Skip to content
Home
Sarah W. Thurston, Ph.D.

Sarah W. Thurston, Ph.D.

About Me

Faculty Appointments

Professor - Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology (SMD)

Professor - Department of Environmental Medicine (SMD) - Joint

Credentials

Post-doctoral Training & Residency

Research Associate, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health 2000 - 2002

Research Fellow- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health 1997 - 2000

Education

PhD | Harvard University. Statistics. 1997

AM | Harvard University. Statistics. 1992

MS | Cornell University. Natural Resources. 1991

AB | Oberlin College. Biology. 1978

Awards

Elected Member of International Statistical Institute. 2006

American Journal of Epidemiology. 2001

Award for best contributed paper to the Risk Analysis Section. 2001

Radcliffe Prize Scholarship. 1990

Publications

Journal Articles

Prenatal exposure to methylmercury and LCPUFA in relation to birth weight.

van Wijngaarden E, Harrington D, Kobrosly R, Thurston SW, O'Hara T, McSorley EM, Myers GJ, Watson GE, Shamlaye CF, Strain JJ, Davidson PW

Annals of epidemiology.. 2014 April 24 (4):273-8. Epub 01/16/2014.

Bayesian Models for Multiple Outcomes in Domains with Application to the Seychelles Child Development Study.

Xiao L, Thurston SW, Ruppert D, Love TM, Davidson PW

Journal of the American Statistical Association.. 2014 January 1109 (505):1-10. Epub 1900 01 01.

Model Averaging Procedure for Partially Linear Single-index Models.

Yu Y, Thurston SW, Hauser R, Liang H

Journal of statistical planning and inference.. 2013 December 1143 (12):2160-2170. Epub 1900 01 01.

Latent factor regression models for grouped outcomes.

Woodard DB, Love TM, Thurston SW, Ruppert D, Sathyanarayana S, Swan SH

Biometrics.. 2013 September 69 (3):785-94. Epub 07/11/2013.

Autism spectrum disorder phenotypes and prenatal exposure to methylmercury.

van Wijngaarden E, Davidson PW, Smith TH, Evans K, Yost K, Love T, Thurston SW, Watson GE, Zareba G, Burns CM, Shamlaye CF, Myers GJ

Epidemiology.. 2013 September 24 (5):651-9. Epub 1900 01 01.

Marriage and motherhood are associated with lower testosterone concentrations in women.

Barrett ES, Tran V, Thurston S, Jasienska G, Furberg AS, Ellison PT, Thune I

Hormones and behavior.. 2013 January 63 (1):72-9. Epub 11/01/2012.

Prenatal methyl mercury exposure in relation to neurodevelopment and behavior at 19 years of age in the Seychelles Child Development Study.

van Wijngaarden E, Thurston SW, Myers GJ, Strain JJ, Weiss B, Zarcone T, Watson GE, Zareba G, McSorley EM, Mulhern MS, Yeates AJ, Henderson J, Gedeon J, Shamlaye CF, Davidson PW

Neurotoxicology and teratology.. 2013 39 :19-25. Epub 06/14/2013.

Neurodevelopmental outcomes at 5 years in children exposed prenatally to maternal dental amalgam: the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study.

Watson GE, van Wijngaarden E, Love TM, McSorley EM, Bonham MP, Mulhern MS, Yeates AJ, Davidson PW, Shamlaye CF, Strain JJ, Thurston SW, Harrington D, Zareba G, Wallace JM, Myers GJ

Neurotoxicology and teratology.. 2013 39 :57-62. Epub 07/13/2013.

Prenatal organochlorine exposure and behaviors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in school-aged children.

Sagiv SK, Thurston SW, Bellinger DC, Tolbert PE, Altshul LM, Korrick SA

American journal of epidemiology.. 2010 March 1171 (5):593-601. Epub 01/27/2010.

Organic and inorganic mercury in neonatal rat brain after prenatal exposure to methylmercury and mercury vapor.

Ishitobi H, Stern S, Thurston SW, Zareba G, Langdon M, Gelein R, Weiss B

Environmental health perspectives.. 2010 February 118 (2):242-8. Epub 1900 01 01.

Are environmental levels of bisphenol A associated with reproductive function in fertile men?

Mendiola, J.; Jorgensen, N.; Andersson, A.-M.; Calafat, A.M.; Redoma, B.; Drobnis, E.Z.; Wang, C.; Sparks, A.; Thurston, S.W.; Liu, F.; Swan, S.H.

Environmental Health Perspectives. 2010; 118(9): 1286-1291.

Mathematical modeling of ultradeep sequencing data reveals that acute CT8+ T-lymphocity responses exert strong selective pressure in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-infected macaques, but still fail to clear founder epitope sequences

Love, T.M.T.; Thurston, S.W.; Keefer, M.C.; Dewhurst, S.; Lee, H.Y.

