Research Summary

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Broadly speaking, my research interests reside in population-based cancer epidemiology. More specifically, my research at present focuses on: 1) discerning the shared genetic basis of seemingly distinct cancer types; 2) discerning the shared genetic basis of cancer and other chronic diseases; 3) leveraging genetic information to improve prostate-specific antigen screening; 4) determining the metabolomic basis of lethal prostate cancer; 5) examining the role of lifestyle factors in prostate cancer survivorship; and 6) examining the role of lifestyle factors in kidney cancer risk and survivorship. My work has afforded me the opportunity to gain expertise in a variety of study designs and in both established and novel analytical methods.

In addition to research, I am deeply committed to educating the next generation of scientists. As such, I direct Designing and Conducting Research at the School of Medicine, co-teach EPI 207 in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and mentor trainees in a variety of programs.

Research Funding

  • September 20, 2024 - August 31, 2026 - Informing Lifestyle Recommendations for Kidney Cancer Survival: Investigating the Role of Dietary Patterns and Physical (In)activity , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R03CA282955

Education

University of California, Berkeley, (Berkeley, CA) BA, 05/2006, Statistics
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, (Boston, MA) ScD, 05/2014, Cancer Epidemiology
University of California, San Francisco, (San Francisco, CA) Postdoctoral, 09/2018, Genetic Cancer Epidemiology

Honors & Awards

  • 2006
    Phi Beta Kappa with High Distinction in General Scholarship, University of California, Berkeley
  • 2011
    Distinction in Methods on the Written Qualifying Exam, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology
  • 2012
    Best of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention
  • 2012
    Invited Attendee of the Society for Epidemiologic Research Student Dissertation Workshop
  • 2013
    American Association for Cancer Research Scholar-in-Training Award
  • 2015
    Invited Attendee of the American Association for Cancer Research Integrative Molecular Epidemiology Workshop
  • 2016
    Winner of the NCI's Up for a Challenge competition
  • 2017
    Selected for the NCI's Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program Research Highlights
  • 2021
    Selection for the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program Research Highlights National Cancer Institute
  • 2022
    Selection for the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program Research Highlights National Cancer Institute
  • 2023
    Selection for the Emerging Cancer Scholars Speaker Exchange Program UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Selected Publications

