Christopher Haiman, ScD

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.

• 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

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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 Jun 04; 306.. View in PubMed
• Cross-population metabolome-wide Mendelian randomization study of prostate cancer risk. Res Sq. 2026 May 31.. View in PubMed
• Multi-ancestry transcriptome-wide association studies uncover insights into breast cancer genetics and biology. Nat Commun. 2026 May 30; 17(1).. View in PubMed
• Polygenic risk score with KLK3 SNP-SNP interaction pairs for predicting prostate cancer aggressiveness. Commun Med (Lond). 2026 May 28.. View in PubMed
• Polygenic scores for risk of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: evaluation of novel and published models. NPJ Precis Oncol. 2026 May 27.. View in PubMed
• An efficient LASSO framework for admixture-aware polygenic scores. HGG Adv. 2026 Jul 09; 7(3):100628.. View in PubMed
• Meta-analysis of over 8,000 individuals from Hawai’i and Samoa for genetic associations to cardiometabolic phenotypes. medRxiv. 2026 May 12.. View in PubMed
• African ancestry and risk variants associated with triple-negative breast cancer susceptibility in African American women. Genome Med. 2026 05 07; 18(1).. View in PubMed
• Sex differences in cancer incidence persist across race and ethnicity. Biol Sex Differ. 2026 Apr 28; 17(1).. View in PubMed
• Multi-ancestry polygenic risk scores for the prediction of type 2 diabetes and complications in diverse ancestries. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2026 Jul; 14(7):558-569.. View in PubMed
• Multi ancestry genome wide association meta analysis of urinary aMT6s levels. Sci Rep. 2026 Apr 22; 16(1).. View in PubMed
• Novel Genetic Risk Loci for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Identified in a Genome-wide Study of African Ancestry Individuals. medRxiv. 2026 Apr 22.. View in PubMed
• Plant-Based Dietary Patterns and Risk of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Neurology. 2026 May 12; 106(9):e214916.. View in PubMed
• MyGeneRisk Colon: A Web-Based Tool for Personalized Colorectal Cancer Risk Prediction Based on Genetics and Lifestyle. medRxiv. 2026 Apr 06.. View in PubMed
• Late-Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis and Air Pollution in a Multiethnic Cohort. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2026 Jul; 78(7):1425-1436.. View in PubMed
• Ethnic Mixture and Body Mass Index as Modifiers of Breast Cancer Risk among Native Hawaiian Women: Insights from the Multiethnic Cohort. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2026 Apr 01; 35(4):597-603.. View in PubMed
• Different diabetes types and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: a Mendelian randomization and pathway/gene-set analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2026 Mar 01; 118(3):437-447.. View in PubMed
• Racial and ethnic differences in the impact of air pollution on the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Environ Int. 2026 Mar; 209:110169.. View in PubMed
• Dairy products and their key nutrients as protective factors against colorectal cancer risk: The Multiethnic Cohort. Int J Cancer. 2026 Aug 01; 159(3):584-594.. View in PubMed
• Dietary Patterns and Prostate Cancer Risk in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2026 Feb 03; 35(2):247-254.. View in PubMed
• Improved polygenic risk prediction models for breast cancer subtypes in women of African ancestry. Nat Genet. 2026 Mar; 58(3):560-569.. View in PubMed
• Childhood exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) and risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal never smokers: the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) study. Breast Cancer Res. 2025 Dec 25; 28(1):24.. View in PubMed
• Eligibility and Prognostic Performance of Smoking Duration-Based Versus Pack-Year-Based U.S. National Lung Cancer Screening Criteria Across Racial and Ethnic Groups. Ann Intern Med. 2026 02; 179(2):196-206.. View in PubMed
