Urologic Cancer Epidemiology Lab
Principal Investigator
Benjamin I. Chung, MD, MS
Professor of Urology
Dr. Chung's research focuses upon improving outcomes of surgical management of urologic cancers and in better understanding the causative factors in the formation of these malignancies to allow for future preventative action.
Lab Members
Zhengyi Deng, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Zhengyi Deng graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a PhD in Epidemiology with a concentration on cancer epidemiology. He completed his SM degree in Environmental Health at Harvard University. He has been conducting research on risk factors, early detection, and survival outcomes of multiple cancer types, mainly breast cancer. He has keen interest in urologic cancer, especially kidney cancer, and would like to learn more and expand his research area.
Dr. Kevin L’Esperance is a cancer epidemiologist who focuses on the interplay between adiposity, lifestyle, and social drivers of health in kidney and ovarian cancer risk, prevention, and survivorship. His work involves patients, clinicians, and population-level perspectives to improve health literacy, integrate lived experiences, and enhance cancer care and management. In parallel, Dr. L’Esperance is actively engaged in science communication, working to raise awareness about cancer and shift the narrative from fatalism to empowerment and actionable change.
Simon John Christoph Soerensen, MD
PhD Student in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health
Simon John Christoph Soerensen, MD, graduated from Aarhus University in Denmark with an MD in 2021. Prior to joining the PhD program, Simon worked on different interdisciplinary projects (mainly in urologic epidemiology) at Stanford on three occasions between 2018 and 2020. Simon's main research interests lie within cancer epidemiology and examining methods to reduce cancer burden.
Chiyuan (Amy) Zhang, MPH
Biostatistician
Amy's work has been focused on determining underlying paternal factors in offspring health, health/racial disparities in overactive bladder populations, and risk factors of solid tumors.
Courtney Scheuch
Program Manager
Courtney has worked with Dr. Chung since 2015 where she has been the Financial Analyst for the Department of Urology. She has recently taken on the role of Program Manager for the Urologic Cancer Epidemiology Lab.
Minji Jung, a postdoctoral researcher, received her PhamD and PhD degrees from College of Pharmacy, Ajou University in South Korea. Prior to joining Stanford University, she worked as a researcher at School of Pharmacy, University of California, San Francisco.Minji is interested in pharmacoepidemiology evaluating the efficacy and safety of medication use related to urologic cancers and applying various statistical methodologies to improve research quality.
Mingyi Li, MS
PhD Student in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health
Mingyi Li earned her Master of Health Science in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University in 2021, with a concentration in statistical methodology in epidemiology. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology and a Master’s degree in Statistics at Stanford University. Her research focuses on the intersection of mental health and cancer, particularly urologic cancers. She is also interested in methodological work in causal inference using simulation-based approaches. Mingyi aims to apply her statistical and analytical skills to investigate risk factors and cancer outcomes related to mental health in cancer patients.
Francesco Del Giudice, MD
Assistant Professor, Sapienza Università di Roma
I am currently a Urologist and PhD student at "Sapienza" Rome University, Rome, Italy.
My main research focuses are:
- Uro-oncology (bladder and prostate cancer)
- Male Infertility (sexual health and male reproduction)
Shufeng Li, MS
Biostatistician
Shufeng received her master's of statistics degree from Pennsylvania State University before joined Stanford University as a biostatistican in the departments of Urology and Dermatology. She is interested in clinical trial design and data analyses, research studies including cross-sectional, case-control, or complex survey sampling using large databases.
Collaborators
Michael L. Eisenberg, MD
Professor of Urology
John Leppert, MD, MS
Professor of Urology
Marvin Langston, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health