Beth A. Mueller, DPH, MPH, BS

Professor, Epidemiology

Contact Information
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Box 358080
1100 Fairview Ave N., Arnold Building
P.O. Box 19024, Mailstop: M4-C308
Seattle, WA 98109-1024
Tel: 206-667-4630
Fax: 206-667-5948
http://www.fhcrc.org/
bmueller@fhcrc.org

Research Interests
My expertise is in the following areas: Epidemiology of perinatal and reproductive diseases; cancer; and injury research. The health of women and their offspring are uniquely linked, and this relationship has served as the focus for most of the work I've been involved with. A woman's general health status, and in particular, her exposures during pregnancy, may result in in-utero conditions that are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, malformations, or cancer in her offspring. This associationworks in both directions, however, in that a woman's own reproductive and childbearing experiences impact her future health in ways we are just beginning to understand. My work has examined aspects of the mother-child relationship and their possible associations to the health of women and children. Within this framework, pregnancy factors, congenital malformations and childhood cancer are viewed as a spectrum of related conditions. Knowledge gained from studies focused on one of these conditions promotes progress in our understanding in all areas.

Past research focused on women's health has included studies of risk factors for female infertility and ectopic pregnancy. This focus has continued with studies evaluating pregnancy exposures and maternal characteristics and various pregnancy and birth outcomes including malformations, prematurity, and low birthweight. For many years I have also been involved in teaching data analysis techniques for epidemiologic studies to graduate students as part of the core epidemiology curriculum at the University of Washington.

Continuing research efforts include evaluations of environmental exposures and inherent susceptibility and their associations with childhood brain tumor occurrence. Other current research includes a study of childbearing and survival in young women with breast cancer. Among women <45 years of age with breast cancer, we are comparing the survival of of those who subsequently (after their diagnosis and treatment) bear children, to those who do not bear children. This is a multi-center study in collaboration with researchers in Michigan and California. Results of this study may be helpful to young women with breast cancer and their families.

It's possible that treatments for childhood cancer, or the disease itself, may increase the risk of malformations or poor birth outcomes for the offspring of childhood cancer survivors. Because of the relatively rare incidence of childhood cancer, however, and the long follow-up required to evaluate this question, this has not been fully examined. We are beginning a new collaborative study (with researchers in Michigan, New Mexico, Utah, and Georgia) which addresses the question of whether or not adult survivors of childhood cancer are at risk of adverse birth outcomes.

Ultimately, we hope to better understand the mechanisms causing malformations, cancer, and adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, and to identify exposures and inherent conditions that may place individuals at increased risk.

Injury research projects that I've been involved with include studies of risk factors for pedestrian-automobile collision injuries to children, factors associated with motor vehicle collisions, evaluating the effects of alcohol intoxication on outcome of head injury, and methods-based research evaluating some of the tools used in injury research such as data linkages, clinical protocols for diagnosis of injury, and tools used to conduct assessments of driver sobriety.

Teaching Interests
Dr. Mueller's teaching emphasis is on epidemiologic research methods. In addition, Dr. Mueller precepts students working on projects related to reproductive health, cancer, injury, and epidemiologic methods.

She currently co-teaches EPI 514 "Applications of Epidemiologic Methods"offered during Spring Quarter.

Education
DPH, Epidemiology, Tulane University 1984
MPH, Epidemiology, University of California Los Angeles 1980
BS, Bio-cybernetics, University of California Los Angeles 1976

Projects

• Evaluations of Environmental Exposure Measuring Using GIS Techniques
• Multi-center Study of Very Low Birth Weight in Relation to Childhood Cancer
• Study of Genetic and Environmental Factors Related to Childhood Brain Tumors
• Study of Pregnancy Outcomes in Childhood Cancer Survivors

Selected Publications
Preston-Martin S, Pogoda JM, Mueller BA, Holly EA, Lijinsky W, Davis R. Maternal consumption of cured meats and vitamins in relation to pediatric brain tumors. Cancer Epi Biomarkers & Prevention, 5:599-605, 1996.

Mueller BA, Schwartz SS. Risk of recurrence of birth defects in Washington State. Paediatric & Perinatal Epidemiology, 11, Suppl. 1:107-118, 1997.

Maltzman T, Mueller BA, Schroeder J, Rutledge J, Patterson K, Faustman E. Ras oncogene mutations in childhood brain tumors. Cancer Epi, Biomarkers & Prevention, 6:239-43, 1997.

Gurney JG, Mueller BA, Preston-Martin S, McDaniel AM, Holly EA, Pogoda JM. Pediatric brain tumors and their association with epilepsy and anticonvulsants. Neuroepidemiology, 16:248-255, 1997

Mueller BA, Kenaston T, Grossman, D, Salzberg, P. Hospital charges for injured drinking drivers in Washington State: 1987-1993. Accid. Analysis & Prev, 30:597-605, 1998.

McCredie M, Little J, Cotton S, Mueller BA, Peris-Bonet R, Choi NW, Preston-Martin S, Cordier S, Filippini G, Holly EA, Modan B, Arslan A. SEARCH international case-control study of childhood brain tumours: role of index pregnancy and birth, and mother’s reproductive history. Paediatric & Perinatal Epidemiology, 13:325-341, 1999.

Mueller BA, Newton K, Preston-Martin S, Holly EA. Residential water source and the risk of childhood brain tumors. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109:551-556, 2001, June

Mueller BA, Zhang J, Critchlow CW. Pregnancy outcomes and need for subsequent rehospitalization in women with multiple sclerosis. Am. J. Obstetrics & Gynecol, 186:446-52, 2002, March.

Custer BS, Koepsell TD, Mueller BA. The Association between breast cancer and meningioma in women. Cancer, 15;94(6):1626-35, 2002, March.

Mueller BA, Deapen D, Simon M, Malone K, Voigt L, Kamineni A, Daling JR. Childbearing and survival after breast cancer in young women. Cancer, 98(6); 1131-40, 2003 September 15.

Links
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