A major research interest is the role of circulating biomarkers, including blood proteins, metabolites and hormones in cancer development. She leads a pan-cancer programme on proteomics and other molecular factors, exploiting large-scale biomarker and genetics datasets. Ruth is Chair of the Prostate Cancer Working Group for the Europe-wide EPIC study, co-ordinates the Endogenous Hormones, Nutritional Biomarkers and Prostate Cancer Collaborative Group, which aims to conduct individual pooled analyses of the relationship between circulating biomarkers and prostate cancer risk from cohort studies from around the world, and leads prostate cancer epidemiological research in UK Biobank. Ruth is a member of the EPIC and EPIC-Oxford Steering Committees and she represents EPIC as a member of the PRACTICAL international cancer genetics consortia. Ruth also leads research on the effects of shift work and circadian disruption on chronic conditions and diseases within the Million Women Study, EPIC-Oxford and UK Biobank cohorts. She joined the Cancer Epidemiology Unit in 2001 after studying Biological Anthropology (University of Cambridge, 1997-2000) and Epidemiology (LSHTM, 2000-01), and obtained a DPhil in Cancer Epidemiology (University of Oxford) in 2005.
Key publications
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Gene-environment interactions in 7610 women with breast cancer: prospective evidence from the Million Women Study.
Journal article
Travis RC. et al, (2010), Lancet, 375, 2143 - 2151
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Incidence of breast cancer and its subtypes in relation to individual and multiple low-penetrance genetic susceptibility loci.
Journal article
Reeves GK. et al, (2010), JAMA, 304, 426 - 434
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Genetic variation in the lactase gene, dairy product intake and risk for prostate cancer in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition.
Journal article
Travis RC. et al, (2013), Int J Cancer, 132, 1901 - 1910
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CYP19A1 genetic variation in relation to prostate cancer risk and circulating sex hormone concentrations in men from the Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium.
Journal article
Travis RC. et al, (2009), Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 18, 2734 - 2744
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Melatonin and breast cancer: a prospective study.
Journal article
Travis RC. et al, (2004), J Natl Cancer Inst, 96, 475 - 482
Recent publications
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Associations of intakes of total protein, protein from dairy sources, and dietary calcium with risks of colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer: a prospective analysis in UK Biobank.
Journal article
Watling CZ. et al, (2023), Br J Cancer, 129, 636 - 647
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Intake of the Total, Classes, and Subclasses of (Poly)Phenols and Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Prospective Analysis of the EPIC Study.
Journal article
Almanza-Aguilera E. et al, (2023), Cancers (Basel), 15
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Genetic predisposition to metabolically unfavourable adiposity and prostate cancer risk: A Mendelian randomization analysis.
Journal article
Perez-Cornago A. et al, (2023), Cancer Med, 12, 16482 - 16489
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Genetically proxied glucose-lowering drug target perturbation and risk of cancer: a Mendelian randomisation analysis.
Journal article
Yarmolinsky J. et al, (2023), Diabetologia, 66, 1481 - 1500
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Evaluating approaches for constructing polygenic risk scores for prostate cancer in men of African and European ancestry.
Journal article
Darst BF. et al, (2023), Am J Hum Genet, 110, 1200 - 1206