Vernon Chinchilli

Last updated

Vernon M. Chinchilli (born March 12, 1952) [1] is an American biostatistician and Distinguished Professor of Public Health Sciences at the Penn State College of Medicine, where he is also Chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences. He is also a professor of Statistics at Penn State University. [2] [3]

Chinchilli earned his Ph.D. in 1979 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His dissertation, Rank Tests for Restricted Alternative Problems in Multivariate Analysis, was supervised by Pranab K. Sen. [4]

In 1996, he co-authored a meta-analysis on the relationship between abortion and breast cancer along with multiple anti-abortion researchers, including Joel Brind. The meta-analysis concluded that abortion was associated with a 30% higher risk of breast cancer. Chinchilli told the New York Times that he believed that this increased risk is real, but acknowledged that it could be an artifact of bias. [5] Chinchilli has described himself as pro-choice, and said in 2003 that despite the meta-analysis he co-authored, he does not think the issue had been resolved. He also said that "When we were talking about the conclusions, [Brind] wanted to make the strongest statements." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast cancer</span> Cancer that originates in mammary glands

Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a red or scaly patch of skin. In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digoxin</span> Plant-derived medication

Digoxin, sold under the brand name Lanoxin among others, is a medication used to treat various heart conditions. Most frequently it is used for atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and heart failure. Digoxin is one of the oldest medications used in the field of cardiology. It works by increasing myocardial contractility, increasing stroke volume and blood pressure, reducing heart rate, and somewhat extending the time frame of the contraction. Digoxin is taken by mouth or by injection into a vein. Digoxin has a half life of approximately 36 hours given at average doses in patients with normal renal function. It is excreted mostly unchanged in the urine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passive smoking</span> Inhalation of tobacco smoke by persons other than the intended active smoker

Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called passive smoke, secondhand smoke (SHS) or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by individuals other than the active smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke diffuses into the surrounding atmosphere as an aerosol pollutant, which leads to its inhalation by nearby bystanders within the same environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes many of the same health effects caused by active smoking, although to a lower prevalence due to the reduced concentration of smoke that enters the airway.

The abortion–breast cancer hypothesis posits that having an induced abortion can increase the risk of getting breast cancer. This hypothesis is at odds with mainstream scientific opinion and is rejected by major medical professional organizations; despite this, it continues to be widely propagated as pseudoscience, typically in service of an anti-abortion agenda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red meat</span> Meat which is red when raw, with high myoglobin content

In gastronomy, red meat is commonly red when raw, in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before cooking. In culinary terms, only flesh from mammals or fowl is classified as red or white. In nutritional science, red meat is defined as any meat that has more of the protein myoglobin than white meat. White meat is defined as non-dark meat from fish or chicken.

Joel Lewis Brind is a professor of human biology and endocrinology at Baruch College, City University of New York and a leading advocate of the abortion-breast cancer hypothesis, which posits that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. This idea is rejected by mainstream medical professional organizations and there is overwhelming evidence in the peer-reviewed medical literature debunking it. Brind is openly contemptuous of mainstream medical professional organizations and journals, accusing them of conducting a deliberate cover-up with the goal of "protecting the abortion industry."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White meat</span> Meat which is pale before and after cooking

In culinary terms, white meat is meat which is pale in color before and after cooking. In traditional gastronomy, white meat also includes rabbit, the flesh of milk-fed young mammals, and sometimes pork. In ecotrophology and nutritional studies, white meat includes poultry and fish, but excludes all mammal flesh, which is considered red meat.

