Christopher Haiman

Christopher Haiman, ScD, is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), where he serves as the AFLAC Chair in Cancer Research and Director of the Center for Genetic Epidemiology. His work focuses on unraveling racial and ethnic disparities in cancer risk, particularly through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and large-scale genomic consortia in minority populations.

• Leadership Roles: Cancer Epidemiology Program (USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center), Division Chief of Epidemiology and Genetics
• Key Research Areas: Genetic epidemiology, polygenic risk scores, social determinants of health, and gene-environment interactions

Dr. Haiman co-leads the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC), a prospective study of cancer in non-European ancestry populations (n>215,000), and directs the African Ancestry Prostate Cancer Consortium (AAPC). His team has published over 450 peer-reviewed papers in journals like Nature Genetics and The New England Journal of Medicine, highlighting his expertise in integrating multi-omics data to identify novel cancer susceptibility genes.

Scientific Awards:

• AFLAC Chair in Cancer Research

Notable Contributions: Development of ancestry-specific polygenic risk models, discovery of novel prostate cancer loci in African and Latino populations, and characterization of germline variants in DNA repair genes. His interdisciplinary approach combines genetic epidemiology, social determinants, and clinical applications to address cancer disparities.