Iona Cheng, PhD, MPH
Professor
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
School of Medicine

Dr. Iona Cheng is an epidemiologist with research interests focused on the role of genetics, health behaviors, environmental exposures, and neighborhood factors on cancer incidence and prognosis. Her overall research program is centered on understanding racial/ethnic differences in cancer risk.

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Dr. Cheng has an active program of research studies of nested case-control and cohort studies of the breast, lung, colorectal, and prostate cancer within the Multiethnic Cohort Study and is developing an electronic health record cohort of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders through collaborations between Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii. In addition, she is conducting studies within Population Architecture Using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Study to discover novel genetic loci for complex traits among non-European ancestry populations. She is also Co-Investigator of Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry, a part of the California Cancer Registry and the NCI Surveillance Epidemiology End Results (SEER) Program, and the Colon Cancer Family Registry.

Education & Training

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  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training University of California, San Francisco 2021
  • Postdoc Molecular/Genetic Epidemiology University of California, San Francisco 2008
  • PhD Epidemiology University of Southern California 2005
  • MPH Chronic Disease Epidemiology Yale University 2001
  • BS Physiology University of California, Davis 1994

Interests

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  • racial/ethnic disparities
  • lifestyle factors
  • geospatial research
  • air pollution
  • genetic susceptibility
  • neighborhood factors
  • cancer

Websites

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Grants and Projects

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Publications (140)

Top publication keywords:
Particulate MatterBreast NeoplasmsAdenocarcinomaProstatic NeoplasmsGenome, MitochondrialHawaiiGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseSocial ClassColorectal NeoplasmsParabensLung NeoplasmsPolymorphism, Single NucleotidePhthalic AcidsResidence CharacteristicsGenome-Wide Association Study

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