Sir Richard Peto is an English statistician and epidemiologist who is Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oxford, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association of American Physicians and Surgeons</span> Conservative political advocacy organization

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a politically conservative non-profit association that promotes conspiracy theories and medical misinformation, such as HIV/AIDS denialism, the abortion–breast cancer hypothesis, and vaccine and autism connections, through its official publication, the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. The association was founded in 1943 to oppose a government attempt to nationalize health care. The group has included notable members, including American Republican politicians Ron Paul, Rand Paul and Tom Price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Observational study</span> Study with uncontrolled variable of interest

In fields such as epidemiology, social sciences, psychology and statistics, an observational study draws inferences from a sample to a population where the independent variable is not under the control of the researcher because of ethical concerns or logistical constraints. One common observational study is about the possible effect of a treatment on subjects, where the assignment of subjects into a treated group versus a control group is outside the control of the investigator. This is in contrast with experiments, such as randomized controlled trials, where each subject is randomly assigned to a treated group or a control group. Observational studies, for lacking an assignment mechanism, naturally present difficulties for inferential analysis.

The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, also known as the College of IST, opened in 1999 as the information school of Pennsylvania State University. Headquartered at the University Park campus in University Park, Pennsylvania, the college's programs are offered at 21 Penn State campus locations. Dr. Andrea Tapia currently serves as the college's interim dean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet and cancer</span> Connections between dietary habits and cancer

Dietary factors are recognized as having a significant effect on the risk of cancers, with different dietary elements both increasing and reducing risk. Diet and obesity may be related to up to 30–35% of cancer deaths, while physical inactivity appears to be related to 7% risk of cancer occurrence.

Priscilla K. Coleman is a retired Professor of Human Development and Family Studies in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. She is the author of a number of disputed academic papers, which claim to have found a statistical correlation or causal relationship between abortion and mental health problems.

The Pennsylvania State University School of Hospitality Management is located at the main campus of The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, United States, and serves over 500 students. SHM is one of the three oldest continually-operating hospitality management programs in the United States and offers a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Hospitality Management. The B.S. Degree offers an optional minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Marvin Zelen was Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH), and Lemuel Shattuck Research Professor of Statistical Science. During the 1980s, Zelen chaired HSPH's Department of Biostatistics. Among colleagues in the field of statistics, he was widely known as a leader who shaped the discipline of biostatistics. He "transformed clinical trial research into a statistically sophisticated branch of medical research."

Ho Weang Kee is a Malaysian statistician whose research focuses on the application of statistical methods to genetic data analysis. She is an associate professor of statistics at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus in the Department of Applied Mathematics. In 2018, Ho received the L'Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talent Award in recognition of her work toward developing a predictive model estimating the risk of breast cancer for Southeast Asian women.

Mary Kathryn "Katie" Haltiwanger Schmitz is an American exercise physiologist. She is the Associate Director of Population Sciences at Penn State University College of Medicine and a Full Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark T. Greenberg</span>

Mark T. Greenberg is the emeritus holder of The Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development, and founding director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at the Pennsylvania State University. He is the chair of CREATE for Education, a non-profit organization that promotes caring and compassion in education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penn State Health Children's Hospital</span> Hospital in Pennsylvania, U.S.

Penn State Health Children's Hospital (PSCH) is a nationally ranked women's and pediatric acute care teaching hospital located in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The hospital has 134 pediatric beds. PSCH is affiliated with the Penn State College of Medicine and is located at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties and subspecialties to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout central Pennsylvania and surrounding regions. Penn State Health Children's Hospital also sometimes treats adults that require pediatric care. PSCH also maintains one of Pennsylvania's four Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Centers.

Donna Spiegelman is a biostatistician and epidemiologist who works at the interface between the two fields as a methodologist, applying statistical solutions to address potential biases in epidemiologic studies.

References

  1. "Vernon M. Chinchilli". Library of Congress Name Authority File. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  2. "Vernon Chinchilli — Penn State Eberly College of Science Department of Statistics". stat.psu.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  3. "Vernon Chinchilli Faculty Page". sites.stat.psu.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  4. Vernon Chinchilli at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  5. Brody, Jane E. (1996-10-12). "Analysis of 23 Studies Suggests Abortion Can Slightly Raise the Risk of Breast Cancer". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  6. Mooney, Chris (2003-02-01). "The scientist who hated abortion". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 2017-08-16.