Journal of Virology. 2010; 84(11): 5802-5814.

Early Alterations in Pulmonary Cytokine Expression: Surrogate Markers in Adults versus Children Following a Radiation Event

Johnston, C.J.; Hernady, E.; Reed, C.; Thurston, S.W.; Finkelstein, J.N.; Williams, J.P.

Radiation Research. 2010; 173(4): 522-35.

Interpreting epidemiological evidence in the presence of multiple endpoints: an alternative analytic approach using the 9-year follow-up of the Seychelles child development study.

van Wijngaarden E, Myers GJ, Thurston SW, Shamlaye CF, Davidson PW

International archives of occupational and environmental health.. 2009 August 82 (8):1031-41. Epub 02/11/2009.

Additive partial linear models with measurement error.

Liang, H.; Thurston, SW.; Ruppert, D.; Apanasovich, T.; Hauser, R.

Biometrika. 2008; .

Association between prenatal exposure to methylmercury and visuospatial ability at 10.7 years in the Seychelles Child Development Study.

Davidson, PW.; Sloane-Reeves, J.; Myers, GJ.; Hansen, ON.; Huang, LS.; Georger, L.; Cox, C.; Thurston, SW.; Shamlaye, CF.; Clarkson, TW.

NeuroToxicology. 2008; .

Is susceptibility to prenatal methylmercury exposure from fish consumption non-homogeneous? Tree-structured analysis for the Seychelles Child Development Study.

Huang LS, Myers GJ, Davidson PW, Cox C, Xiao F, Thurston SW, Cernichiari E, Shamlaye CF, Sloane-Reeves J, Georger L, Clarkson TW

Neurotoxicology.. 2007 November 28 (6):1237-44. Epub 08/25/2007.

Does prenatal methylmercury exposure from fish consumption affect blood pressure in childhood?

Thurston SW, Bovet P, Myers GJ, Davidson PW, Georger LA, Shamlaye C, Clarkson TW

Neurotoxicology.. 2007 September 28 (5):924-30. Epub 06/16/2007.

Comparing smoothing techniques in Cox models for exposure-response relationships

Govindarajulu, US.; Spiegelman, D.; Thurston, SW.; Ganguli, B.; and Eisen, EA.

Statistics in Medince. 2007; 26: 3735-3752.

Testing nanomaterials of unknown toxicity: an example based on platinum nanoparticles of different shapes

Elder, A.; Yang, H.; Gwiazda, R.; Teng, X.; Thurston, SW.; Cernichiari, E.; Shamlaye, CF.; Sloane-Reeves, J.; Georger, L.; and Clarkson, TW.

Advanced Materials. 2007; 19: 3124-3129.

One semen sample or 2? Insights from a study of fertile men.

Stokes-Riner A, Thurston SW, Brazil C, Guzick D, Liu F, Overstreet JW, Wang C, Sparks A, Redmon JB, Swan SH

Journal of andrology. 2007 28 (5):638-43. Epub 05/23/2007.

A comparison of regression calibration approaches for designs with internal validation data

Thurston, SW.; Williams, PL.; Hauser, R.; Hu, H.; Hernandez-Avila, M.; and Spiegelman, D.

Journal of Statistical Plannin and Inference. 2005; 131: 175-190.

Modeling lung cancer risk in case-control studies using a new dose metric of smoking

Thurston, SW.; Liu, G.; Miller, DP.; and Christiani, DC.

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2005; 14: 2296-2302 (with Commentary.).

On the use of biomarkers for environmental health research.

Ryan L, Huang W, Thurston SW, Kelsey KT, Wiencke JK, Christiani DC

Statistical methods in medical research.. 2004 June 13 (3):207-25. Epub 1900 01 01.

Smoothing methods applied to occupational cohort studies: illustrated by penalized splines.

Eisen, EA.; Agalliu, I.; Thurston, SW.; Coull, BA.; and Checkoway, H.

Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 2004; 61(10): 854-860.

Scholastic achievement among children enrolled in the Seychelles Child Development Study.

Sloane-Reeves, J.; Davidson, PW.; Myers, GJ.; Shamlaye, C.; Leste, A.; Huang, LS.; and Thurston, S.

Seychelles Medical and Dental Journal. 2004; 7(1): 121-126.

P53 (codon 72) and P21 (codon 31) polymorphisms alter in vivo mRNA expression of p21.

Su L, Sai Y, Fan R, Thurston SW, Miller DP, Zhou W, Wain JC, Lynch TJ, Liu G, Christiani DC

Lung cancer : journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.. 2003 June 40 (3):259-66. Epub 1900 01 01.

Equivalence of regression calibration methods in main study/ external validation study designs.

Thurston, SW.; Spiegelman, D.; and Ruppert, D.

