John D Potter

PhD, MBBS

John D Potter is a Professor at CPHR, Massey University, Wellington; Adjunct Professor at University of Canterbury, Christchurch; and Senior Advisor, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) and Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at the University of Washington, both in Seattle, USA. John was up until recently, the Chief Science Advisor, New Zealand (NZ) Ministry of Health. Potter has had an outstanding international research career focussing on nutrition, other environmental and host factors, and genetics in the aetiology and pathobiology of cancer and other chronic diseases. This has broadened to “planetary overload”, especially in relation to diet and environmental degradation.

After 5 years of clinical medicine, Potter worked at CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition, Adelaide (1977-1986), completing his PhD and beginning his close partnership with Tony McMichael. Then, in the US, he held increasingly senior posts at the Universities of Minnesota and Washington and FHCRC (including as Director of its Division of Public Health Sciences, one of the largest groups of public-health scientists anywhere).

Potter chaired the international panel that produced Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective (1997). Recent visiting appointments have included the Cambridge Research Institute, University of Cambridge, UK and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon. He is founding co-chair of the Asia Cohort Consortium, a collaborative cohort study across Asia of 1.1 million people.

International awards include: India’s Gopalan Oration Gold Medal for nutrition science (1996); American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) DeWitt Goodman Lectureship for international leadership in research in nutrition, cancer, and cancer prevention (2000); the US National Cancer Institute Annual Advances in Cancer Prevention Award (2005); AACR-American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention (2009); and the 2012 Medal of Honour of IARC.

He is currently PI of CPHR’s research study: Comparison of two invitation-based methods for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling with standard recall for usual care among un- and under-screened Māori, Pacific and Asian women: a randomised controlled community trial to examine the effect of self-sampling on participation in cervical-cancer screening as well as participating as an investigator in other studies.

Potter has authored or co-authored more than 690 scientific papers, chapters, and books. His Scopus H-Index is 110 (see http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5439-1500; http://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=35380121900;
and http://www.fhcrc.org/en/labs/profiles/potter-john.html)

