Margaret R. Spitz, MD, MPH--During her 27-year career at M. D. Anderson, Dr. Margaret R. Spitz has conducted innovative epidemiology research that has helped propel our Cancer Prevention program to international prominence. Dr. Spitz received her medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg, South Africa, and her master’s of public health degree from The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston. She joined the faculty in 1981 and was named founding chair of the Department of Epidemiology in 1995. Dr. Spitz has recruited an outstanding cadre of epidemiologists to her department, and the department now includes 29 faculty among more than 215 employees and a research budget of over $20 million. A recent National Cancer Institute peer review concluded that our epidemiology program is "without peer."

The centerpiece of research in the department is an innovative epidemiology program that bridges laboratory studies and clinical research, and is highly interactive and well-funded. Her own research focuses on inter-individual variation in susceptibility to the development of tobacco-related cancers, and the construction of risk models to identify high risk subgroups of smokers. Dr. Spitz, who has contributed to more than 350 scientific publications, currently serves as principal investigator on three RO1 grants totaling more than $8.3 million.

In 2004, she received the Olga Keith Wiess Distinguished University Chair for Cancer Research, the first woman in The University of Texas System selected for its highest endowed position. Among her many other accolades are the 1997 Texas Business and Professional Women’s Award, the 2000 American Society of Preventive Oncology Distinguished Achievement Award, the 2002 AACR/American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Epidemiology or Prevention and in 2003, the Rosalind E. Franklin Award for Women in Science from the National Cancer Institute.  At M. D. Anderson, she was the first recipient of the Julie and Ben Rogers Award for Excellence in cancer prevention and the Faculty Achievement Award in Cancer Prevention.  She was recently inducted into the Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame. The University of Chicago Cancer Research Center has announced Dr. Spitz as the 2009 Simon M. Shubitz Lecturer and Award recipient.

Nationally, Dr. Spitz served as co-chair of the NCI’s Lung Cancer Progress Review Group and  recently completed service on the Board of Scientific Advisors of the NCI. She sits on the external scientific advisory committees of several major cancer centers. She has served on a National Institutes of Health study section and is past president of the American Society of Preventive Oncology. 

Last updated: 8/11/2009