Dr. Katherine Y. Tossas

Dr. Katherine Y. Tossas, Ph.D., M.S., is a cancer epidemiologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Policy, at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (VCU). She is also a member of the VCU Massey Cancer Center (Cancer Prevention and Control research program) where she is the founding director for the Office of Catchment Area Data Access and Analysis.

Dr. Tossas’ research is grounded in health equity, and centers on elucidating the role of the microbiome on birth outcomes (NICHD Diversity Supplement, PI) and on disparate progression of precancerous lesions, specifically in the cervix (ACS-IRG, PI) and lung (P20, co-I).

She is a Principal Investigator for multiple foundation-funded (Pfizer, ACS, Jeffress, RWJF) community-engaged research projects addressing systemic or structural inequities in cancer outcomes across Virginia. Dr. Tossas provides mentorship opportunities to students through her COQUI Lab (Cancer Outcomes Queries to Understand Inequities).