People

Dezheng Huo, PhD

Dr. Huo’s research interests focus on the genetic, molecular, and environmental factors underlying etiology, prognosis, and treatment of cancers, particularly as they relate to cancer in underserved populations. His research spans across several areas of cancer epidemiology and clinical epidemiology, including:



1. Genetic epidemiology of breast cancer, particular in women of African ancestry with the use of genome-wide association and whole genome sequencing approach.



2. Environmental and lifestyle factors for breast cancer etiology in African women and risk prediction model building, and strategy for cancer screening.



3. Health disparity in breast cancer outcomes in multiethnic patient cohort study with multi-dimensional data.



4. Investigation of the utilization and effectiveness of cancer treatment in real world using Big data.



5. Prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol and clear cell adenocarcinoma of vagina and cervix, as well as other health conditions in later life.



6. Epigenetics and non-coding RNAs, such as microRNAs in relationship to cancer prognosis and survival.

Case-Case Genome-Wide Analyses Identify Subtype-Informative Variants That Confer Risk for Breast Cancer.
Case-Case Genome-Wide Analyses Identify Subtype-Informative Variants That Confer Risk for Breast Cancer. Cancer Res. 2024 Aug 01; 84(15):2533-2548.
PMID: 38832928

Benign and Malignant Outcomes in the Offspring of Females Exposed In Utero to Diethylstilbestrol (DES): An Update from the NCI Third Generation Study.
Benign and Malignant Outcomes in the Offspring of Females Exposed In Utero to Diethylstilbestrol (DES): An Update from the NCI Third Generation Study. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Jul 18; 16(14).
PMID: 39061214

Assessing the Relationship Between Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Telemedicine Use Among Patients With Breast Cancer and Examining Differential Provisions of Oncology Services Between Telehealth and In-Person Visits: Quantitative Study.
Assessing the Relationship Between Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Telemedicine Use Among Patients With Breast Cancer and Examining Differential Provisions of Oncology Services Between Telehealth and In-Person Visits: Quantitative Study. JMIR Cancer. 2024 Jul 18; 10:e55438.
PMID: 39024570

Expenditures and Use of Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy Treating Breast Cancer Among Medicare Advantage Enrollees, 2009 to 2017.
Expenditures and Use of Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy Treating Breast Cancer Among Medicare Advantage Enrollees, 2009 to 2017. Adv Radiat Oncol. 2024 Sep; 9(9):101568.
PMID: 39176100

Multi-tissue transcriptome-wide association studies identified 235 genes for intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer.
Multi-tissue transcriptome-wide association studies identified 235 genes for intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2024 Jul 01; 116(7):1105-1115.
PMID: 38400758

Association of ESR1 Germline Variants with TP53 Somatic Variants in Breast Tumors in a Genome-wide Study.
Association of ESR1 Germline Variants with TP53 Somatic Variants in Breast Tumors in a Genome-wide Study. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 Jun 27; 4(6):1597-1608.
PMID: 38836758

Development and validation of a clinical breast cancer tool for accurate prediction of recurrence.
Development and validation of a clinical breast cancer tool for accurate prediction of recurrence. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2024 Jun 15; 10(1):46.
PMID: 38879577

Racial differences in familiarity, interest, and use of integrative medicine among patients with breast cancer.
Racial differences in familiarity, interest, and use of integrative medicine among patients with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Sep; 207(2):343-359.
PMID: 38748087

Genome-wide association analyses of breast cancer in women of African ancestry identify new susceptibility loci and improve risk prediction.
Genome-wide association analyses of breast cancer in women of African ancestry identify new susceptibility loci and improve risk prediction. Nat Genet. 2024 May; 56(5):819-826.
PMID: 38741014

A multi-tissue, splicing-based joint transcriptome-wide association study identifies susceptibility genes for breast cancer.
A multi-tissue, splicing-based joint transcriptome-wide association study identifies susceptibility genes for breast cancer. Am J Hum Genet. 2024 06 06; 111(6):1100-1113.
PMID: 38733992

View All Publications

Study section of P01
NIH/NCI
2019

Study section of R01/R21
NIH/NCI
2018 - 2023

Study section of U01, H3Africa
NIH/NHGRI
2017

Study section of P01
NIH/NCI
2017

Runner-up in the Up For A Challenge – Stimulating Innovation in Breast Cancer Genetic Epidemiology
National Cancer Institute
2016

Study section of U54
NIH/NIMHD
2015

Distinguished Investigator Junior Award
University of Chicago
2014

Breast Cancer Research Program study section
U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
2013 - 2014

Breast Cancer Research Program study section
U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
2010

Breast Cancer Research Program study section
U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
2008

Delta Omega
National Honor Society in Public Health
2005

Haenszel Award for Excellence in Research
University of Illinois at Chicago
2005

Student Travel Award
University of Illinois at Chicago
2000