Dr. Kathy Tossas-Milligan, PhD, MS
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Dr. Kathy Tossas-Milligan is an Assistant Professor and Harrison Endowed Scholar in the Department of Health Behavior and Policy, with a joint appointment in Epidemiology, at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine. She is also a member of the Massey Cancer Center where she directs the office of Catchment Area Data Access and Alignment (CADA). Her work and research are grounded in health equity, and center on elucidating how structural determinants of health such as differential access to care impact cancer outcomes for underserved and underrepresented populations (e.g. racial and ethnic, sexual, gender and geographic minorities). Most recently, her research interests are focused on the use of machine learning methodologies to explore the potential influence of the microbiome on HPV-related cancers.
Prior to joining VCU, Dr. Tossas was a Research Assistant Professor in the division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and a Director at the UIC Cancer Center where she led numerous federally, and non-federally funded projects, including global cancer work, founded two offices, and published 20 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. Before re-entering academia, Dr. Tossas held leadership positions at various non-profits (American Cancer Society, American Hospital Association, Equal Hope), and spent nearly 10 years in pharma. Dr. Tossas earned a BS in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico (MARC and Howard Hughes scholar), an MS in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan (Rackham Merit fellow) and a PhD in Cancer Epidemiology from UIC (Susan G. Komen scholar).