  1. Graff RE, Pace WA, Kenfield SA, Van Blarigan EL, Langlais CS, Ma C, Stopsack KH, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci EL, Mucci LA, Tabung FK, Chan JM. Postdiagnostic Inflammatory and Insulinemic Diet and Lifestyle Patterns and Risk of Prostate Cancer-specific Mortality in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2026 Jul 01; 35(7):1216-1220. View on PubMed
  2. Fuller H, Rohde R, Highland HM, Haessler J, Wu L, Graff M, Platz EA, Alkis T, Yu B, Boerwinkle E, Grove M, Kooperberg C, Peters U, North KE, Conti DV, Haiman CA, Young KL, Graff RE, Darst BF. Cross-population metabolome-wide Mendelian randomization study of prostate cancer risk. Res Sq. 2026 May 31. View on PubMed
  3. Deng Z, Li J, Ji R, Delgado JR, Yim SHL, Kachuri L, Cardenas A, Graff RE, Leppert JT, Dennis LK, Chung BI, Langston ME. Environmental Nonessential Element Exposure and Urologic Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 May 01; 9(5):e2614337. View on PubMed
  4. Jung M, Wang X, Jeon SY, Graff RE, Deng Z, L'Espérance K, Li M, Langston ME, Chung BI. Metabolic syndrome and risk of kidney cancer in the United States. Cancer. 2026 May 01; 132(9):e70435. View on PubMed
  5. Liu B, Himbert C, Vaselkiv JB, Mcgrath CB, Lucas L, Zhang Y, Ma C, Song M, Graff RE, Giovannucci EL, Stampfer MJ, Stopsack KH, Sun Q, Mucci LA. Healthy dietary patterns and survival among men with prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2026 Mar 15. View on PubMed
  6. L'Espérance K, Lin K, Lichtensztajn D, Christoph Soerensen SJ, Gulati S, Deng Z, Leppert JT, Oh DY, Sakoda LC, Washington SL, Meng MV, Chan JM, Langston ME, Cheng I, Chung BI, Graff RE. Renal cell carcinoma incidence and mortality in California: a population-based study of sociodemographic patterns and temporal trends from 1988 through 2019. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2026 Apr; 56:101430. View on PubMed
  7. Pace WA, Olshen A, Wang Y, Kenfield SA, Van Blarigan EL, Graff RE, Cowan J, Wang L, Tenggara I, Lopez K, Encabo K, Jones LW, Panchal N, Cooperberg MR, Carroll PR, Luke A, Pollak M, Chan JM. Inflammation and insulin profiles in men assigned to exercise vs. usual care for prostate cancer: results from the active surveillance exercise (ASX) randomized controlled trial. Cancer Causes Control. 2026 Jan 17; 37(2):22. View on PubMed
  8. Allen R, Liu V, Chan JM, Graff RE, Stampfer MJ, Aronson WJ, Kenfield SA. Effect of Postdiagnosis Diet and Lifestyle on Clinical Outcomes in Prostate Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review. J Urol. 2026 04; 215(4):376-395. View on PubMed
  9. Graff RE, Chen DM, Swinnerton KN, Ackley SF, Ospina-Romero M, Zimmerman SC, Wang J, Buto P, Nierenberg JL, Elahi FM, Lu KP, Witte JS, Glymour MM. Evaluation of Polygenic Risk Scores for a Possible Genetic Basis of the Inverse Association Between Cancer and Cognitive Decline. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2025 Oct-Dec 01; 39(4):235-243. View on PubMed
  10. Deng Z, Zhang CA, Moore JX, Khan S, Graff RE, Batai K, Bondy ML, Chung BI, Langston ME. Lifetime body weight patterns, weight loss, and renal cell carcinoma subtypes. Cancer. 2025 Apr 01; 131(7):e35763. View on PubMed
  11. Hoffmann TJ, Graff RE, Madduri RK, Rodriguez AA, Cario CL, Feng K, Jiang Y, Wang A, Klein RJ, Pierce BL, Eggener S, Tong L, Blot W, Long J, Goss LB, Darst BF, Rebbeck T, Lachance J, Andrews C, Adebiyi AO, Adusei B, Aisuodionoe-Shadrach OI, Fernandez PW, Jalloh M, Janivara R, Chen WC, Mensah JE, Agalliu I, Berndt SI, Shelley JP, Schaffer K, Machiela MJ, Freedman ND, Huang WY, Li SA, Goodman PJ, Till C, Thompson I, Lilja H, Ranatunga DK, Presti J, Van Den Eeden SK, Chanock SJ, Mosley JD, Conti DV, Haiman CA, Justice AC, Kachuri L, Witte JS. Genome-wide association study of prostate-specific antigen levels in 392,522 men identifies new loci and improves prediction across ancestry groups. Nat Genet. 2025 02; 57(2):334-344. View on PubMed
  12. Middha P, Kachuri L, Nierenberg JL, Graff RE, Cavazos TB, Hoffmann TJ, Zhang J, Alexeeff S, Habel L, Corley DA, Van Den Eeden S, Kushi LH, Ziv E, Sakoda LC, Witte JS. Unraveling the genetic landscape of susceptibility to multiple primary cancers. HGG Adv. 2025 Apr 10; 6(2):100413. View on PubMed
  13. Kachuri L, Hoffmann TJ, Jiang Y, Berndt SI, Shelley JP, Schaffer KR, Machiela MJ, Freedman ND, Huang WY, Li SA, Easterlin R, Goodman PJ, Till C, Thompson I, Lilja H, Van Den Eeden SK, Chanock SJ, Haiman CA, Conti DV, Klein RJ, Mosley JD, Graff RE, Witte JS. Author Correction: Genetically adjusted PSA levels for prostate cancer screening. Nat Med. 2025 Feb; 31(2):697. View on PubMed
  14. Middha P, Kachuri L, Nierenberg JL, Graff RE, Cavazos TB, Hoffmann TJ, Zhang J, Alexeeff S, Habel L, Corley DA, Van Den Eeden S, Kushi LH, Ziv E, Sakoda LC, Witte JS. Unraveling the genetic landscape of susceptibility to multiple primary cancers. medRxiv. 2024 Oct 30. View on PubMed
  15. Hoffmann TJ, Graff RE, Madduri RK, Rodriguez AA, Cario CL, Feng K, Jiang Y, Wang A, Klein RJ, Pierce BL, Eggener S, Tong L, Blot W, Long J, Goss LB, Darst BF, Rebbeck T, Lachance J, Andrews C, Adebiyi AO, Adusei B, Aisuodionoe-Shadrach OI, Fernandez PW, Jalloh M, Janivara R, Chen WC, Mensah JE, Agalliu I, Berndt SI, Shelley JP, Schaffer K, Machiela MJ, Freedman ND, Huang WY, Li SA, Goodman PJ, Till C, Thompson I, Lilja H, Ranatunga DK, Presti J, Van Den Eeden SK, Chanock SJ, Mosley JD, Conti DV, Haiman CA, Justice AC, Kachuri L, Witte JS. Genome-wide association study of prostate-specific antigen levels in 392,522 men identifies new loci and improves cross-ancestry prediction. medRxiv. 2024 Aug 20. View on PubMed
  16. Deng Z, Graff RE, Batai K, Chung BI, Langston ME, Kachuri L. Polygenic score for body mass index in relation to mortality among patients with renal cell cancer. Int J Obes (Lond). 2024 12; 48(12):1735-1740. View on PubMed
  17. Li J, Deng Z, Soerensen SJC, Kachuri L, Cardenas A, Graff RE, Leppert JT, Langston ME, Chung BI. Ambient air pollution and urological cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological evidence. Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 15; 15(1):5116. View on PubMed
  18. Chen DM, Dong R, Kachuri L, Hoffmann TJ, Jiang Y, Berndt SI, Shelley JP, Schaffer KR, Machiela MJ, Freedman ND, Huang WY, Li SA, Lilja H, Justice AC, Madduri RK, Rodriguez AA, Van Den Eeden SK, Chanock SJ, Haiman CA, Conti DV, Klein RJ, Mosley JD, Witte JS, Graff RE. Transcriptome-wide association analysis identifies candidate susceptibility genes for prostate-specific antigen levels in men without prostate cancer. HGG Adv. 2024 Jul 18; 5(3):100315. View on PubMed
  19. Simon John Christoph Soerensen, Katherine Lin, John T. Leppert, Marvin E. Langston, Iona Cheng, Rebecca E. Graff, Benjamin I. Chung. MP51-12 KIDNEY CANCER INCIDENCE IN CALIFORNIA: TEMPORAL TRENDS AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS FROM 1988 THROUGH 2019. Journal of Urology. 2024 May 1; 211(5S):e846. View on PubMed
  20. Liu VN, Van Blarigan EL, Zhang L, Graff RE, Loeb S, Langlais CS, Cowan JE, Carroll PR, Chan JM, Kenfield SA. Plant-Based Diets and Disease Progression in Men With Prostate Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 05 01; 7(5):e249053. View on PubMed

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