• Publications
• Current Research Projects

PUBLICATIONS

Publication	Type
Potter J. Alcohol and Gastrointestinal Cancers in Korea—Risk, Inactive Genes, and Missing Alcohol.(Invited Commentary) JAMA Oncology, 2021; 4(8):e2120775.	Journal
Chesang J, Richardson A, Potter J, Sneyd M, Coope P. Association of partner vasectomy, depot medroxyprogesterone acetate and intrauterine contraceptive devices with ovarian cancer. Ann Epidemiol, 2021; 60: 15-20	Journal
Dimou N, Mori N, Harlid S, Harbs J, Martin R, Smith-Byrne K, Papadimitriou N, Bishop D, Casey G, Colorado-Yohar S, Cotterchio M, Cross A, Le Marchand L, Lin Y, Offit K, Onland-Moret N, Peters U, Potter J, Rohan T, Weiderpass E, Gunter M, Murphy N. Circulating levels of testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin and colorectal cancer risk: observational and Mendelian randomization analyses. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2021; 30(7): 1336-1348.	Journal
Tsilidis K, Papadimitriou N, Dimou N, Gill D, Lewis S, Martin R, Murphy N, Et Al , Potter J, Et Al , Banbury B, Gruber S, Peters U, Gunter M. Genetically predicted circulating concentrations of micronutrients and risk of colorectal cancer among individuals of European descent: a Mendelian randomization study. Am J Clin Nutr, 2021; 113(6): 1490-1502.	Journal
Lo C, Blot W, Teras L, Visvanathan K, Le Marchand L, Haiman C, Chen Y, Sesso H, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Tinker L, Peek R, Potter J, Cover T, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Berndt S, Waterboer T, Epplein M, Butt J, Song M. Prediagnostic antibody responses to Fusobacterium nucleatum proteins are not associated with risk of colorectal cancer in a large United States consortium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2021; 30(6): 1279-1282.	Journal
Bull C, Bell J, Murphy N, Sanderson E, Davey Smith G, Timpson N, Et Al , Potter J, Et Al . Adiposity, metabolites, and colorectal cancer risk: Mendelian randomization study. BMC Med, 2020; 18(1): 396.	Journal
Epplein M, Le Marchand L, Cover T, Song M, Blot W, Peek R, Teras L, Visvanathan K, Chen Y, Sesso H, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Berndt S, Potter J, Ryser M, Haiman C, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Tinker L, Waterboer T, Butt J. Association of Combined Sero-Positivity to Helicobacter pylori and Streptococcus gallolyticus with Risk of Colorectal Cancer. Microorganisms, 2020; 8: 1698.	Journal
Wang X, Su Y, Petersen P, Et al , Potter J, Et Al . Exploratory Genome-Wide Interaction Analysis of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs and Predicted Gene Expression on Colorectal Cancer Risk. Cancer Epi Bio Prev, 2020; 29(9): 1800-1808.	Journal
Yin H, Hardikar S, Lindstroem S, Hsu L, Anderson K, Banbury B, Berndt S, Chan A, Giovanucci E, Harrison T, Joshi A, Nan H, Potter J, Sakoda L, Slattery M, Schoen R, White E, Peters U, Newcomb P. Telomere Maintenance Variants and Survival after Colorectal Cancer: Smoking- and Sex-Specific Associations. Cancer Epi Bio Prev, 2020; 29(9): 1817-1824.	Journal
Hidaka A, Harrison T, Cao Y, Sakoda L, Barfield R, Giannakis M, Song M, Phipps R, Figueiredo J, Et Al , Potter J, Et Al . Intake of dietary fruit, vegetables, and fiber and risk of colorectal cancer according to molecular subtypes: A pooled analysis of 9 studies. Cancer Res, 2020; 80(20): 4578-4590.	Journal
Thomas M, Sakoda L, Hoffmeister M, Rosenthal E, Lee J, van Duijnhoven F, Et Al , Potter J, Et Al . Genome-wide Modeling of Polygenic Risk Score in Colorectal Cancer Risk. Am J Hum Gen, 2020;107(3): 432-444.	Journal
Chittleborough T, Gutlic I, Pearson J, Watson A, Bhatti L, Buchwald P, Potter J, Wakeman C, Eglinton T, Frizelle F. Increasing incidence of young-onset colorectal carcinoma a 3-country population analysis. Dis Colon Rectum, 2020; 63(7): 903-910.	Journal
