Dr. Thomas C. Tucker is an Associate Professor in the College of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology. He was the first Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and served in that role until January 1, 2009. Dr. Tucker is also the Associate Director for the Markey Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention and Control Program and the Director of the Kentucky Cancer Registry (the state’s official population-based cancer surveillance system). He is the principal investigator for the NCI, Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program and the CDC, National Program of Cancer Registries in Kentucky.

Scientific understanding has moved beyond randomized trials and now frequently includes population-based studies to address issues of external validity. As the Director of the Kentucky Cancer Registry, Dr. Tucker is deeply involved in a number of population-based cancer studies. He is the co-investigator on a population-based case-control study that examines metabolic syndrome pathway factors and colon cancer. This study represents one of the largest population-based colon cancer case-control studies currently underway with approximately 1500 cases and more than 2000 matched controls. Blood, toenail, and hair samples have been collected on all of the cases and controls making it possible to explore gene environment interactions. For example, toenail samples can be used to measure exposure to heavy metals such as arsenic or cadmium and blood samples can be used to study specific polymorphisms (genetic alterations) associated with exposure to these heavy metals. The colon cancer case-control study has resulted in nine journal publications in the past year alone.

Dr. Tucker is the principal investigator for a NCI funded project designed to get all cases of cancer automatically reported to the population-based cancer registry in an electronic format. Software that contains an artificial intelligence protocol is placed on each pathology lab computer. The software can read each pathology report, determine if it is for cancer and automatically send the report to the Kentucky Cancer Registry. Currently, 38 of the 48 pathology labs that review tissue from cancer patients living in Kentucky are reporting to the central cancer registry using this system and the remaining ten labs are in some phase of implementing the software. This makes it possible to know the diagnosis of each cancer patient at the time the diagnosis is made. Thus, it is possible to do a variety of population-based studies that require rapid case ascertainment. Kentucky is the only place where this is currently possible. Dr. Tucker is the principal investigator for a CDC funded study to test the feasibility of collecting population-based data on pre-invasive cervical cancer patients. This is part of a larger CDC effort to establish a monitoring system for cervical cancer and HPV. Dr. Tucker has used the electronic pathology lab reporting system for this project and has been able to gather population-based data on pre-invasive cervical cancer patients with almost no time delay.

Dr. Tucker is involved in a variety of other research projects. His research activities are far too numerous to list here. However, it is important to note that he is highly regarded in the cancer surveillance community. He as served as President of the North America Association of Central Cancer Registries and in 2002 he received their highest honor, the Calum Muir award, for lifetime contributions to the science of cancer surveillance.