Rate My Professor Jiali Han

Jiali Han, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology in the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and Rachel Cecile Efroymson Professor in Cancer Research at the Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. He earned his PhD in Biological Sciences in Public Health from Harvard University in 2004 and BS in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology from Nankai University. After completing his doctorate, he joined the faculties of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, rising to Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and Associate Professor of Medicine and Dermatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School prior to his move to Indianapolis in 2013. He also serves as PhD Program Director for Epidemiology, Epidemiology Consultation Core Director at the IU Simon Cancer Center, and Adjunct Professor of Dermatology at the IU School of Medicine.

Dr. Han has been principal investigator on a dozen NIH grants and key investigator on multiple NIH-funded projects, providing expertise in genetic and molecular epidemiology. He has published over 240 original research articles in peer-reviewed journals, including seminal works such as “A genome-wide association study identifies novel alleles associated with hair color and skin pigmentation” (PLoS Genetics, 2008), “Rotating night shifts and risk of skin cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study” (J Natl Cancer Inst., 2011), “Shorter telomeres associate with a reduced risk of melanoma development” (Cancer Res., 2011), “Use of tanning beds and incidence of skin cancer” (J Clin Oncol., 2012), and “Increased caffeine intake is associated with reduced risk of basal cell carcinoma of the skin” (Cancer Res., 2012). His research centers on the genetic and molecular epidemiology of cancer etiology, prevention, and outcomes, leading international consortia on genetic susceptibility to keratinocyte carcinoma and post-GWAS functional analyses of skin cancer variants. Additional foci encompass pigmentary traits, lung cancer, global cancer screening strategies especially breast cancer in developing countries, pharmaco-epidemiology and real-world evidence, opioid-mediated addictive behaviors in tanning bed users, sports and exercise epidemiology, and community built environments. Dr. Han has mentored over 40 graduate students, fellows, and junior faculty, served on NIH study sections, U.S. Department of Defense and American Cancer Society grant panels, and various scientific committees. He delivers invited lectures at regional, national, and international meetings, conducted a workshop in Kenya in 2023, and presented a keynote at the 6th Africa International Biotechnology and Biomedical Conference.