Thomas L. Vaughan, MD, MPH

Dr. Thomas Vaughan investigates environmental and host factors that contribute to the risk of cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system, as well as factors that influence survival. His major concentration is the identification of medical, lifestyle and genetic factors that underlie the dramatic increase in incidence of adenocarcinomas arising in the esophagus and gastric cardia over the past several decades. He does this through population-based case-control studies of cancer, community-based case-control studies of the key precancerous lesion, Barrett’s esophagus, and a long-standing cohort study of persons with Barrett’s. He is investigating determinants of genetic susceptibility in genome-wide association studies, also known as GWAS, in collaboration with the international BEACON consortium and others. He also seeks to identify potential preventive measures for these cancers, such as use of anti-inflammatory medications. Recently he has focused on translating findings from observational studies and trials to the clinical and population settings. Dr. Vaughan and his colleagues have advanced a detailed research roadmap to overcome the limitations inherent in current approaches to controlling esophageal adenocarcinoma, and they created a web-based risk calculator and information resource called IC-RISC to inform shared decision-making between a health provider and patient regarding screening, surveillance and treatment options.