Yang J, Yu D, Shu X, Freedman N, Et Al , Potter J, Zheng W. Quantifying the association of low-intensity and late initiation of tobacco smoking with total and cause-specific mortality in Asia. Tob Control, 2021; 30(3): 328-335.	Journal
Mohan P, Richardson A, Potter J, Coope P, Paterson M. Opportunistic screening of oral potentially malignant disorders: A public health need for India. JCO Glob Oncol, 2020; 6: 688-696.	Journal
Potter J, Jackson R. On meat, butter, and fudge. Nutrition and Cancer, 2020; 72(1): 1-4. (Commentary).	Journal
Brewer N, Bartholomew K, Maxwell A, Grant J, McPherson G, Wihongi H, Bromhead C, Scott N, Crengle S, Cunningham C, Douwes J, Potter J. Comparison of two invitation-based methods for human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling with usual care among un- and under-screened Māori, Pacific and Asian women: study protocol for a randomised controlled community trial to examine the effect of self-sampling on participation in cervical-cancer screening. BMC Cancer, 2019; 19: 1198.	Journal
Jenkins M, Win A, Dowty J, MacInnis R, Makalic E, Schmidt D, Dite G, Kapuscinski M, Clendenning M, Rosty C, Winship I, Emery J, Saya S, Macrae F, Ahnen D, Duggan D, Figueiredo J, Lindor N, Haile R, Potter J, Cotterchio M, Gallinger S, Newcomb P, Buchanan D, Casey G, Hopper J. Ability of known susceptibility SNPs to predict colorectal cancer risk for persons with and without a family history. Familial Cancer; 2019: 18(4): 389-397.	Journal
Brewer N, Bartholomew K, Maxwell A, Grant J, Wihongi H, Bromhead C, Scott N, Crengle S, Cunningham C, Douwes J, Potter J. Preliminary results for Māori women from a randomised controlled community trial examining the acceptability of human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling. World Indigenous Cancer Conference, Calgary, Canada, 16-19 September 2019.	Conference Presentations
Richardson A, Walker L, Cox B, Rollag H, Robinson B, Morrin H, Pearson J, Potter J, Paterson M, Surcel H, Pukkala E, Currie M. Breast cancer and cytomegalovirus. Clin Trans Oncol, 2020; 22(4): 585-602.	Journal
Potter J. Rising rates of colorectal cancer in younger adults. BMJ, 2019; 365: I4280. (Editorial).	Journal
Brewer N, Foliaki S, Bromhead C, Viliamu-Amusia I, Pelefoti-Gibson L, Jones T, Pearce N, Potter J, Douwes J. Acceptability of Human Papillomavirus Self-Sampling for Cervical-Cancer Screening in Under-Screened Māori and Pasifika Women: A Pilot Study. NZ Med J, 2019; 132 (1497): 21-31.	Journal
McNabb S, Harrison T, Albanes D, Berndt S, Brenner H, Caan B, Campbell P, Cao Y, Chang-Claude J, Chan A, Chen Z, English D, Giles G, Giovannucci E, Goodman P, Hayes R, Hoffmeister M, Jacobs E, Joshi A, Larsson S, Le Marchand L, Li L, Lin Y, Mannisto S, Milne R, Nan H, Newton C, Ogino S, Parfrey P, Petersen P, Potter J, Schoen R, Slattery M, Su Y, Tangen C, Tucker T, Weinstein S, White E, Wolk A, Woods M, Phipps A, Peters U. Meta‐analysis of 16 studies of the association of alcohol with colorectal cancer. Int J Cancer, 2020; 146(3): 861-873	Journal
Douwes J, 't Mannetje A, McLean D, Pearce N, Woodward A, Potter J. Carcinogenicity of glyphosate: why is New Zealand’s EPA lost in the weeds? NZ Med J, 2018; 131(1472): 82-89.	Journal
Potter J. On taxing sugar-sweetened beverages as a public-health measure. ISBN 978-0-473-43261-4. March 2018.	Other Publications
Potter J. Red and processed meat, and human and planetary health. BMJ, 2017; 357:j2190.	Journal
Swinburn B, Vandevijvere S, Woodward A, Hornblow A, Richardson A, Burlingame B, Borman B, Taylor B, Breier B, Arroll B, Drummond B, Grant C, Bullen C, Wall C, Ni Mhurcha C, Cameron-Smith D, Menkes D, Murdoch D, Mangin D, Lennon D, Sarfati D, Sellman D, Rush E, Sopoaga F, Thomson G, Devlin G, Abel G, White H, Coad J, Hoek J, Connor J, Krebs J, Douwes J, Mann J, McCall J, Broughton J, Potter J, Toop L, Et Al . Proposed new industry code on unhealthy food marketing to children and young people: will it make a difference? NZ Med J, 2017;130(1450): 94-101.	Journal