Journal of Statistical Plannin and inference. 2003; 113: 527-539.

Polymorphisms in the DNA repair genes XRCC1 and ERCC2, smoking, and lung cancer risk.

Zhou, W.; Liu, G.; Miller, DP.; Thurston, SW.; Xu, LL.; Wain, JC.; Lynch, TJ.; Su, L.; and Christiani, DC.

Caner Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2003; 12: 359-365.

Smoothing in survival models: an application to workers exposed to metalworking fluids.

Thurston SW, Eisen EA, Schwartz J

Epidemiology.. 2002 November 13 (6):685-92. Epub 1900 01 01.

Gene-environment interaction for the ERCC2 polymorphisms and cumulative cigarette smoking exposure in lung cancer.

Zhou W, Liu G, Miller DP, Thurston SW, Xu LL, Wain JC, Lynch TJ, Su L, Christiani DC

Cancer research.. 2002 March 162 (5):1377-81. Epub 1900 01 01.

Genetic polymophisms of N-acetyltranferase-2 and microsomal epoxide hydrolase and cumulative cigarette smoking in lung cancer.

Zhou, W.; Liu, G.; Thurston, SW.; Xu, LL.; Miller, DP.; Wain, JC.; Lynch, TJ.; Su, L.; and Christiani, DC.

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2002; 11: 15-21.

Differential association of the codon 72 p53 and GSTM1 polymorphisms on histological subtype of non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Liu G, Miller DP, Zhou W, Thurston SW, Fan R, Xu LL, Lynch TJ, Wain JC, Su L, Christiani DC

Cancer research.. 2001 December 1561 (24):8718-22. Epub 1900 01 01.

Biomarkers

Thurston, SW.;.

Encyclopedia of Environmetrics - El-Shaarawi AH and Piegorsch WW Editors. 2001; 1: 192-196.

DNA Adducts

Thurston, SW.

Encyclopedia of Environmetrics- El-Shaarawi AH and Piegorsch WW. 2001; 1: 561-562.

The NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 gene polymorphism and lung cancer: differential susceptibility based on smoking behavior.

Xu, LL,; Wain, JC.; Miller, D.; Thurston, SW.; Su, L.; and Christiani, DC.

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2001; 10: 303-309.

The interaction between microsomal epoxide hydrolase polymophisms and cumulative cigarette smoking in different histological subtypes of lung cancer.

Zhou, W.; Thurston, SW.; Liu, G.; Xu,LL.; Miller, DP.; Wain, JC.; Lynch,TJ.; Su,L.; Christiani, DC.

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. 2001; 10: 461-466.

Petrochemical exposure and menstrual disturbances.

Thurston SW, Ryan L, Christiani DC, Snow R, Carlson J, You L, Cui S, Ma G, Wang L, Huang Y, Xu X

American journal of industrial medicine.. 2000 November 38 (5):555-64. Epub 1900 01 01.

Negative binomial additive models.

Thurston SW, Wand MP, Wiencke JK

Biometrics.. 2000 March 56 (1):139-44. Epub 1900 01 01.

Early age at smoking initiation and tobacco carcinogen DNA damage in the lung.

Wiencke JK, Thurston SW, Kelsey KT, Varkonyi A, Wain JC, Mark EJ, Christiani DC

Journal of the National Cancer Institute.. 1999 April 791 (7):614-9. Epub 1900 01 01.

Variance Estimation in Microsimulation Models of the Food Stamp Program

Thurston, SW.; and Zaslavsky, AM.

ASA Proceedings of the Social Statistics Section. 1996; : 4-9.

Error Analysis of MATH-CPS Model Estimates

Thurston, SW.; and Zaslavsky, AM.

Final Report to the Food and Consumer Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mathematica Policy Research. 1996; .

Error Analysis of Food Stamp Microsimulation Models: Further Results

Zaslavsky, AM.; and Thurston, SW.;.

ASA Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research Methods. 1995; : 151-156.

Using Ethnographic Data to Evaluate Dual System Estimates

Thurston, SW.; and Zaslavsky, AM.

ASA Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research Methods. 1994; : 254-259.

Error Analysis of Food Stamp Microsimulation Models

Zaslavsky, AM.; and Thurston, SW.

ASA Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research Methods. 1994; : 535-540.

Effect of site characteristics and 1st and 2nd year seedling densities on forest development in a northern hardwood forest.

Thurston, SW.; Kransy, ME.; Martin, CW.; and Fahey, T.J.

Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 1992; 22: 1860-1868.

Effect of Movers on Triple System Estimation

Thurston, SW.; and Zaslavsky, AM.

ASA Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research Methods. 1992; : 176-181.

Books

Encyclopedia of Environmetrics (2013)

Chapter: DNA Adducts

Authors: Thurston, SW

Publisher: John Wiley & Son, LTD, Chichester, UK 2013