Ann Chao, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H.

Ann Chao, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H., joined the Center for Global Health (CGH) in January 2012 as its representative in East Asia, based at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China. From 2016 to 2019, Ann served as NCI’s representative at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, where she worked with the World Health Organization (WHO), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and other multilateral and bilateral partners. From 2019 to 2022, she was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, where she worked with Kenyan researchers on cancer surveillance and research, and with the PEPFAR Go Further team on strategies to mitigate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women attending cervical cancer screening. Dr. Chao and Kenyan partners are conducting a study in Nairobi to better understand the cervical cancer referral pathway, implementing a cervical cancer screening registry to improve follow-up of women after screening and data interoperability between screening and cancer registries.

Prior to joining NCI, Dr. Chao lived and conducted epidemiologic research in the U.S., Rwanda, Zambia, and China. Her NCI-funded research at the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) New Mexico Tumor Registry and the American Cancer Society intramural research program focused on cancer surveillance and studies of modifiable lifestyle and familial risk factors associated with cancer incidence, mortality, screening, and early detection in large prospective cohorts. She has authored over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Chao received her M.P.H. and Ph.D. in epidemiology (minor in biostatistics) from the University of California, Los Angeles, and B.S. in gerontology and M.S. in applied biometry from the University of Southern California.