Lorelei A. Mucci, ScD, MPH
Harvard School of Public Health - Boston, Massachusetts

Dr. Mucci received her BS in Biology from Tufts University and her MPH in epidemiology and biostatistics from the Boston University of Public Health. She continued her education at the Harvard School of Public Heath where she obtained her ScD in epidemiology. She is currently an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an adjunct professor of public health at the University of Iceland.

In addition to her work as a professor, Dr. Mucci is also an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and a member of the Admissions Committee and the Gender Equality Committee in the Epidemiology Department at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Mucci is also the Co-Director of the Channing Peer-Mentoring Program for 40 post-doctoral fellows and instructors at the Channing Laboratory in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Although Dr. Mucci’s career is in the field of cancer epidemiology, it was by chance that she began work with prostate cancer specifically. “Towards the end of my post-doctoral fellowship, Dr. Meir Stampfer (Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of public Health) approached me about an opportunity with his group, in the area of prostate cancer epidemiology. I jumped at the chance to work with him,” Dr. Mucci explains. She is also thrilled to be working with Dr. Philip Kantoff, who co-mentors her with Dr. Stampfer. Dr. Mucci is extremely happy with the way her career turned out, and she says, “I feel privileged to be one of the women researchers working on prostate cancer.”

In addition to her PCF Young Investigator Award, Dr. Mucci has received many other accolades. She was awarded the NIH Loan Repayment Program Award from the National Institutes of Health, the James M. Dunning Award for Research Excellence from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Oncology Merit Award from the American Society for Clinical Oncology, and the Harvard Dependent Care Fund Award. Her work has appeared in 83 articles, and four books.

Dr. Mucci’s hobbies include knitting, cooking (she worked part-time as a restaurant cook in college), tennis, and snowboarding. She has also run three half- marathons. Dr. Mucci is married and has a 5-year-old son. “When I am not working, my main desire is to be with my family, and we take part in many activities together such as biking and nature walks,” Dr. Mucci says.

Dr. Mucci’s family has provided her with a great sense of pride towards her work in prostate cancer research. “I cannot imagine a more rewarding and important cancer for me to be working on. On a personal level, I feel that the work that I do has the potential to ultimately impact the health of my husband and son, and this is a strong driving force for me,” she states.