Stephen Francis

Stephen Francis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, with a PhD in Epidemiology from UC Berkeley. His research focuses on uncovering infection-mediated pathways in glioma etiology and prognosis through multiplex serology and immunogenomics, including significant work on HERV-K/SVA sequencing (NIH/NIGMS R15GM126562) and infection-genetics interactions in glioma risk (NCI 1R01CA266676).

Educational Background

• PhD in Epidemiology (University of California, Berkeley, 2014)

Research Interests
Dr. Francis investigates how immune responses to infections, germline genetic variants, and blood cell homeostasis influence glioma development and patient survival. His work spans neurogenetics, cancer epidemiology, and viral immunology, with recent studies on polygenic risk scores, DNA repair pathways, and vaccine response genetics.

Publication Trends
His 15 most recent articles emphasize glioma subtyping, infection-cancer links (HPV, herpesviruses), and immune profiling (B-cells, IgE). Methodologies include genomic sequencing, GWAS, and longitudinal survival analysis.

Scientific Awards

• 2016 Cancer Center Impact Award (UCSF)
• Young Investigator Award 2014 (Brain Tumor Epidemiology Association)

Grants

• National Cancer Institute 1R01CA266676 (2022-2026)
• NIH/NIGMS R15GM126562 (2018-2021)

Laboratory
He leads the Francis Lab, which integrates epidemiological data with genomic and immunological techniques to study brain tumors and cancer risk.