Shelley Tworoger, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center, has been recruited to fill two leadership roles at OHSU: head of the Division of Oncological Sciences in the School of Medicine, and associate director for population science in the Knight Cancer Institute. She starts Jan. 1, 2024.

Tworoger’s research is focused on understanding factors that change vulnerability to ovarian cancer incidence and survival. The aim is to find better ways to identify those at high risk and develop strategies to prevent cancer – and limit harms when the disease develops.

In one National Institutes of Health-funded project, Tworoger is testing the hypothesis that chronic social stress drives progression of ovarian tumors by promoting the activity of immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and that certain medications, including aspirin and other NSAIDs, can disrupt the immune dysregulation triggered by stress.

“We are trying to understand what patients can do for themselves to improve their outcomes,” she said.

Tworoger is a lead investigator for the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium, an international resource to conduct studies of ovarian cancer risk factors, biomarkers, risk prediction, and outcomes. It was initiated through the National Cancer Institute Cohort Consortium in 2010 to address the need for prospective studies expansive enough to account for the diversity of ovarian cancer subtypes.

As head of the Division of Oncological Sciences at OHSU, Tworoger will work with the dean to develop goals and a business plan for the division, and ensure that the direction is consistent with the strategic direction of the School of Medicine. Division head duties include budgetary and fiscal responsibilities as well as developing collaborative research and academic programs.

In her associate director role, Tworoger will develop and shape population science at the Knight Cancer Institute, promote the securing of multi-investigator grants, and develop resources to advance cancer prevention and control research in collaboration with the co-leaders of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program and the associate director for community outreach and engagement.

Among other goals at OHSU, Tworoger hopes to expand research to understand how cancer risk and cancer progression are shaped by our macroenvironment: “the community we live in, our socioeconomic status, our physical environment,” she says.

She also hopes to build capacity for developing new interventions that improve patient-reported outcomes, including symptom relief, mental health, financial stability and social connection.

“We want to hire more people who do intervention studies to help cancer patients deal with the sequelae of the cancer itself.”

Tworoger grew up in Richland, Washington. She completed her undergraduate studies and doctoral degree in epidemiology at the University of Washington before moving on to a fellowship in epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She was on faculty at Harvard Medical School for 14 years before her job at Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, where she has been associate center director of population science since 2017.