The Global BMI Mortality Collaboration , Potter J. Body-mass index and all-cause mortality: individual-participant-data meta-analysis of 239 prospective studies in four continents. Lancet, 2016; 388(10046): 776-786.	Journal
Moore S, Antoni S, Colquhoun A, Healy B, Ellison-Loschmann L, Potter J, Garvey G, Bray F. Cancer incidence in indigenous people in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA: a comparative population-based study. Lancet Oncology, 2015; 16 (15): 1483-1492.	Journal
Clendenning M, Walsh M, Gelpi J, Thibodeau S, Lindor N, Potter J, Newcomb P, LeMarchand L, Haile R, Gallinger S, Hopper J, Jenkins M, Rosty C, Young J, Buchanan D. Detection of large scale 3′ deletions in the PMS2 gene amongst Colon-CFR participants: have we been missing anything? Familial Cancer, 2013; 12(3): 563-566.	Journal
Fink S, Yang D, Barnholtz-Sloan J, Ryu Y, Mikkola D, Potter J, Lampe J, Markowitz S, Myung S. Colonic 15-PGDH levels are stable across distance and time and are not perturbed by aspirin intervention. Dig Dis Sci, 2013; 58(9): 2615-2622.	Journal
Abbenhardt C, McTiernan A, Alfano C, Wener M, Campbell K, Duggan C, Foster-Schubert K, Kong A, Toriola A, Potter J, Mason C, Xiao L, Blackburn G, Bain C, Ulrich C. Effects of individual and combined dietary weight loss and exercise interventions in postmenopausal women on adiponectin and leptin levels. J Intern Med, 2013; 274(2): 163–175.	Journal
Walter R, Brasky T, Buckley S, Potter J, White E. Height as an explanatory factor for sex differences in human cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2013; 105 (12): 860-868.	Journal
Clendenning M, Macrae F, Walsh M, Walters R, Thibodeau S, Gunawardena S, Potter J, Haile R, Gallinger S, Colorectal Cancer Family Registry , Hopper J, Jenkins M, Rosty C, Young J, Buchanan D. Absence of PMS2 mutations in colon-CFR participants whose colorectal cancers demonstrate unexplained loss of MLH1 expression. Clinical Genetics, 2013; 83(6): 591–593.	Journal
Lin Y, Fu R, Grant E, Chen Y, Lee J, Gupta P, Ramadas K, Inoue M, Tsugane S, Gao Y, Tamakoshi A, Shu X, Ozasa K, Tsuji I, Kakizaki M, Tanaka H, Chen C, Yoo K, Ahn Y, Ahsan H, Pednekar M, Sauvaget C, Sasazuki S, Yang G, Xiang Y, Ohishi W, Watanabe T, Nishino Y, Matsuo K, You S, Park S, Kim D, Parvez F, Rolland B, McLerran D, Sinha R, Boffetta P, Thornquist M, Feng Z, Kang D, Potter J. Association of body mass index and risk of death from pancreas cancer in Asians: findings from the Asia Cohort Consortium. Eur J Cancer Prev, 2013; 22(3): 244-250.	Journal
Buchanan D, Win A, Walters R, Clendenning M, Nagler B, Pearson S, Macrae F, Parry S, Arnold J, Winship I, Giles G, Lindor N, Potter J, Hopper J, Rosty C, Young J, Jenkins M. Family history of colorectal cancer in BRAF p.V600E-mutated colorectal cancer cases. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prevent, 2013; 22(5): 917-926.	Journal
Phipps A, Buchanan D, Makar K, Win A, Baron J, Lindor N, Potter J, Newcomb P. KRAS-mutation status in relation to colorectal cancer survival: The joint impact of correlated tumor markers. Br J Cancer, 2013; 108(8): 1757–1764.	Journal
Peters U, Jiao S, Schumacher F, Hutter C, Aragaki A, Baron J, Berndt S, Bézieau S, Brenner H, Butterbach K, Caan B, Campbell P, Carlson C, Casey G, Chan A, Chang-Claude J, Chanock S, Chen L, Coetzee G, Coetzee S, Conti D, Duggan D, Edwards T, Fuchs C, Gallinger S, Giovannucci E, Gogarten S, Gruber S, Haile R, Harrison T, Hayes R, Henderson B, Hoffmeister M, Hopper J, Hudson T, Hunter D, Jackson R, Jee S, Jenkins M, Jia W, Kolonel L, Kooperberg C, Küry S, LaCroix A, Laurie C, Laurie C, LeMarchand L, Lemire M, Levine D, Lindor N, Liu Y, Ma J, Makar K, Matsuo K, Newcomb P, Potter J, Prentice R, Qu C, Rohan T, Rosse S, Schoen R, Seminara D, Shrubsole M, Shu X, Slattery M, Taverna D, Thibodeau S, Ulrich C, White E, Xiang Y, Zanke B, Zeng Y, Zhang B, Zheng W, Hsu L. Identification of genetic susceptibility loci for colorectal tumors in a genome-wide meta-analysis. Gastroenterology, 2013; 144(4): 799-807 e24.	Journal
