Research Summary

Dr. Cheng is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. She is also co-Investigator of the SEER Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry. She is a cancer and genetic epidemiologist, and Principal Investigator of multiple NIH- and foundation-funded projects aimed at examining genetics, lifestyle factors, and neighborhood characteristics in relation to cancer risk. She has an extensive research program investigating racial/ethnic differences in cancer risk and has expertise in leading population-based cancer surveillance studies that document the variation in cancer incidence and mortality patterns across race/ethnicity.

Research Funding

  • December 1, 2004 - June 30, 2025 - Training in the Molecular & Genetic Epidemiology of Cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32CA112355
  • February 1, 2020 - November 30, 2024 - Elucidating Lung Cancer Etiology Among Asian American Female Never Smokers , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01MD014859
  • March 1, 2019 - February 28, 2024 - The Role of 27-hydroxycholesterol in Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Multiethnic Study , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA229815
  • September 30, 2016 - August 31, 2021 - A cohort study of air pollution, lung cancer, and COPD in Los Angeles County , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01ES026171
  • May 11, 2016 - April 30, 2020 - Lung cancer in never smokers: incidence, risk factors, and molecular characteristics in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanderfemales , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA204070
  • September 24, 2013 - August 31, 2016 - Mitochondrial Genetic Susceptibility to Breast and Prostate Cancers , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R03CA173782
  • September 1, 2011 - August 31, 2016 - Obesogenic environment: impact on breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer risk , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA154644
  • September 28, 2009 - July 31, 2015 - Characterizing Mitochondrial DNA Susceptibility to Breast, Colorectal, and Prosta , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA140636

Education

University of California, Davis, BS, 1990 – 1994, Physiology
Yale University, MPH, 1999 - 2001, Chronic Disease Epidemiology
University of Southern California, PhD, 2001 - 2005, Epidemiology
University of California, San Francisco, Postdoc, 2006 - 2008, Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology

Honors & Awards

  • 2007
    American Association for Cancer Research Scholar-in-Training Award
  • 2007
    National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Award
  • 2009
    National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Renewal Award
  • 2011
    American Association for Cancer Research Faculty Scholar Award
  • 2011
    National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Renewal Award
  • 2013
    American Journal of Epidemiology/Society of Epidemiology Research Top 10 manuscripts
  • 2014
    Cancer Prevention Institute of California Mentoring Award
  • 2015
    American Society of Human Genetics Top poster

