Dr. Philip Lupo is a genetic epidemiologist and Director of the Epidemiology and Population Sciences Program in the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center. A key area of his research is focused on cancer risk in children with birth defects. This work is facilitated through his involvement in the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), where he is Chair of the Epidemiology Committee, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN), where he has served in various capacities, including President and Chair of the Data Committee. Examples of his current research projects include: 1) the Genetic Overlap Between Anomalies and Cancer in Kids (GOBACK) Study, a multistate collaboration evaluating the risk of cancer in children with birth defects; 2) the COG-supported Genetics of Embryonal and Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (GEARS), where Dr. Lupo and his team are actively enrolling children throughout North America diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma to better understand genetic susceptibility to this frequently fatal malignancy; and 3) the National Cancer Institute-funded Down Syndrome Phenotyping Acute Leukemia Study (DS-PALS), where the goal is to characterize phenotypic and genetic risk factors for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children with Down syndrome. The ultimate goal of Dr. Lupo’s research is to discover factors that can be used in new prevention efforts and targeted interventions to limit the adverse consequences of pediatric diseases.
