Katherine Van Loon, MD, MPH
Professor of Clinical Medicine, UCSF; Director, Global Cancer Program, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Professor of Clinical Medicine, UCSF; Director, Global Cancer Program, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
As Director of the Global Cancer Program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, I oversee UCSF’s portfolio of research and capacity-building projects in low and middle-income countries as well as educational programs for training in global oncology. My research interest focuses on the epidemiology of gastrointestinal cancers both in the United States and globally, with the aim to improve clinical outcomes and reduce disparities. In collaboration with Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Tanzania, I am the Principal Investigator of studies to evaluate the etiology of the disproportionately high burden of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in East Africa. I am the Principal Investigator of a D43 award that is building the first-ever cancer research training program in Tanzania. I am also actively engaged in research on the increasing burden of early-onset colorectal cancer in the United States and the disproportionate impact of this disease on black and Latinx communities. I have partnered with the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología (National Cancer Institute) and Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (National Institute of Public Health) in Mexico to develop a collaborative research program to evaluate the changing epidemiology of colorectal cancer in Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. In all collaborations, I aim to support the career development of early career investigators with interests in global cancer control.
Duke University B.S. 05/00 Biology
Yale University M.P.H. 05/02 Health Policy
Medical College of Georgia M.D. 05/06 Medicine
Beth Israel Deaconess, Harvard Medical School Intern 06/07 Internal Medicine
Beth Israel Deaconess, Harvard Medical School Resident 06/09 Internal Medicine
University of California, San Francisco Fellow 06/12 Oncology