Selected Publications

  1. Chueh CC, Yu SE, Wu HC, Hsu CC, Ni IC, Wu CI, Cheng IC, Chen JZ Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction Performance of NiMoO4/Carbon Paper Electrocatalysts in Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis by Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet Treatment.  View on PubMed
  2. Truong A, McKinley M, Gomez SL, Kim MO, Shariff-Marco S, Cheng I. The role of ethnic enclaves and neighborhood socioeconomic status in invasive breast cancer incidence rates among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander females in California. Cancer Causes Control. 2025 Feb; 36(2):183-189.  View on PubMed
  3. Yu SE, Su YL, Ni IC, Chuang YC, Hsu CC, Wu CI, Chen YS, Cheng IC, Chen JZ Direct Current Pulse Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet Treatment on Electrochemically Deposited NiFe/Carbon Paper and Its Potential Application in an Anion-Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer.  View on PubMed
  4. Wang YC, Yu SE, Su YL, Cheng IC, Chuang YC, Chen YS, Chen JZ NiFe2O4 Material on Carbon Paper as an Electrocatalyst for Alkaline Water Electrolysis Module.  View on PubMed
  5. Lan PL, Ni IC, Wu CI, Hsu CC, Cheng IC, Chen JZ Ultrafast Fabrication of H2SO4, LiCl, and Li2SO4 Gel Electrolyte Supercapacitors with Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO)-LiMnOx Electrodes Processed Using Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Jet.  View on PubMed
  6. DeRouen MC, Yang J, Li Y, Franke AA, Tome AN, White KK, Hernandez BY, Shvetsov Y, Setiawan V, Wu AH, Wilkens LR, Le Marchand L, Loo LWM, Cheng I. Circulating 27-hydroxycholesterol, lipids, and steroid hormones in breast cancer risk: a nested case-control study of the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Breast Cancer Res. 2023 08 14; 25(1):95.  View on PubMed
  7. Sangaramoorthy M, Yang J, Tseng C, Wu J, Ritz B, Larson TV, Fruin S, Stram DO, Park SL, Franke AA, Wilkens LR, Samet JM, Le Marchand L, Shariff-Marco S, Haiman CA, Wu AH, Cheng I. Particulate matter, traffic-related air pollutants, and circulating C-reactive protein levels: The Multiethnic Cohort Study. Environ Pollut. 2023 Sep 01; 332:121962.  View on PubMed
  8. Ihenacho U, McKinley MA, Vu A, Hernandez BY, Loo LWM, Gomez SL, Wu AH, Cheng I. Characterizing breast cancer incidence and trends among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and non-Hispanic White women in Hawai'i, 1990-2014. Cancer Causes Control. 2023 Mar; 34(3):241-249.  View on PubMed
  9. Liu C, Tseng CY, Wang YC, Cheng IC, Chen JZ Low-Pressure Plasma-Processed Ruthenium/Nickel Foam Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.  View on PubMed
  10. Cheng I, Yang J, Tseng C, Wu J, Conroy SM, Shariff-Marco S, Lin Gomez S, Whittemore AS, Stram DO, Le Marchand L, Wilkens LR, Ritz B, Wu AH. Outdoor ambient air pollution and breast cancer survival among California participants of the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Environ Int. 2022 03; 161:107088.  View on PubMed
  11. Choi E, Sanyal N, Ding VY, Gardner RM, Aredo JV, Lee J, Wu JT, Hickey TP, Barrett B, Riley TL, Wilkens LR, Leung AN, Le Marchand L, Tammemägi MC, Hung RJ, Amos CI, Freedman ND, Cheng I, Wakelee HA, Han SS. Development and Validation of a Risk Prediction Model for Second Primary Lung Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2022 01 11; 114(1):87-96.  View on PubMed
  12. DeRouen MC, Canchola AJ, Thompson CA, Jin A, Nie S, Wong C, Lichtensztajn D, Allen L, Patel MI, Daida YG, Luft HS, Shariff-Marco S, Reynolds P, Wakelee HA, Liang SY, Waitzfelder BE, Cheng I, Gomez SL. Incidence of Lung Cancer Among Never-Smoking Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Females. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2022 01 11; 114(1):78-86.  View on PubMed
  13. Moksud N, Loo LWM, Yang J, Huang CY, Haiman CA, Le Marchand L, Wilkens LR, Cheng I. Cholesterol lowering drug use and breast cancer survival: the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Nov; 190(1):165-173.  View on PubMed
  14. Streicher SA, Lim U, Park SL, Li Y, Sheng X, Hom V, Xia L, Pooler L, Shepherd J, Loo LWM, Darst BF, Highland HM, Polfus LM, Bogumil D, Ernst T, Buchthal S, Franke AA, Setiawan VW, Tiirikainen M, Wilkens LR, Haiman CA, Stram DO, Cheng I, Le Marchand L. Genome-wide association study of pancreatic fat: The Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study. PLoS One. 2021; 16(7):e0249615.  View on PubMed
  15. Dee EC, Chen S, Santos PMG, Wu SZ, Cheng I, Gomez SL. Anti-Asian American Racism: A Wake-Up Call for Population-Based Cancer Research. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2021 08; 30(8):1455-1458.  View on PubMed
  16. Bogumil D, Wu AH, Stram D, Yang J, Tseng CC, Le Marchand L, Wu J, Cheng I, Setiawan VW. The association between ambient air pollutants and pancreatic cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Environ Res. 2021 11; 202:111608.  View on PubMed
  17. Wu AH, Fruin S, Larson TV, Tseng CC, Wu J, Yang J, Jain J, Shariff-Marco S, Inamdar PP, Setiawan VW, Porcel J, Stram DO, Le Marchand L, Ritz B, Cheng I. Association between Airport-Related Ultrafine Particles and Risk of Malignant Brain Cancer: A Multiethnic Cohort Study. Cancer Res. 2021 08 15; 81(16):4360-4369.  View on PubMed
  18. Tseng CH, Lin HH, Hung CW, Cheng IC, Luo SC, Cheng IC, Chen JZ Electropolymerized Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/Screen-Printed Reduced Graphene Oxide-Chitosan Bilayer Electrodes for Flexible Supercapacitors.  View on PubMed
  19. Chen H, Majumdar A, Wang L, Kar S, Brown KM, Feng H, Turman C, Dennis J, Easton D, Michailidou K, Simard J, Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC), Bishop T, Cheng IC, Huyghe JR, Schmit SL, Colorectal Transdisciplinary Study (CORECT), Colon Cancer Family Registry Study (CCFR), Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO), O'Mara TA, Spurdle AB, Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium (ECAC), Gharahkhani P, Schumacher J, Jankowski J, Gockel I, Esophageal Cancer GWAS Consortium, Bondy ML, Houlston RS, Jenkins RB, Melin B, Glioma International Case Control Consortium (GICC), Lesseur C, Ness AR, Diergaarde B, Olshan AF, Head-Neck Cancer GWAS Consortium, Amos CI, Christiani DC, Landi MT, McKay JD, International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), Brossard M, Iles MM, Law MH, MacGregor S, Melanoma GWAS Consortium, Beesley J, Jones MR, Tyrer J, Winham SJ, Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC), Klein AP, Petersen G, Li D, Wolpin BM, Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control Consortium (PANC4), Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium (PanScan), Eeles RA, Haiman CA, Kote-Jarai Z, Schumacher FR, PRACTICAL consortium, CRUK, BPC3, CAPS, PEGASUS, Brennan P, Chanock SJ, Gaborieau V, Purdue MP, Renal Cancer GWAS Consortium, Pharoah P, Hung RJ, Amundadottir LT, Kraft P, Pasaniuc B, Lindström S. Large-scale cross-cancer fine-mapping of the 5p15.33 region reveals multiple independent signals. HGG Adv. 2021 Jul 08; 2(3):100041.  View on PubMed
  20. Wu AH, Franke AA, Wilkens LR, Tseng C, Conroy SM, Li Y, Sangaramoorthy M, Polfus LM, DeRouen MC, Caberto C, Haiman C, Stram DO, Le Marchand L, Cheng I. Risk of breast cancer and prediagnostic urinary excretion of bisphenol A, triclosan and parabens: The Multiethnic Cohort Study. Int J Cancer. 2021 10 01; 149(7):1426-1434.  View on PubMed

Go to UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI