Robert A. Hiatt, MD, PhD

Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCSF; Associate Director of Population Sciences, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Cancer Center Program Membership

Cancer Control

Research Summary

I am Professor and immediate past Chair of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF and also the Associate Director of Population Sciences for the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. I have a demonstrated record in cancer epidemiology, especially focused on breast cancer, health inequities, environmental health research, global health science, implementation science and in leading successful and productive large-scale, multi-component research projects. As reflected in my publication record, I am strongly interested in the conduct of and training in transdisciplinary, team and translational science and was responsible for developing the PhD program in Epidemiology and Translational Science at UCSF. I was the first deputy director of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (1998-2003), where, among other things, I oversaw the extramural cancer epidemiology, health services research and surveillance programs (SEER). I am a past president of the American College of Epidemiology and the American Society of Preventive Oncology. Between 2003 and 2016 I led the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program and its Coordinating Center in San Francisco and served on the National Academy's Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology from 2012-2018. Currently at UCSF I am the Principal Investigator of the National Precision Medicine Initiative, All of Us, and I direct the San Francisco Cancer Initiative (SF CAN).

Research Funding

  • August 5, 1999 - May 31, 2023 - Cancer Center Support Grant , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30CA082103
  • May 1, 2016 - August 31, 2021 - Translational Epidemiology - Training for Research on Aging and Chronic disease , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: T32AG049663
  • August 27, 2012 - February 28, 2019 - Addressing disparities in chronic disease with a teen and young adult focus , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P60MD006902
  • September 1, 2010 - April 30, 2017 - Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program Coordinating Center , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01ES019457

Education

Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, B.A., 1964, Zoology
Univ. of Michigan Med School, Ann Arbor, MI, M.D., 1968, Medicine
San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA, Internship, 1969
U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, San Francisco, CA, Residency, 1971
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA, MPH, PhD, 1972, 1980, Epidemiology

Honors & Awards

  • 1967-1968
    Victor Vaughn Medical Historical Society, University of Michigan Medical School
  • 1968
    Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Children’s Bureau Fellowship, Belgrade, Yugoslavia
  • 1991
    American Epidemiological Society
  • 1998-1999
    President, American College of Epidemiology
  • 2001
    National Institutes of Health Merit Award, Quality of Cancer Care Committee
  • 2002
    National Institutes of Health Merit Award, Cancer Progress Report; 2002, National Institutes of Health Director's Award, Cancer Progress Report
  • 2003-2004
    President, American Society of Preventive Oncology
  • 2010
    National Cancer Institute, Visiting Scholar, Epidemiology & Genetics Program
  • 2018
    Influential Alumni Award, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health
  • 2022
    Resident Scholar, Bellagio Center Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio, Italy