• Incorporating Dietary Information to Enhance Polygenic Prediction Models with Applications to Body Mass Index and Type 2 Diabetes. medRxiv. 2025 Dec 04.. View in PubMed
• Pathogenic Variants, Family History, and Cumulative Risk of Breast Cancer in US Women. JAMA Oncol. 2025 Dec 01; 11(12):1458-1469.. View in PubMed
• Integrating Pathogenic Variants, Polygenic Risk Score, and Family History for Prostate Cancer Risk Estimation in Men of African Ancestry. Eur Urol. 2026 May; 89(5):416-425.. View in PubMed
• Genetic and Cellular Architecture of Breast Cancer Risk in Multi-Ancestry Studies of 159,297 Cases and 212,102 Controls. medRxiv. 2025 Nov 07.. View in PubMed
• Large-scale meta-analysis and precision functional assays identify FANCM regions in which PTVs confer different risks for ER-negative and triple-negative breast cancer. Breast. 2026 Feb; 85:104619.. View in PubMed
• Multiple polygenic score approach in colorectal cancer risk prediction. Sci Rep. 2025 Oct 30; 15(1):38006.. View in PubMed
• Ancestry-specific genetic effects on urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin: a multi-ancestry GWAS meta-analysis. Res Sq. 2025 Oct 12.. View in PubMed
• Neighborhood racial and ethnic composition typology and breast cancer risk: the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2025 10 07; 194(10):2775-2786.. View in PubMed
• Genetic underpinnings of the heterogeneous impact of obesity on lipid levels and cardiovascular disease. Genome Med. 2025 10 06; 17(1):113.. View in PubMed
• Polygenic risk score for type 2 diabetes shows context-dependent effects across populations. Nat Commun. 2025 Oct 01; 16(1):8632.. View in PubMed
• Genome-wide association study provides novel insight into the genetic architecture of severe obesity. PLoS Genet. 2025 Sep; 21(9):e1011842.. View in PubMed
• Author Correction: Functional mechanisms underlying pleiotropic risk alleles at the 19p13.1 breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility locus. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 08; 16(1):8237.. View in PubMed
• Adherence to World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Guidelines and Mortality among Participants with Colorectal Cancer in the MEC. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2025 Sep 02; 34(9):1558-1565.. View in PubMed
• The African-Specific Variant in the Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines Gene, CD8+ T-Cell Density, and Aggressive Breast Cancer Subtypes in Black Women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2025 Sep 02; 34(9):1509-1515.. View in PubMed
• An Efficient Lasso Framework for Admixture-Aware Polygenic Scores. bioRxiv. 2025 Aug 27.. View in PubMed
• Whole exome sequencing identifies FANCM as a susceptibility gene for estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer in Hispanic/Latina women. Nat Commun. 2025 Aug 21; 16(1):7816.. View in PubMed
• Multi-Ancestry Transcriptome-wide Association Studies Uncover New Insights into Breast Cancer Genetics and Biology. medRxiv. 2025 Aug 13.. View in PubMed
• Risk of aggressive prostate cancer with successive generations in the US among Latino men. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Aug 01; 117(8):1699-1706.. View in PubMed
• Dietary patterns and risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias across 5 racial and ethnic groups in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Oct; 122(4):923-931.. View in PubMed
• Multi-ancestry polygenic risk scores for the prediction of type 2 diabetes and complications in diverse ancestries. medRxiv. 2025 Jul 23.. View in PubMed
• Polygenic prediction of body mass index and obesity through the life course and across ancestries. Nat Med. 2025 Sep; 31(9):3151-3168.. View in PubMed
• Characterizing cancer patterns in Okinawan vs. mainland Japanese Americans: The Multiethnic Cohort Study. medRxiv. 2025 Jul 15.. View in PubMed
