Eva Schernhammer

Eva Schernhammer is a Professor of Epidemiology and Head of the Department of Epidemiology at the Medical University of Vienna (since 2015). She also holds adjunct professorships at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her roles include Associate Epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Lecturer on Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Education:

• MD, University of Vienna Medical School (1992)
• MPH in Quantitative Methods, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (2000)
• MPhil in Psychology, University of Vienna (2003)
• DrPH in Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (2003)
• Habilitation in Public Health, Medical University of Vienna (2005)

Research Focus: Dr. Schernhammer investigates the impact of circadian rhythms on chronic diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disorders. Key areas include:

• Shift work and light exposure as cancer risk factors
• Melatonin/cortisol biomarkers for cancer prevention
• Breast cancer etiology and gene-environment interactions
• GI tumor epigenetics and dietary influences
• Cardiovascular disease pathways linked to circadian misalignment
• Pathways of energy balance (e.g., IGFs) in breast cancer risk

Her work includes a melatonin supplementation trial in breast cancer survivors and leadership in the world’s largest population-based PD case-control study.

Awards: Over 10 major honors, including the 2015 Prof. J Teisinger Medal and recognition for highly cited occupational medicine research.

Grants/Advising: Her research integrates clinical and population-based studies, with active programs at Harvard and Vienna. She collaborates internationally on cancer prevention strategies and chronobiological mechanisms.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Epidemiology Department at MedUni Wien, coordinating interdisciplinary teams focused on public health, occupational medicine, and translational research.