Published OnlineFirst December 5, 2012; DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-1309
Obituary
Cancer
Epidemiology,
Biomarkers
& Prevention
Robert C. Millikan:
In Memoriam
A.F. Olshan1, C.B. Ambrosone3, J.S. Barnholtz-Sloan4,
M. Berwick5,6, J. Palmer7, and N.E. Thomas2
We are deeply saddened by the death of our colleague and
friend, Bob Millikan. Bob passed away at the age of 55
years on October 7, 2012. Bob was a leader in the field of
cancer epidemiology, especially the molecular epidemiology of breast cancer. He was a true scholar, teacher, and
mentor and will be missed by many colleagues, former
students, study staff, the breast cancer advocacy community, and others from the many diverse communities that
had come to know and be inspired by him.
Robert C. Millikan earned undergraduate and doctoral
degrees (1982 and 1984, respectively) in veterinary medicine from University of California, Davis (Davis, CA),
and a Master of Public Health (1991) and Doctor of
Philosophy (1993) in epidemiology from University of
California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA). He was a
postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, MA) and completed an internship in medicine and surgery at the School of Veterinary Medicine of
the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA; 1985).
Bob joined the faculty in the Department of Epidemiology
at the Gillings School of Global Public Health of the
University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC) in 1993.
He spent the 2005 to 2006 academic year at University
College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland) as a Fulbright Scholar. In
Authors' Affiliations: 1Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of
Global Public Health; 2Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; 3Department of Cancer
Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York;
4
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University
School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; 5University of New Mexico Cancer
Center; 6Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico;
Albuquerque, New Mexico; and 7Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston
University, Boston, Massachusetts
Corresponding Author: A.F. Olshan, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, NC 27599. Phone: 919-966-7424; Fax: 919-966-2089; E-mail:
[email protected]
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-1309
Ó2012 American Association for Cancer Research.
176
2008, he was awarded the Hulka Distinguished Professorship.
Bob was widely known for his research on breast
cancer, which extended from identification of genetic and
environmental etiologic risk factors to assessment of factors that impact recurrence and survival. As Principal
Investigator of the Carolina Breast Cancer Study (CBCS),
he greatly elucidated the etiology of specific breast cancer
subtypes, particularly those that disproportionately
impact African-American women. Bob’s research was
extremely rigorous and in-depth, but he did not stop with
making important scientific discoveries. To give back to
the community of women who participated in the CBCS,
Bob established mechanisms for study participants to
have personal contact with the investigators, and to
receive information on study findings thorough annual
research meetings including researchers and the community. In recent years, Bob also participated in several
consortia, recognizing that it is only through collaborations and pooling of data and samples that the scientific
community will be able to understand why AfricanAmerican women are diagnosed with more aggressive
breast cancer subtypes, are diagnosed at younger ages,
and are more likely to die from the disease.
Bob’s expertise in breast cancer research was also widely shared with the breast cancer advocacy community,
playing a major role in educational programs. Bob was
asked in 1994 by the National Breast Cancer Coalition
(NBCC) to create a curriculum to teach advocates the
basics of molecular biology, epidemiology, and research
design. Advocates with this training would then be better
prepared to engage with breast cancer scientists and
survivors. This was the start of Project LEAD, a NBCC
program that has graduated more than 2,000 advocates
from around the world. Bob was highly regarded as a
teacher, covering a wide range of topics in a highly
engaging manner, always sensitive to the varying science
backgrounds of the advocate students. Since his death,
many advocates have paid testament to the impact Bob
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Obituary
had on their lives and their work. Many have noted how,
with his kind, quiet way, Bob not only educated them,
sharing his wealth of knowledge and perspective, but also
inspired them to have confidence in their participation in
the advocacy and scientific communities.
Bob was also a part of the melanoma community,
extending from Ireland to Italy to Denmark to Australia
to Canada and throughout the United States. He was a
founding member of the Genes, Environment and Melanoma (GEM), study, a large international study of melanoma risk and survival. Bob’s passion for doing things
correctly without need for personal recognition ranged
from improving the ascertainment of melanoma in North
Carolina to conducting special analyses without regard
for publication on such topics as population stratification
in melanoma. The GEM study meets annually and this
group has met in some of Bob’s favorite locations—Whis-
www.aacrjournals.org
tler Mountain during ski season, Copenhagen in the
spring, and sunny Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the
winter. Bob also greatly enjoyed his Fulbright year in
Ireland studying melanoma with William Gallagher’s
group. He felt strongly about strengthening research ties
across geographical and cultural boundaries. Bob was
known for his integrity but also had a sly sense of humor
that could always make you smile.
To those who knew him (this is a large cohort!), Bob will
be remembered for not only his exceptional talent as a
scientist, but also for being an extremely caring individual
who was more interested in how you were doing than in
giving a discourse on his own accomplishments. He
channeled his nonwork time into many areas—coaching
rowing at University of North Carolina, playing violin in a
quartet, volunteering for the local Interfaith Council—all
representing his world view of helping others.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 22(1) January 2013
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Published OnlineFirst December 5, 2012; DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-1309
Robert C. Millikan: In Memoriam
A.F. Olshan, C.B. Ambrosone, J.S. Barnholtz-Sloan, et al.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2013;22:176-177. Published OnlineFirst December 5, 2012.
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