Robert A. Hiatt, MD, PhD

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

[email protected]

Phone: 415-514-8113

UCSF Box 0560
550 16th Street, Second Floor
San Francisco, CA 94143-0560

UCSF Profiles

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
  • September 29, 2003 - July 31, 2012 - Bay Area Breast Cancer &the Environment Research Center , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01ES012801
  • September 30, 1994 - September 14, 2005 - CLIN CTR CLIN TRIAL/OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF WHI , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: N01WH042121
  • September 30, 1992 - November 30, 2003 - CANCER SCREENING, MANAGED CARE, AND THE UNDERSERVED , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P01CA055112
  • May 1, 1996 - April 30, 1999 - CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF MAMMOGRAPHY , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA063128
  • September 25, 1991 - August 31, 1997 - BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER INTERVENTION STUDY , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA054605
  • September 30, 1989 - September 29, 1993 - STUDIES OF ENVIRON CAN UTILIZING PREPAID HEALTH PLANS , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: N01CP095606
  • September 30, 1984 - June 29, 1989 - STUDY ENVIRONMENTAL CANCER USING PRE-PAID HEALTH PLANS , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: N01CP041058

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. Hiatt RA, Xun W, Santiago-Rodríguez EJ, Pikhartova J, Shelton N. Socio-economic position, area-level deprivation and gradients in cancer incidence: England and Wales, 1971-2016. BMC Public Health. 2025 Feb 24; 25(1):741.  View on PubMed
  2. Santiago-Rodriguez EJ, Shariff-Marco S, Bailey ZD, White JS, Allen IE, Hiatt RA. Residential segregation and colorectal cancer screening in the United States, 2010-2018. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2025 Feb 19.  View on PubMed
  3. Hiatt RA. The Lilienfeld Award of the American College of Epidemiology - Not Staying in Our Lane, September 11, 2024. Ann Epidemiol. 2025 Feb 11.  View on PubMed
  4. Guan A, Shariff-Marco S, Henry KA, Lin K, Meltzer D, Canchola AJ, Arizpe A, Rathod AB, Hughes AE, Kroenke CH, Gomez SL, Hiatt RA, Stroup AM, Pinheiro PS, Boscoe F, Zhu H, Pruitt SL. Latino Enclaves and Healthcare Accessibility: An Ecologic Study Across Five States. J Gen Intern Med. 2025 Mar; 40(4):739-748.  View on PubMed
  5. Tesfaye S, Cronin RM, Lopez-Class M, Chen Q, Foster CS, Gu CA, Guide A, Hiatt RA, Johnson AS, Joseph CLM, Khatri P, Lim S, Litwin TR, Munoz FA, Ramirez AH, Sansbury H, Schlundt DG, Viera EN, Dede-Yildirim E, Clark CR. Measuring social determinants of health in the All of Us Research Program. Sci Rep. 2024 04 16; 14(1):8815.  View on PubMed
  6. Bleil ME, Appelhans BM, Gregorich SE, Hiatt RA, Roisman GI, Booth-LaForce C. Pubertal timing: A life course pathway linking early life risk to adulthood cardiometabolic health. PLoS One. 2024; 19(3):e0299433.  View on PubMed
  7. Van Loon K, Breithaupt L, Ng D, DeBoer RJ, Buckle GC, Bialous S, Hiatt RA, Volberding P, Hermiston ML, Ashworth A. A roadmap to establishing global oncology as a priority initiative within a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2024 Mar 07; 116(3):345-351.  View on PubMed
  8. Hodge JM, Patel AV, Islami F, Jemal A, Hiatt RA. Educational Attainment and Cancer Incidence in a Large Nationwide Prospective Cohort. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2023 12 01; 32(12):1747-1755.  View on PubMed
  9. Bank EM, Small EJ, Ashworth A, Hiatt RA. Cancer Research in 2030: A unique strategic planning process at a comprehensive cancer center. Prev Oncol Epidemiol. 2023; 1(1):1-9.  View on PubMed
  10. Lichter KE, Baniel CC, Do I, Medhat Y, Avula V, Nogueira LM, Bates JE, Paulsson A, Malik N, Hiatt RA, Yom SS, Mohamad O. Effects of Wildfire Events on California Radiation Oncology Clinics and Patients. Adv Radiat Oncol. 2024 Mar; 9(3):101395.  View on PubMed
  11. Hiatt RA, Clayton MF, Collins KK, Gold HT, Laiyemo AO, Truesdale KP, Ritzwoller DP. The Pathways to Prevention program: nutrition as prevention for improved cancer outcomes. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 08 08; 115(8):886-895.  View on PubMed
  12. Leggat-Barr K, Ryu R, Hogarth M, Stover-Fiscalini A, Veer LV', Park HL, Lewis T, Thompson C, Borowsky A, Hiatt RA, LaCroix A, Parker B, Madlensky L, Naeim A, Esserman L. Early Ascertainment of Breast Cancer Diagnoses Comparing Self-Reported Questionnaires and Electronic Health Record Data Warehouse: The WISDOM Study. JCO Clin Cancer Inform. 2023 08; 7:e2300019.  View on PubMed
  13. Keeler Bruce L, Paul P, Kim KK, Kim J, Keegan THM, Hiatt RA, Ohno-Machado L, All of Us Research Program Investigators. Family and personal history of cancer in the All of Us research program for precision medicine. PLoS One. 2023; 18(7):e0288496.  View on PubMed
  14. Guan A, Pruitt SL, Henry KA, Lin K, Meltzer D, Canchola AJ, Rathod AB, Hughes AE, Kroenke CH, Gomez SL, Hiatt RA, Stroup AM, Pinheiro PS, Boscoe FP, Zhu H, Shariff-Marco S. Asian American Enclaves and Healthcare Accessibility: An Ecologic Study Across Five States. Am J Prev Med. 2023 12; 65(6):1015-1025.  View on PubMed
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 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 07; 65(1):74-82.  View on PubMed
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. Hiatt RA, Beyeler N. Women's cancers and climate change. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2023 02; 160(2):374-377.  View on PubMed

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