Alumna Author Examines Link Between Cancer and Pollution

In her new book, Dr. Sherman focuses on the dangers in our environment.

Janette Sherman, MD, ’64 has published a second book, Life’s Delicate Balance: A Guide to Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer (Taylor & Francis/Routledge). Written for the general reader, the book examines the association between environmental pollution and breast cancer and reflects Dr. Sherman’s career-long focus on preventing illness. Receiving widely favorable reviews, the book is described in Kirkus Reviews as a “strongly worded alert to the environmental causes of breast cancer, and an equally strong call for political and personal action.”

Currently practicing internal medicine in Alexandria, Va., Dr. Sherman publishes and lectures in the field of toxicology. She is also the author of Chemical Exposure and Disease and 70 articles. Dr. Sherman’s experience includes radiation and biological research at the University of California and physiology research at Michigan State University. She also has consulted for the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the National Cancer Institute. 

Dr. Sherman served on the School of Medicine faculty and currently is adjunct professor of sociology at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo where she consults with graduate students and faculty on causes of work-related illness. She received Western Michigan’s Distinguished Alumna Award in 1989.