Selected Publications

  1. Clayton MF, Collins KK, Gold HT, Laiyemo AO, Truesdale KP, Ritzwoller DP, Hiatt RA. The Pathways to Prevention (P2P) Program: Nutrition as Prevention for Improved Cancer Outcomes. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 May 22.  View on PubMed
  2. Hiatt RA, Worden L, Rehkopf D, Engmann N, Troester M, Witte JS, Balke K, Jackson C, Barlow J, Fenton SE, Gehlert S, Hammond RA, Kaplan G, Kornak J, Nishioka K, McKone T, Smith MT, Trasande L, Porco TC. A complex systems model of breast cancer etiology: The Paradigm II Model. PLoS One. 2023; 18(5):e0282878.  View on PubMed
  3. Bleil ME, Roisman GI, Gregorich SE, Appelhans BM, Hiatt RA, Pianta RC, Marsland AL, Slavich GM, Thomas AS, Yeung WS, Booth-LaForce C. Thirty-year follow-up of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD): the challenges and triumphs of conducting in-person research at a distance. BMJ Open. 2023 03 20; 13(3):e066655.  View on PubMed
  4. Santiago-Rodríguez EJ, Shariff-Marco S, Gomez SL, Hiatt RA. Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Screening by Time in the U.S. and Race/Ethnicity, 2010-2018. Am J Prev Med. 2023 Feb 16.  View on PubMed
  5. Hiatt RA, Carrasco YP, Paciorek AL, Kaplan L, Cox MB, Crespo CJ, Feig A, Hueffer K, McFerrin H, Norris K, Roberts-Kirchhoff E, Saetermoe CL, Silver GB, Snyder K, Zavala AR, Parangan-Smith AG, Diversity Program Consortium. Enhancing grant-writing expertise in BUILD institutions: Building infrastructure leading to diversity. PLoS One. 2022; 17(9):e0274100.  View on PubMed
  6. Santiago-Rodríguez EJ, Rivadeneira NA, DeVost MA, Sarkar U, Hiatt RA. Cancer Risk Behaviors, Cancer Beliefs, and Health Information Seeking Among Under-Represented Populations in San Francisco: Differences by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Health Equity. 2022; 6(1):669-680.  View on PubMed
  7. Hiatt RA, Beyeler N. Women's cancers and climate change. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2023 02; 160(2):374-377.  View on PubMed
  8. Hiatt RA, Kobetz EN, Paskett ED. Catchment Areas, Community Outreach and Engagement Revisited: The 2021 Guidelines for Cancer Center Support Grants from the National Cancer Institute. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2022 06 02; 15(6):349-354.  View on PubMed
  9. Akinyemiju T, Ogunsina K, Gupta A, Liu I, Braithwaite D, Hiatt RA. A Socio-Ecological Framework for Cancer Prevention in Low and Middle-Income Countries. Front Public Health. 2022; 10:884678.  View on PubMed
  10. Zhang D, Mobley EM, Manini TM, Leeuwenburgh C, Anton SD, Washington CJ, Zhou D, Parker AS, Okunieff PG, Bian J, Guo Y, Pahor M, Hiatt RA, Braithwaite D. Frailty and risk of mortality in older cancer survivors and adults without a cancer history: Evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2014. Cancer. 2022 08 01; 128(15):2978-2987.  View on PubMed
  11. Chu JN, Nguyen TT, Rivadeneira NA, Hiatt RA, Sarkar U. Exploring factors associated with hepatitis B screening in a multilingual and diverse population. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022 Apr 11; 22(1):479.  View on PubMed
  12. Hiatt RA, Sibley A, Venkatesh B, Cheng J, Dixit N, Fox R, Ling P, Nguyen T, Oh D, Palmer NR, Pasick RJ, Potter MB, Somsouk M, Vargas RA, Vijayaraghavan M, Ashworth A. From Cancer Epidemiology to Policy and Practice: the Role of a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2022; 9(1):10-21.  View on PubMed
  13. Roach M, Hiatt RA, Black S. Commentary: Race, COVID-19 and Nursing Homes. J Infect Dis. 2022 02 15; 225(4):555-556.  View on PubMed
  14. Buckle GC, Mmbaga EJ, Paciorek A, Akoko L, Deardorff K, Mgisha W, Mushi BP, Mwaiselage J, Hiatt RA, Zhang L, Van Loon K. Risk Factors Associated With Early-Onset Esophageal Cancer in Tanzania. JCO Glob Oncol. 2022 02; 8:e2100256.  View on PubMed
  15. Clark CR, Chandler PD, Zhou G, Noel N, Achilike C, Mendez L, O'Connor GT, Smoller JW, Weiss ST, Murphy SN, Ommerborn MJ, Karnes JH, Klimentidis YC, Jordan CD, Hiatt RA, Ramirez AH, Loperena R, Mayo K, Cohn E, Ohno-Machado L, Boerwinkle E, Cicek M, Schully SD, Mockrin S, Gebo KA, Karlson EW. Geographic Variation in Obesity at the State Level in the All of Us Research Program. Prev Chronic Dis. 2021 12 23; 18:E104.  View on PubMed
  16. Bleil ME, Appelhans BM, Gregorich SE, Thomas AS, Hiatt RA, Roisman GI, Booth-LaForce C. Patterns of Early Life Weight Gain and Female Onset of Puberty. J Endocr Soc. 2021 Dec 01; 5(12):bvab165.  View on PubMed
  17. Esserman L, Eklund M, Veer LV, Shieh Y, Tice J, Ziv E, Blanco A, Kaplan C, Hiatt R, Fiscalini AS, Yau C, Scheuner M, Naeim A, Wenger N, Lee V, Heditsian D, Brain S, Parker BA, LaCroix AZ, Madlensky L, Hogarth M, Borowsky A, Anton-Culver H, Kaster A, Olopade OI, Sheth D, Garcia A, Lancaster R, Plaza M. The WISDOM study: a new approach to screening can and should be tested. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Oct; 189(3):593-598.  View on PubMed
  18. Chu JN, Sarkar U, Rivadeneira NA, Hiatt RA, Khoong EC. Impact of language preference and health literacy on health information-seeking experiences among a low-income, multilingual cohort. Patient Educ Couns. 2022 05; 105(5):1268-1275.  View on PubMed
  19. Huilgol YS, Keane H, Shieh Y, Hiatt RA, Tice JA, Madlensky L, Sabacan L, Fiscalini AS, Ziv E, Acerbi I, Che M, Anton-Culver H, Borowsky AD, Hunt S, Naeim A, Parker BA, van 't Veer LJ, Athena Breast Health Network Investigators and Advocate Partners, Esserman LJ. Elevated risk thresholds predict endocrine risk-reducing medication use in the Athena screening registry. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2021 Aug 03; 7(1):102.  View on PubMed
  20. Hiatt RA, Stewart SL, Deardorff J, Danial E, Abdiwahab E, Pinney SM, Teitelbaum SL, Windham GC, Wolff MS, Kushi LH, Biro FM. Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Menarche: A Prospective Study. J Adolesc Health. 2021 07; 69(1):33-40.  View on PubMed

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