Ross Prentice, PhD

Dr. Ross Prentice, former senior vice president and director of the Hutch’s Public Health Sciences Division, is a biostatistician who develops methods used in the design and analysis of clinical and population studies. He is particularly interested in research dedicated to the prevention of chronic diseases, with an emphasis on dietary and hormonal changes that may reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. He and Hutch colleagues established the Clinical Coordinating Center for the Women’s Health Initiative, a national program launched in 1993 that enrolled more than 161,000 postmenopausal women to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary change and menopausal hormone therapy on reducing chronic disease risk. One landmark WHI study revealed that combined hormone replacement therapy increased the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. The finding reduced the use of CHT and has helped prevent up to 20,000 cases of breast cancer per year in the U.S. alone. Dr. Prentice co-led the WHI team that in 2016 received the Team Science Award from the American Association of Cancer Research. Dr. Prentice also develops statistical methods for analyzing objectively measured physical activity data to improve our understanding of the link between exercise and health outcomes, such as the prevention of cardiovascular disease.