Passarelli M, Phipps A, Potter J, Makar K, Coghill A, Wernli K, White E, Chan A, Hutter C, Peters U, Newcomb P. Common single nucleotide polymorphisms in the estrogen receptor β promoter are associated with colorectal cancer survival in postmenopausal women. Cancer Res, 2013; 73(2): 767-775.	Journal
Habermann N, Ulrich C, Lundgreen A, Makar K, Poole E, Caan B, Kulmacz R, Whitton J, Galbraith R, Potter J, Slattery M. PTGS1, PTGS2, ALOX5, ALOX12, ALOX15, and FLAP SNPs: interaction with fatty acids in colon cancer and rectal cancer. Genes & Nutrition, 2013; 8(1): 115-126.	Journal
Seufert B, Poole E, Whitton J, Xiao L, Makar K, Campbell P, Kulmacz R, Baron J, Newcomb P, Slattery M, Potter J, Ulrich C. IκBKβ and NFκB1, NSAID use and risk of colorectal cancer in the Colon Cancer Family Registry. Carcinogenesis, 2013; 34 (1): 79-85.	Journal
Hingorani S, Potter J. Pancreas cancer meets the thunder god. Sci Transl Med, 2012; 4(156): 156ps21.	Journal
Phipps A, Buchanan D, Makar K, Burnett-Hartman A, Coghill A, Passarelli M, Baron J, Ahnen D, Win A, Potter J, Newcomb P. BRAF mutation status and survival after colorectal cancer diagnosis according to patient and tumor characteristics. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2012; 21(10): 1792-8.	Journal
Potter J. Aspirin and cancer prevention and treatment: are we there yet? Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prevent, 2012; 21(9): 1439-40.	Journal
Boffetta P, Hazelton W, Chen Y, Sinha R, Inoue M, Gao Y, Koh W, Shu X, Grant E, Tsuji I, Nishino Y, You S, Yoo K, Yuan J, Kim J, Tsugane S, Yang G, Wang R, Xiang Y, Ozasa K, Nagai M, Kakizaki M, Chen C, Park S, Shin A, Ahsan H, Qu C, Lee J, Thornquist M, Rolland B, Feng Z, Zheng W, Potter J. Body mass, tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking and risk of cancer of the small intestine--a pooled analysis of over 500,000 subjects in the Asia Cohort Consortium. Ann Oncol, 2012; 23(7): 1894-8.	Journal
Cicek M, Cunningham J, Fridley B, Serie D, Bamlet W, Diergaarde B, Haile R, Le Marchand L, Krontiris T, Younghusband H, Gallinger S, Newcomb P, Hopper J, Jenkins M, Casey G, Schumacher F, Chen Z, DeRycke M, Templeton A, Winship I, Green R, Green J, Macrae F, Parry S, Young G, Young J, Buchanan D, Thomas D, Bishop D, Lindor N, Thibodeau S, Potter J, Goode E, for the Colon CFR . Colorectal cancer linkage on chromosomes 4q21, 8q13, 12q24, and 15q22. PLoS One, 2012; 7(5): e38175.	Journal
Hutter C, Chang-Claude J, Slattery M, Pflugeisen B, Lin Y, Duggan D, Nan H, Lemire M, Rangrej J, Figueiredo J, Jiao S, Harrison T, Liu Y, Chen L, Stelling D, Warnick G, Hoffmeister M, Küry S, Fuchs C, Giovannucci E, Hazra A, Kraft P, Hunter D, Gallinger S, Zanke B, Brenner H, Frank B, Ma J, Ulrich C, White E, Newcomb P, Kooperberg C, LaCroix A, Prentice R, Jackson R, Schoen R, Chanock S, Berndt S, Hayes R, Caan B, Potter J, Hsu L, Bézieau S, Chan A, Hudson T, Peters U. Characterization of gene-environment interactions for colorectal cancer susceptibility loci. Cancer Res, 2012; 72(8): 2036-2044.	Journal
Gong J, Hutter C, Baron J, Berndt S, Caan B, Campbell P, Casey G, Chan A, Cotterchio M, Fuchs C, Gallinger S, Giovannucci E, Harrison T, Hayes R, Hsu L, Jiao S, Lin Y, Lindor N, Newcomb P, Pflugeisen B, Phipps A, Rohan T, Schoen R, Seminara D, Slattery M, Stelling D, Thomas F, Warnick G, White E, Potter J, Peters U. A pooled analysis of smoking and colorectal cancer: timing of exposure and interactions with environmental factors. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2012; 21(11): 1974-85.	Journal