Dr. Shelley Tworoger is the Associate Director of Population Science at the Knight Cancer Institute and Professor and Head of the Division of Oncological Sciences at Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine. She previously held similar positions at Moffitt Cancer Center.

The underlying goal of her research program is to improve prevention recommendations and identify women at high risk of breast and ovarian cancer by elucidating the etiology behind their development and progression. Her integrative approach leverages complex epidemiologic studies in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of researchers. Her primary focus is to: (i) identify novel risk factors (e.g., psychological distress) and their mechanistic role in women’s cancers, (ii) understand how the host macroenvironment impacts tumor heterogeneity and the associated microenvironment, (iii) evaluate novel factors related to survival among cancer patients, and (iv) implement consortial approaches. She leads the ovarian cancer research efforts in the Nurses’ Health Studies and is a multiple principal investigator of and leads the data coordinating center for the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium. A common thread in her research is a strong interest in optimal integration of biologic markers into epidemiologic studies; she has led several large-scale biorepositories and sample collections. From >430 articles, she is first author or senior/co-senior author on >140. She has continuously held R01 or equivalent funding since 2006. 

Dr. Tworoger is passionate about mentorship and sponsorship of all individuals. She has mentored nearly 50 students, fellows, and junior faculty over her career. Many of these individuals now hold positions in academia in the United States and abroad. She also is interested in promoting leadership development and recently implemented a one-on-one mentoring program to promote diversity in academic and cancer center leadership. Her philosophy is to continually strive to improve and tailor her mentorship and sponsorship to individuals and their needs.

Dr. Tworoger received her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Washington and was a post-doctoral fellow and faculty member at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School as well as Moffitt Cancer Center before joining OHSU.