Rebecca Graff, ScD

Rebecca E. Graff, ScD

Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, San Francisco, CA

Cancer Center Program Membership

Prostate Cancer

[email protected]

Box 0560, UCSF
San Francisco, CA 94143-0560

UCSF Profiles

Research Summary

I am currently an Assistant 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 co-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.

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

Selected Publications

  1. Wang J, Buto P, Ackley SF, Kobayashi LC, Graff RE, Zimmerman SC, Hayes-Larson E, Mayeda ER, Asiimwe SB, Calmasini C, Glymour MM. Association between cancer and dementia risk in the UK Biobank: evidence of diagnostic bias. Eur J Epidemiol. 2023 Aug 27.  View on PubMed
  2. Deng Z, Hajihosseini M, Moore JX, Khan S, Graff RE, Bondy ML, Chung BI, Langston ME. Lifetime body weight trajectories and risk of renal cell cancer: a large US prospective cohort study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2023 Aug 25.  View on PubMed
  3. Xiong F, Dai Q, Zhang S, Bent S, Tahir P, Van Blarigan EL, Kenfield SA, Chan JM, Schmajuk G, Graff RE. Diabetes and incidence of breast cancer and its molecular subtypes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2023 Aug 07; e3709.  View on PubMed
  4. Michalek IM, Graff RE, Sanchez A, Choueiri TK, Cho E, Preston MA, Wilson KM. Evaluation of statin use and renal cell carcinoma risk identifies sex-specific associations with RCC subtypes. Acta Oncol. 2023 Sep; 62(9):988-993.  View on PubMed
  5. Xiong F, Wang J, Nierenberg JL, Van Blarigan EL, Kenfield SA, Chan JM, Schmajuk G, Huang CY, Graff RE. Diabetes mellitus and risk of breast cancer: a large-scale, prospective, population-based study. Br J Cancer. 2023 09; 129(4):648-655.  View on PubMed
  6. 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. Genetically adjusted PSA levels for prostate cancer screening. Nat Med. 2023 Jun; 29(6):1412-1423.  View on PubMed
  7. Langlais CS, Graff RE, Van Blarigan EL, Neuhaus JM, Cowan JE, Broering JM, Carroll P, Kenfield SA, Chan JM. Post-diagnostic health behaviour scores and risk of prostate cancer progression and mortality. Br J Cancer. 2023 08; 129(2):346-355.  View on PubMed
  8. Ospina-Romero M, Brenowitz WD, Glymour MM, Westrick A, Graff RE, Hayes-Larson E, Mayeda ER, Ackley SF, Kobayashi LC. Education, incident cancer, and rate of memory decline in a national sample of US adults in mid-to-later-life. J Geriatr Oncol. 2023 06; 14(5):101530.  View on PubMed
  9. Kenfield SA, Van Blarigan EL, Graff RE, Borno HT, Macaire G, Chan JM. Nutrition Guidance for Patients on Androgen Deprivation Therapy. Eur Urol Focus. 2023 May; 9(3):427-430.  View on PubMed
  10. Ma C, Ericsson C, Carlsson SV, Lilja H, Kibel A, Graff RE, Plym A, Giovannucci E, Mucci LA, Preston MA, Penney KL. Addition of a Genetic Risk Score for Identification of Men with a Low Prostate-specific Antigen Level in Midlife at Risk of Developing Lethal Prostate Cancer. Eur Urol Open Sci. 2023 Apr; 50:27-30.  View on PubMed
  11. Van Blarigan EL, Chan JM, Sanchez A, Zhang L, Winters-Stone K, Liu V, Macaire G, Panchal N, Graff RE, Tenggara I, Luke A, Simko JP, Cooperberg MR, Carroll PR, Kenfield SA. Protocol for a 4-arm randomized controlled trial testing remotely delivered exercise-only, diet-only, and exercise + diet interventions among men with prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy (Prostate 8-II). Contemp Clin Trials. 2023 02; 125:107079.  View on PubMed
  12. Stopsack KH, Su XA, Vaselkiv JB, Graff RE, Ebot EM, Pettersson A, Lis RT, Fiorentino M, Loda M, Penney KL, Lotan TL, Mucci LA. Transcriptomes of Prostate Cancer with TMPRSS2:ERG and Other ETS Fusions. Mol Cancer Res. 2023 01 03; 21(1):14-23.  View on PubMed
  13. Cavazos TB, Kachuri L, Graff RE, Nierenberg JL, Thai KK, Alexeeff S, Van Den Eeden S, Corley DA, Kushi LH, Regeneron Genetics Center, Hoffmann TJ, Ziv E, Habel LA, Jorgenson E, Sakoda LC, Witte JS. Assessment of genetic susceptibility to multiple primary cancers through whole-exome sequencing in two large multi-ancestry studies. BMC Med. 2022 10 06; 20(1):332.  View on PubMed
  14. Langlais CS, Graff RE, Van Blarigan EL, Kenfield SA, Neuhaus J, Tabung FK, Cowan JE, Broering JM, Carroll P, Chan JM. Postdiagnostic Inflammatory, Hyperinsulinemic, and Insulin-Resistant Diets and Lifestyles and the Risk of Prostate Cancer Progression and Mortality. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2022 09 02; 31(9):1760-1768.  View on PubMed
  15. Graff RE, Langlais CS, Van Blarigan EL, Pernar CH, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci EL, Mucci LA, Chan JM, Kenfield SA. Post-diagnostic health behaviour scores in relation to fatal prostate cancer. Br J Cancer. 2022 11; 127(9):1670-1679.  View on PubMed
  16. Wang L, Langlais CS, Kenfield SA, Chan JM, Graff RE, Allen IE, Atreya CE, Van Blarigan EL. mHealth Interventions to Promote a Healthy Diet and Physical Activity among Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Aug 06; 14(15).  View on PubMed
  17. Graff RE, Wilson KM, Sanchez A, Chang SL, McDermott DF, Choueiri TK, Cho E, Signoretti S, Giovannucci EL, Preston MA. Obesity in Relation to Renal Cell Carcinoma Incidence and Survival in Three Prospective Studies. Eur Urol. 2022 09; 82(3):247-251.  View on PubMed
  18. Hayes-Larson E, Shaw C, Ackley SF, Zimmerman SC, Glymour MM, Graff RE, Witte JS, Kobayashi LC, Mayeda ER. The Role of Dementia Diagnostic Delay in the Inverse Cancer-Dementia Association. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2022 06 01; 77(6):1254-1260.  View on PubMed
  19. Zimmerman SC, Brenowitz WD, Calmasini C, Ackley SF, Graff RE, Asiimwe SB, Staffaroni AM, Hoffmann TJ, Glymour MM. Association of Genetic Variants Linked to Late-Onset Alzheimer Disease With Cognitive Test Performance by Midlife. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 04 01; 5(4):e225491.  View on PubMed
  20. Langlais CS, Chen YH, Van Blarigan EL, Kenfield SA, Kessler ER, Daniel K, Ramsdill JW, Beer TM, Graff RE, Paich K, Chan JM, Winters-Stone KM. Quality of Life of Prostate Cancer Survivors Participating in a Remotely Delivered Web-Based Behavioral Intervention Pilot Randomized Trial. Integr Cancer Ther. 2022 Jan-Dec; 21:15347354211063500.  View on PubMed

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