Rate My Professor Veronica Wendy Setiawan

Dr. Veronica Wendy Setiawan is a distinguished cancer epidemiologist and Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine. She holds the Jane and Kris Popovich Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, serves as Co-Leader of the Cancer Epidemiology Program in the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is Associate Director for Population Sciences in the USC Research Center for Liver Diseases. Her research centers on elucidating the determinants of racial and ethnic disparities in cancer incidence and mortality, with a primary emphasis on liver, pancreatic, endometrial, and breast cancers. By integrating multi-level data—including genetics, biomarkers, lifestyle factors, and social determinants—she identifies high-risk populations and develops strategies to mitigate cancer health disparities. She leads projects in major epidemiologic consortia such as the Multiethnic Cohort Study and the NCI Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium (E2C2), contributing to over 200 peer-reviewed publications.

Veronica Wendy Setiawan earned her BS in Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), followed by MS and PhD degrees in Epidemiology from UCLA School of Public Health. She completed postdoctoral training in Cancer and Genetic Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health and USC. Her academic career at USC began as Assistant Professor of Research in Preventive Medicine in 2006, advancing to tenured Associate Professor in 2017 and full Professor thereafter. Notable awards include NIH Cancer Epidemiology Predoctoral Fellowship (1998-2002), NIH Cancer Epidemiology Postdoctoral Fellowships (2002-2003 at Harvard, 2003-2005 at USC), AACR-AstraZeneca Scholar in Training Award (2001), AACR-Aflac Scholar in Training Award (2005), American Society for Preventive Oncology New Investigator Award (2002), and USC Center of Excellence in Genome Science Pilot Project Award (2004). Key publications include “Diabetes and racial/ethnic differences in hepatocellular carcinoma risk: the Multiethnic Cohort” (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2014), “Association of coffee intake with reduced incidence of liver cancer and death from chronic liver disease in the US multiethnic cohort” (Gastroenterology, 2015), “Disparity in Liver Cancer Incidence and Chronic Liver Disease Mortality by Nativity in Hispanics: The Multiethnic Cohort” (Cancer, 2016), and “Assessing the impact of perfluoroalkyl substances on liver health: a comprehensive study using multi-donor human liver spheroids” (Environmental International, 2025). She serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and member of the NCI Cohort Consortium Steering Committee.