Mariana Stern, PhD

Associate Professor of Research in Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

Member, Working Groups for Monographs (114, 116) on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, World Health Organization International Agency of Research on Cancer

Director, Molecular Epidemiology MS and PhD Program, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

Senior Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Genetics

Mariana Stern, PhD earned her doctorate in Cancer Biology via the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences program coordinated with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, after completing a “Licenciatura” Master’s degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires.  She went on to complete postdoctoral training at the Epidemiology Branch and Molecular Carcinogenesis Laboratory managed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.  She has since 2001 held a faculty appointment at Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, where she now serves as Associate Professor of Research in Preventive Medicine as well as Director of the Molecular Epidemiology MS and PhD Program.

Dr. Stern’s major areas of research interest have been:  diet, genetic susceptibility and cancer risk;  prognostic factors for prostate cancer;  and determinants of cancer health disparities among Latinos.  She is the principal author of 21 articles in peer-reviewed research journals, the most recent of which was “Variability in Cancer Risk and Outcomes within U.S. Latinos by National Origin and Genetic Ancestry”.  She is a co-author of 70 others, and also co-authored chapters about molecular epidemiology in two biochemical toxicology textbooks.  She has served as a reviewer of manuscripts for 26 professional research journals, and is Senior Editorial Board Member for the International Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Genetics.

Dr. Stern was a member of the expert working groups for two Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans that were produced by the International Agency of Research on Cancer….  the widely cited and influential Volume 114, “Red Meat and Processed Meat”, as well as Volume 116, “Coffee, Yerba Mate, Very Hot Beverages”.  She has also served on the organizing or scientific or award committees or epidemiology subcommittees for numerous national or international conferences, produced by the organizations Latinas Contra el Cancer, American Association for Cancer Research, and its affiliate Minorities in Cancer Research.  She has sustained her commitment to classroom education over the years as well, continuing to teach core courses in “Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology” and “Genetics in Public Health and Preventive Medicine” on a regular basis, while mentoring a few dozen students and postgrads in their long-term research projects.  She presents each year at professional meetings on subjects related to cancer risk, epidemiology and prognosis.