Christopher Haiman, ScD

Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences

AFLAC Chair in Cancer Research

Director, Center for Genetic Epidemiology

Division Chief, Epidemiology and Genetics

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Overview

Christopher Haiman, ScD, is a professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and AFLAC Chair in Cancer Research. He also leads the Cancer Epidemiology Program at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Epidemiology and Genetics division in the Department of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Haiman is a genetic epidemiologist whose research is focused on exploring racial and ethnic disparities in cancer risk, with the goal of developing approaches to reduce these disparities. He is co-principal investigator of the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC), a large prospective study of cancer in primarily non-European ancestry populations (n>215,000) that has been the foundation of his scientific investigation into the genetic risk of cancer, initially through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and more recently in large-scale genomic consortia in minority populations that employ next-generation sequencing technology. In addition to these leadership and administrative research positions, he has vast experience in directing large consortia and is currently the scientific leader of the African Ancestry Prostate Cancer Consortium (AAPC). He has also served as a steering committee member for numerous NIH consortia, including the NCI GAME-ON Consortium, NHGRI Population Architecture Using Genomics and Epidemiology Consortium (PAGE), NHGRI Gene Environment Association Studies (GENEVA) Consortium and the NCI Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (BPC3). He is also the principal investigator of the RESPOND African-American prostate cancer initiative. He has co-authored more than 450 peer-reviewed publications, with many in prominent journals, including Nature Genetics, The New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Research Funding

  • Post-Doctoral Training in Integrative Cancer Epidemiology
    NIH · T32CA315091 · Sep 1, 2026 – Aug 31, 2031 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Family RESPOND: Defining the Genetic Basis of Prostate Cancer Risk in African American Families
    NIH · R01CA289492 · Apr 1, 2025 – Mar 31, 2030 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Identifying factors associated with prostate cancer progression and survival in African American men: The RESPOND Cohort
    NIH · U01CA287036 · Jul 23, 2024 – Jun 30, 2029 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Leveraging whole-exome sequence data from diverse biobanks and cohorts to study rare coding variation in prostate cancer
    NIH · R01CA276826 · Sep 20, 2023 – Aug 31, 2028 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Multiethnic GWAS and TWAS to Inform Risk Prediction for Prostate Cancer
    NIH · U01CA257328 · May 1, 2021 – Apr 30, 2026 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Multidisciplinary Training in Ethnic Diversity and Cancer Disparities
    NIH · T32CA229110 · Apr 1, 2019 – Mar 31, 2024 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • PAGE III: Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology
    NIH · R56HG010297 · Sep 12, 2018 – Jun 14, 2019 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • Research on Prostate Cancer in Men of African Ancestry: Defining the Roles of Genetics, Immunity and Stress (RESPOND)
    NIH · U19CA214253 · Jul 5, 2018 – Jun 30, 2025 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Hispanic Latino Lipid Consortium
    NIH · R01HL142302 · May 1, 2018 – Mar 31, 2027 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • Polygenic Risk Prediction of Breast Cancer for Women of African Descent
    NIH · R01CA228198 · Apr 19, 2018 – Jul 1, 2028 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • The Genetic Basis of Aggressive Prostate Cancer: The Role of Rare Variation
    NIH · R01CA196931 · Aug 5, 2016 – Jul 31, 2021 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • African-ancestry Breast Cancer Genetic Consortium
    NIH · R01CA202981 · Jul 1, 2016 – Jul 31, 2030 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • Leveraging ancestral diversity to map adiposity loci in Hispanics
    NIH · R01DK101855 · Aug 15, 2014 – Jul 31, 2019 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • Epidemiologic Studies of Putative Functional Variation in Multiethnic Cohort
    NIH · U01HG007397 · Sep 1, 2013 – Nov 30, 2018 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Genome-wide sequencing of prostate cancer in men of African ancestry
    NIH · R01CA165862 · Sep 21, 2012 – Jul 31, 2018 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Understanding Population Differences in Cancer: The MEC Study
    NIH · U01CA164973 · Sep 1, 2012 – Aug 31, 2027 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • Genome-wide association study of breast cancer in high-risk women
    NIH · R01CA165038 · Aug 1, 2012 – May 31, 2019 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Genome Wide Admixture Scan for Multiple Myeloma in African Americans
    NIH · R01CA134786 · Aug 1, 2010 – May 31, 2017 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • Discovery, Biology and Risk of Inherited Variants in Breast Cancer
    NIH · U19CA148065 · Jul 15, 2010 – Jun 30, 2016 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • Elucidating Loci Involved in Prostate Cancer Suceptibility
    NIH · U19CA148537 · Jul 13, 2010 – Dec 31, 2016 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
  • Expanding resources for understanding the genetic basis for prostate cancer in Af
    NIH · RC2CA148085 · Sep 30, 2009 – Aug 31, 2012 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • A Multiethnic Genome-Wide Scan of Prostate Cancer
    NIH · U01HG004726 · Sep 20, 2008 – Dec 31, 2011 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • Fine-mapping of 8q24 and Loci Identified in Genome-Wide Studies for Breast &Colo
    NIH · R01CA132839 · Mar 15, 2008 – Feb 28, 2012 · Role: Principal Investigator
  • A Comprehensive Analysis of Genetic Variation in DNA Repair Genes in Relation to
    NIH · R03CA123587 · Aug 1, 2006 – Jul 31, 2008 · Role: Principal Investigator

Publications

  • Associations of neighborhood racial and ethnic, economical, and educational segregation with breast cancer risk: The Multiethnic ohort Study. Cancer Causes Control. 2026 Jul 24; 37(9).. View in PubMed
  • PRANA: A Deep Learning Method for Adapting Polygenic Risk Scores to Diverse Ethnic Groups. medRxiv. 2026 Jul 15.. View in PubMed
  • A nested case-control study of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance in the Multiethnic Cohort study. Blood Adv. 2026 Jul 14; 10(13):4551-4562.. View in PubMed
  • Association between ambient air pollution and colorectal cancer risk: The Multiethnic Cohort Study. Environ Res. 2026 Jul 13; 306(Pt 2):125250.. View in PubMed
  • The Multiethnic Cohort: A Resource for the Study of Genetic and Nongenetic Cancer Risk across Populations. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2026 Jul 01; 35(7):1088-1099.. View in PubMed
  • Interaction of genetic and lifestyle risk scores on colorectal cancer risk across 5 racial and ethnic populations. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2026 Jul 01; 118(7):1211-1218.. View in PubMed
  • Incorporating dietary information to enhance polygenic prediction models with applications to body mass index and type 2 diabetes. Genes Nutr. 2026 Jun 18.. View in PubMed
  • Cumulative breastfeeding duration and incidence of diabetes in the multiethnic cohort study. Glob Perspect Nutr. 2026 Jul; 1(3):woag012.. View in PubMed
  • A decision-oriented framework for genomic testing across the prostate cancer continuum. Cancer Genet. 2026 Sep; 306.. View in PubMed
  • Cross-population metabolome-wide Mendelian randomization study of prostate cancer risk. Res Sq. 2026 May 31.. View in PubMed