Gloria Coronado named associate director of Population Sciences

Gloria D. Coronado, PhD, is the Cancer Center’s associate director of Population Sciences, a newly created position. Dr. Coronado will hold the Maynard Chair in Prevention Research and serve on the senior leadership team of the Cancer Center.

"We are happy to welcome Dr. Coronado to the Cancer Center and we look forward to seeing her develop a comprehensive vision for population-based research that serves the diverse communities residing in our catchment area," said Joann Sweasy, PhD, Cancer Center director.

In her new position, Dr. Coronado will recruit and develop exceptional population-based researchers focused on increasing the Cancer Center’s impact on underserved and under-researched communities. She has an extensive track record as a federally funded investigator focused on population-based cancer research, with a collaborative approach to leadership and a management that supports junior mentorship.

Dr. Coronado is the Mitch Greenlick Endowed Distinguished Investigator in Health Disparities Research at the Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Center for Health Research. She is an epidemiologist who champions affordable, long-term solutions to health disparity issues. She also leads a well-funded research portfolio that inspires health system leaders to make sensible, evidence-informed choices to engage hard-to-reach populations in life-saving preventive behaviors.

Dr. Coronado received her PhD in epidemiology from the University of Washington and then was a research associate professor in the university’s Department of Epidemiology. She also received training at Stanford University. In 2020, she was named one of the 50 Changemakers of Public Health at the University of Washington School of Public Health and was named Mentor of the Year on behalf of the Health Care Systems Research Network a year later.

She is a member of the Board of Scientific Advisors for the National Cancer Institute and was a committee member for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine where she contributed to the report, “Improving the Representation of Women and Underrepresented Minorities in Clinical Trials and Research.” She also has more than 175 publications.

Dr. Coronado will join the Cancer Center in November.

"I’m grateful to Cynthia A. Thomson, PhD, RD, who has served as interim associate director for Population Science while the center conducted a national search for a permanent associate director," Dr. Sweasy said.