Personalized Prevention, Population Impact

Adetunji T. Toriola, MD, PhD, brings a public health science approach to one of medicine’s most pressing challenges: breast cancer — particularly in premenopausal women, who account for 25% of new cases in the U.S. His work is transforming the emerging field of precision prevention.

A physician-scientist and molecular epidemiologist, Toriola leads NIH-funded studies investigating the biological drivers of dense breast tissue — a major risk factor for breast cancer — and ways to modulate that density to reduce cancer risk. His team is leading a phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate whether the drug denosumab can lower breast density in high-risk premenopausal women.

His research applies metrics on a multitude of biomolecules to identify biomarkers and integrates them into clinical trials, creating a rapid feedback loop between lab findings and patient care.

“Dr. Toriola’s research fulfills a critical unmet need,” said Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, director of Siteman Cancer Center. “Premenopausal breast cancer prevention has historically been underexplored and underfunded — his work represents a change for the thousands of women who need it most.”

Toriola’s research into rising breast cancer rates among young women, especially Black women, is uncovering disparities and shaping new prevention strategies. He also co-leads major clinical trials in colorectal cancer, examining how lifestyle, genetics and other factors influence outcomes. By focusing on population-level risk and prevention, his work has the potential to reduce cancer incidence and improve outcomes for patients worldwide.

As the second faculty member named to WashU Medicine’s Physician-Scientist Investigators Initiative, Toriola exemplifies the physician-scientist mission: advancing discovery that improves health at the population level.

Published in the Autumn 2025 issue