• Integrating multi-ancestry genomic and proteomic data to identify blood risk biomarkers and target proteins for breast cancer genetic risk loci. Int J Cancer. 2025 Nov 15; 157(10):2071-2080.. View in PubMed
• Exogenous Hormones, Tumor Intrinsic Subtypes, and Breast Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 07 01; 8(7):e2519236.. View in PubMed
• The Multiethnic Cohort: A Resource for the study of Genetic and non-Genetic Cancer Risk Across Populations. medRxiv. 2025 Jun 11.. View in PubMed
• Type 2 Diabetes Polygenic Risk Score Interactions with Lifestyle Risk Factors in Black Americans. Lifestyle Genom. 2025; 18(1):90-97.. View in PubMed
• Analysis of more than 400,000 women provides case-control evidence for BRCA1 and BRCA2 variant classification. Nat Commun. 2025 May 25; 16(1):4852.. View in PubMed
• Epigenetic mechanisms underlying variation of IL-6, a well-established inflammation biomarker and risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosis. 2025 Aug; 407:120219.. View in PubMed
• African Genetic Ancestry, Structural and Social Determinants of Health, and Mortality in Black Adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 05 01; 8(5):e2510016.. View in PubMed
• Association of gene variant type and location with breast cancer risk in the general population. Ann Oncol. 2025 Aug; 36(8):954-963.. View in PubMed
• The accuracy of polygenic score models for BMI and Type II diabetes in the Native Hawaiian population. Commun Biol. 2025 Apr 23; 8(1):651.. View in PubMed
• Whole genome sequencing analysis of body mass index identifies novel African ancestry-specific risk allele. Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 11; 16(1):3470.. View in PubMed
• Large-scale multi-omics analyses in Hispanic/Latino populations identify genes for cardiometabolic traits. Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 11; 16(1):3438.. View in PubMed
• Genome-wide association study of urinary cadmium levels in current smokers from the multiethnic cohort study. Hum Mol Genet. 2025 Mar 20; 34(7):611-616.. View in PubMed
• Risk factors for second primary breast cancer by laterality, age, and race and ethnicity. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Mar 01; 117(3):436-449.. View in PubMed
• Type 2 diabetes polygenic risk score demonstrates context-dependent effects and associations with type 2 diabetes-related risk factors and complications across diverse populations. medRxiv. 2025 Feb 20.. View in PubMed
• Genome-wide association study of prostate-specific antigen levels in 392,522 men identifies new loci and improves prediction across ancestry groups. Nat Genet. 2025 Feb; 57(2):334-344.. View in PubMed
• Evaluation of Multiple Breast Cancer Polygenic Risk Score Panels in Women of Latin American Heritage. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2025 Feb 06; 34(2):234-245.. View in PubMed
• Race and Ethnicity, Lifestyle, Diet, and Survival in Patients With Prostate Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 02 03; 8(2):e2460785.. View in PubMed
• Author Correction: Genetically adjusted PSA levels for prostate cancer screening. Nat Med. 2025 Feb; 31(2):697.. View in PubMed
• Polygenic Risk Score and Upgrading in Patients With Prostate Cancer Receiving Active Surveillance. JAMA Oncol. 2025 Feb 01; 11(2):168-171.. View in PubMed
• Sleep Duration, Dietary Inflammatory Potential, and Obesity in Relation to Colorectal Cancer Incidence in the Multiethnic Cohort. Nutrients. 2025 Jan 21; 17(3).. View in PubMed
• Pathogenic Variants in Cancer Susceptibility Genes Predispose to Ductal Carcinoma In Situ of the Breast. Clin Cancer Res. 2025 Jan 06; 31(1):130-138.. View in PubMed
• Refining breast cancer genetic risk and biology through multi-ancestry fine-mapping analyses of 192 risk regions. Nat Genet. 2025 01; 57(1):80-87.. View in PubMed
• Polygenic score distribution differences across European ancestry populations: implications for breast cancer risk prediction. Breast Cancer Res. 2024 Dec 29; 26(1):189.. View in PubMed
• The PRIMED Consortium: Reducing disparities in polygenic risk assessment. Am J Hum Genet. 2024 12 05; 111(12):2594-2606.. View in PubMed
