Michael J. Thun, MD, MS
Vice President Emeritus, Epidemiology and Surveillance Research
American Cancer Society
Atlanta, Georgia

Michael J. Thun, MD, MS is vice president emeritus of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research at the American Cancer Society. Dr Thun is a graduate of Harvard College, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health. He has worked in epidemiology and the prevention of chronic diseases for 30 years. From 1978-1980 he served as a medical officer at the New Jersey State Health Department, investigating toxic exposures. From 1980 to 1989 he worked as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and supervisor in the Public Health Service at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control. In 1989 Dr Thun became the director of Analytic Epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, overseeing and analyzing the ACS Cancer Prevention Study II. From 1998 through 2008 Dr Thun served as vice president of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research, overseeing both cancer surveillance and studies of the causes and prevention of cancer. He continues full time research at ACS and as chair of the NCI Cohort Consortium.

Dr Thun’s research covers a wide range of issues within cancer epidemiology, including studies on the potential of aspirin as an anti-cancer agent, alcohol, obesity, the effects of active smoking and environmental tobacco smoke, genetic and environmental risk factors for cancer, and cancer trends. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, editorials, and books. Many of these publications over the last 15 years concern national and international trends in lung cancer and the relation of lung cancer risk to gender, race, smoking cessation, cigarette design, preexisting lung disease, and other potential risk factors. He is co-principal investigator of the NCI Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium, and a co-investigator in the International Lung Cancer Consortium. A major aim of these projects is to identify genetic variants and gene-environment interactions that contribute to risk of these common cancers.