Parichoy Pal Choudhury, PhD

At ACS since 2022

As a Principal Scientist in Biostatistics, Parichoy Pal Choudhury, PhD,  works with both Surveillance and Health Equity Science (SHES) and Population Science (PopSci) departments. 

He leads a research program focused on the development and application of statistical methods in risk prediction with an emphasis on risk-stratified cancer prevention that addresses health disparities. He conducts research on mission-priority topics across the cancer continuum and actively collaborates with scientists across the ACS Discovery Pillar as well as with investigators who are not part of the ACS.

Research focus and accomplishments

My research focuses on developing methods and software tools for building and independently validating absolute risk-prediction models. I have developed the Individualized Coherent Absolute Risk Estimator (iCARE) software for risk development and validation. Using WebAssembly, it was recently converted to a risk tool (Wasm-iCARE) guided by Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) principles. 

I apply these tools to predict absolute risk for breast cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and bladder cancer. The goal is to inform cancer prevention by stratifying the risks for developing cancer. For example, for these complex diseases, I build models to assess how factors like genetic variants and non-genetic factors interact to affect the risk of disease and whether the risk-factor associations differ across biologically heterogeneous disease subtypes.

My recent statistical methodology research focused on how to precisely estimate metrics of model performance in a prospective cohort where certain expensive biomarkers may be available only on a subgroup of the study participants. I showed an application of this method in lung cancer risk prediction in a paper published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

I have substantial experience in leading or co-leading large studies in a consortium setting. For example, I led a large validation effort within the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) for a model predicting absolute risk of breast cancer in women from European ancestry. This model was validated in 15 prospective cohorts across 6 countries and incorporated risk factors and polygenic risk score (PRS) with relative risks derived from literature. The study was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology with a commentary.

I recently co-led a paper published in European Urology that used large consortium-based genome wide association studies on bladder cancer to identify novel genetic markers  highlighting new biology and the role of interactions between genetic variants and risk factors like sex and smoking. 

Our recent data-driven commentary emphasizes the need to improve ovarian cancer risk-prediction models and evaluate new preventative approaches for the general population.  

My research is recognized with several recent awards for early-career scientists:

• AACR-Club-R-K Scholars-in-training award, American Association for Cancer Research
• Young Investigator Award, Statistics in Epidemiology section, American Statistical Association
• Multiple research excellence awards from the US National Cancer Institute

More recently, I have expanded my applied quantitative research to study important questions in cancer health disparities. For example, in a Brief Communication published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, we reported findings based on data from ~1.9 million cancer patients from the National Cancer Database about the contribution of health insurance in racial and ethnic disparities. We focused on advanced stage diagnoses for 10 cancers that can be detected early through screening, physical examination, or clinical symptoms.

I plan to address disparities in risk-prediction research by evaluating understudied populations, in particular from non-European ancestry, since the traditional research focus has been on populations with European ancestry.

Publications

For a full list of Dr. Pal Choudhury’s publications, visit his Google Scholar page.  

Contact 

Other Appointments

• American Statistical Association, Secretary/Treasurer, Risk Analysis Section, 2024 - present
  
• Society for Epidemiologic Research, Board member of Awards’ Committee, 2023 - present
• Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology, 2023 - Present
• Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Adjunct Member, 2023 - Present
• US National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Adjunct Researcher, 2022 - Present

Work before ACS

• US National Cancer Institute, Research Fellow, 2019 - 2022
• The Johns Hopkins University, Postdoctoral Researcher, 2016 - 2019

Education

• PhD: Biostatistics, The Johns Hopkins University, 2010 - 2016
• MStat: Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, 2008 - 2010
• BStat: Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, 2005 - 2008

Personal life 

I live with my wife, Dr. Tushita Mukhopadhyaya, a material scientist by profession, and our son, Prachyo Pal Choudhury, in the Brookhaven area in Atlanta. When I'm not doing research, I enjoy outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking and indoor ones like reading, watching movies, and listening to music.