Gertraud Maskarinec, MD, PhD
Associate Director of Cancer Research Education and Training, University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center
Full Member, Population Sciences in the Pacific Program (Cancer Epidemiology), University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center
Academic Appointment(s):
Professor (Researcher) of University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Graduate Faculty, Office of Public Health Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Graduate Faculty, Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Berlin Institute of Health Visiting Professor, funded by Stiftung Charité
Degree(s):
MD (Preventive Medicine), Universität Freiburg, Germany
PhD (Epidemiology), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
MPH (Epidemiology), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Research Focus
Dr. Maskarinec, a physician in preventive medicine and nutritional epidemiologist, has the goal to contribute to chronic disease prevention by understanding the etiology of breast cancer, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL), and type 2 diabetes. To elucidate the difference in health status across ethnic groups, she has performed comparative studies that included participants from Hawaiʻi, Guam, the US, Japan, and Europe. Nutritional risk factors, especially dietary patterns, overweight and obesity, and soy foods are the main topics of numerous publications. In the area of breast cancer risk, she has worked with intermediate endpoints, such as mammographic densities, pathologic markers in tissue, serum hormone levels, urinary estrogen metabolites, adipokines, inflammatory markers, and nipple aspirate fluid. Dr. Maskarinec is dedicated to research education and training and career development. She leads the Cancer Center's Summer Internship Program for undergraduate students, oversees training programs for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and teaches at the University of Hawaiʻi and institutions in foreign countries.
Selected Publications
Maskarinec G, Brown MS, Lee J, Bogumil D, Walsh C, Haiman CA, Setiawan VW, Shvetsov YB, Le Marchand L. Association of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: The Multiethnic Cohort (2023). Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention; Oct 2;32:1348-1355. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-23-0565.
Tsuzaki J, Maskarinec G, Mapa V, Shvetsov YB, Park S-Y, Monroe KR, Lim U, Le Marchand L, Boushey CJ. Diet Quality and Body Mass Index Over 20 Years in the Multiethnic Cohort (2023). Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Feb 2:S2212-2672(23)00058-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2023.02.001.
Bogumil D, Cortessis VK, Wilkens LR, Le Marchand L, Veronica Wendy Setiawan VS, Haiman CA, Maskarinec G. The Association Between Type 2 Diabetes and Bladder Cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort Study (2023). Cancer Research Communications; May 2;3(5):755-762. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-22-0288. eCollection.
Ma E, Maskarinec G, Lim U, Boushey CJ, Wilkens LR, Setiawan VW, Le Marchand L, Randolph TR, Jenkins IC, Curtis KR, Lampe JW, Hullar MAJ. (2021). Long-term Association between Diet Quality and Characteristics of the Gut Microbiome in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Br J Nutrition; Aug 9:1-29. doi: 10.1017/S0007114521002968. Online ahead of print.
Maskarinec G, Lim U, Jacobs S, Monroe KR, Ernst T, Buchthal SD, Shepherd JA, Wilkens LR, Le Marchand L, Boushey CJ. (2017). Diet Quality Predicts Visceral Adiposity and Liver Fatness: The Multiethnic Cohort Study. Obesity; 25: 1442-50. doi:10.1002/oby.21868.
Maskarinec G, Jacobs S, Park SY, Haiman CA, Setiawan VW, Wilkens LR, Le Marchand L. (2017). Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, and Breast Cancer Risk: The Multiethnic Cohort.Cancer Epidemiol, Biomarkers Prev; Jun;26(6):854-861. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-16-0789.
Publication list via PubMed
Active Grants
G. Maskarinec (Co-I), Shepherd, PI
NCI
R01 CA263491
"Hawaii Minority Health and Cancer Disparities SPORE NIH/NCI"
04/01/23 – 03/31/28
G. Maskarinec, MPI of Research Education Core
NCI
U54 CA143727
"Pacific Island Partnership for Health Equity (PIPCHE)"
09/01/20 – 08/31/25
G. Maskarinec, MPI (Contact PI)
NCI
R25 CA244073
"Cancer Research Education, Advancement, Training and Empowerment (CREATE) in the Pacific"
08/01/20 – 07/31/25
G. Maskarinec (Director of Developmental Research Program and Career Enhancement), Le Marchand/Berenberg, MPI
NCI
P20 CA27573
"Hawaii Minority Health and Cancer Disparities SPORE NIH/NCI"
09/01/23 – 08/31/25
Maskarinec, Associate Director of Cancer Research Training; N. Ueno, PI
NCI
P30 CA071789
“University of Hawaii Cancer Center CCSG”
7/1997 - 6/2024
G. Maskarinec, (Executive Director), Le Marchand/Haiman, MPI
NCI
T32 CA229110
"Multidisciplinary Training in Ethnic Diversity and Cancer Disparities"
04/01/19 – 03/31/24
