Jennifer Ritonja, PhD in Epidemiology, supervised by Dr Kristan Aronson

Topic: Night shift work, melatonin, and circadian gene methylation in the development of breast cancer Overview: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Canada and globally. Breast cancer etiology is complex, and work environment as a risk factor is still poorly understood, particularly with respect to night shift work. It is estimated that 10-30% of the global working population are night shift workers. While research indicates that night shift work raises the risk of breast cancer, not all research is consistent, due to differences across studies. Further, it is still unclear how night work may make an individual more susceptible to breast cancer.