• A PSA SNP associates with cellular function and clinical outcome in men with prostate cancer. Nat Commun. 2024 11 06; 15(1):9587.. View in PubMed
• Joint Association of Education and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status with Smoking Behavior: The Multiethnic Cohort Study. Res Sq. 2024 Nov 01.. View in PubMed
• Development of a Breast Cancer Risk Prediction Model Integrating Monogenic, Polygenic, and Epidemiologic Risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2024 Nov 01; 33(11):1490-1499.. View in PubMed
• Association of Gene Variant Type and Location with Breast Cancer Risk in the General Population. medRxiv. 2024 Oct 12.. View in PubMed
• Air Pollution and Breast Cancer Incidence in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. J Clin Oncol. 2025 01 20; 43(3):273-284.. View in PubMed
• Heterogeneous genetic architectures of prostate cancer susceptibility in sub-Saharan Africa. Nat Genet. 2024 Oct; 56(10):2093-2103.. View in PubMed
• Identification of proteins associated with type 2 diabetes risk in diverse racial and ethnic populations. Diabetologia. 2024 Dec; 67(12):2754-2770.. View in PubMed
• Analysis of more than 400,000 women provides case-control evidence for BRCA1 and BRCA2 variant classification. medRxiv. 2024 Sep 04.. View in PubMed
• Genome-Wide Analysis to Assess if Heavy Alcohol Consumption Modifies the Association between SNPs and Pancreatic Cancer Risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2024 Sep 03; 33(9):1229-1239.. View in PubMed
• Racial and ethnic differences in second primary lung cancer risk among lung cancer survivors. JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2024 Sep 02; 8(5).. View in PubMed
• Genome-wide association study of prostate-specific antigen levels in 392,522 men identifies new loci and improves cross-ancestry prediction. medRxiv. 2024 Aug 20.. View in PubMed
• Cluster effect for SNP-SNP interaction pairs for predicting complex traits. Sci Rep. 2024 08 12; 14(1):18677.. View in PubMed
• On the informative value of community-based indoor radon values in relation to lung cancer. Cancer Med. 2024 Aug; 13(16):e70126.. View in PubMed
• Publisher Correction: Understanding the genetic complexity of puberty timing across the allele frequency spectrum. Nat Genet. 2024 Aug; 56(8):1763-1764.. View in PubMed
• Case-Case Genome-Wide Analyses Identify Subtype-Informative Variants That Confer Risk for Breast Cancer. Cancer Res. 2024 Aug 01; 84(15):2533-2548.. View in PubMed
• Understanding the genetic complexity of puberty timing across the allele frequency spectrum. Nat Genet. 2024 Jul; 56(7):1397-1411.. View in PubMed
• Early Prostate Cancer Deaths Among Men With Higher vs Lower Genetic Risk. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 07 01; 7(7):e2420034.. View in PubMed
• Diet Quality and Risk of Bladder Cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Nutrients. 2024 Jun 20; 16(12).. View in PubMed
• Hierarchical joint analysis of marginal summary statistics-Part II: High-dimensional instrumental analysis of omics data. Genet Epidemiol. 2024 10; 48(7):291-309.. View in PubMed
• Transcriptome-wide association analysis identifies candidate susceptibility genes for prostate-specific antigen levels in men without prostate cancer. HGG Adv. 2024 Jul 18; 5(3):100315.. View in PubMed
• Alcohol intake and endogenous sex hormones in women: Meta-analysis of cohort studies and Mendelian randomization. Cancer. 2024 Oct 01; 130(19):3375-3386.. View in PubMed
• Intake of Sugar and Food Sources of Sugar and Colorectal Cancer Risk in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. J Nutr. 2024 08; 154(8):2481-2492.. View in PubMed
• Reproductive Factors and Thyroid Cancer Risk: The Multiethnic Cohort Study. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2024 Sep; 33(9):1158-1165.. View in PubMed

• Lenz, Heinz-Josef
• Peters, Anne
• Wu-Williams, Anna
• Gauderman, William
• Setiawan, Veronica
• Wiemels, Joseph