The Keck School of Medicine of USC has announced that Lihua Liu, Ph.D. is now the director and principal investigator of the USC Cancer Surveillance Program (CSP). Liu is an associate professor of clinical preventive medicine and spatial sciences.
Part of the California Cancer Registry (CCR), the CSP records all cancer diagnoses in Los Angeles County. The CSP also is a member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Collectively, these organizations collect information on statewide and nationwide cancer diagnoses to provide data in support of identifying trends, informing prevention and treatment strategies and improving public health.
Liu succeeds Dennis Deapen, professor of clinical preventive medicine, who has led the CSP since 1988. She began during her association with CSP as a postdoctoral scholar and has become an expert in registry operations.
As a medical demographer, Liu is prioritizing CSP’s analytical support capability. She also intends to develop data mining tools to better support innovation and collaboration for cancer research and boost the accessibility and usability of data for cancer control activities. Her research interest is in the impact of social, economic, cultural, behavioral and environmental factors on the development, diagnosis, and survival of cancer.
