Porträtfoto von Dr. Mahdi Fallah

Dr. Mahdi Fallah

Dr. Mahdi Fallah, MD, PhD, leads the Risk Adapted Prevention (RAD) Group within the Division of Primary Cancer Prevention. He holds a visiting professorship at the Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden. Previously, he served as Professor of Medicine (Epidemiology) at the University of Bergen, Norway, and Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Switzerland. His research is dedicated to risk-adapted cancer prevention.

The Risk Adapted Prevention (RAD) Group focuses on identifying individuals at elevated risk for common cancers, including prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer, to optimize screening strategies for them. Their primary objective is to develop and validate robust risk-adapted models that determine the optimal starting age and screening interval for cancer screening. These models will incorporate a comprehensive range of individual risk factors, including family history of cancer, personal medical history, medication use, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and other relevant factors. The disparities in cancer incidence and mortality across different racial and ethnic groups are acknowledged by incorporating factors that may disproportionately affect certain populations. By tailoring screening recommendations to specific patient populations, the RAD Group aims to significantly enhance cancer prevention and early detection in a risk-adapted (personalized), equitable, and cost-effective manner.

 

Research focus

  • Risk-adapted cancer prevention
  • Familial cancers
  • Screening & Early detection
  • Race/ethnicity and cancer equity (race-adapted cancer prevention)
  • Colorectal cancer prevention
  • Breast cancer prevention
  • Prostate cancer prevention

 

Studies and projects (PI or co-PI): 

  • COCO: Extensive research linking over 60 diseases (comorbidities) with increased risk of colorectal cancer 

  • PEARL: Prevention of early-onset colorectal cancer

  • ACED: International Alliance for Cancer Early Detection

 

 PostdocsPhD students
Current members of RAD GroupDr. Behzad Heibati
  • Jiaye Liu
  • Sararat Tosakoon
  • Zixuan Hu

Former members of RAD Group
  • Dr. Elham Kharazmi
  • Dr. Mihiretu Kebede
  • Dr. Zehui Chen
  • Dr. Qunfeng Liang
  • Dr. Trasias Mukama
  • Dr. Uzair Ali Khan
  • Dr. Xing Xu
  • Dr. Yu Tian
  • Yuqing Hu

 

 

Publications

→ Articles in PubMed

→ ORCID profile

→ Google Scholar profile

 

Selected publications from recent years

 

  • Hu Y, Kharazmi E, Liang Q, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Fallah M. Risk of colorectal cancer associated with frequency of colorectal polyp diagnosis in relatives. Gastroenterology 10:S0016-5085(25)00036-8. US CME exercises were designed by Fallah and published by Gastroenterology journal https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2024.12.030. 
  • Hu Y, Kharazmi E, Liang Q, Brenner H, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Fallah M.  Risk of colorectal cancer by family history of both colorectal carcinoma and colorectal polyp.   Cancer Comm 2025 http://doi.org/10.1002/cac2.70059 
  • Liu J, Kharazmi E, Liang Q, Chen Y, Sundquist J, Sundquist K, Fallah M. Maternal weight during pregnancy and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in offspring. Leukemia 2025   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-025-02517-6
  • Liang Q, Mukama T, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Brenner H, Kharazmi E, Fallah M. Longer interval between first colonoscopy with negative findings for colorectal cancer and repeat colonoscopy. JAMA Oncol 2024 https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2024.0827 (High Attention Score (Top 1% of all Altmetric outputs by Oct 2025); Went viral in the news like NBC News, Medscape, etc.).
  • Liang Q, Mukama T, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Brenner H, Kharazmi E, Fallah M. Colonoscopy screening interval in relatives of patients with late-onset colorectal cancer: A nationwide matched cohort study. Science Bulletin 2024 0;69(6):732-736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2024.01.008.
  • Chen T, Kharazmi E, Fallah M. Race and ethnicity-adjusted age recommendation for initiating breast cancer screening. JAMA Netw Open 2023 6(4):e238893. [High Attention Score (Top 0.1% of all 28 million Altmetric outputs by Oct 2025); Went viral in news like CNN, Medscape, etc.].
  • Kharazmi E, Scherer D, Boekstegers F, Liang Q, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Fallah M=, Bermejo JL=. Gallstones, cholecystectomy and kidney cancer: Observational and Mendelian randomization results based on large cohorts. Gastroenterology 2023 S0016-5085(23)00580-2.
  • Mukama T, Kharazmi E, Xu X, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Brenner H, Fallah M. Risk-adapted starting age of screening for relatives of patients with breast cancer. JAMA Oncol 2020 6(1):68-74.
  • Tian Y, Kharazmi E, Brenner H, Xu X, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Fallah M. Calculating the starting age for screening in relatives of patients with colorectal cancer based on data from large nationwide data sets. Gastroenterology 2020 159:159–168 (Selected by Editor in chief for US CME).
  • Xu X, Kharazmi E, Tian Y, Mukama T, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Brenner H, Fallah M. Risk of prostate cancer in relatives of prostate cancer patients in Sweden: A nationwide cohort study. PLOS Med 2021 (18(6):e1003616. (Press released by the journal).
  • Tian Y, Kharazmi E, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Brenner H, Fallah M. Importance of Family History of Colorectal Carcinoma In Situ Versus Invasive Colorectal Cancer: A Nationwide Cohort Study. JNCCN - J Natl Compr Cancer Netw 2021 13;1-6. 
  • Ali Khan U, Fallah M=(equal contribution), Tian Y, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Brenner H, Kharazmi E=. Risk of colorectal cancer in patients with diabetes mellitus: A Swedish nationwide cohort study. PLOS Med 2020 17 (11), e1003431 (Reuters News).
  • Ali Khan U, Fallah M=, Tian Y, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Brenner H, Kharazmi E=. Personal history of diabetes as important as family history of colorectal cancer for risk of colorectal cancer: A nationwide cohort study. Am J Gastroenterol 2020 115(7):1103-1109 (Reuters Health News and Medscape report on it).
  • Tian Y, Kharazmi E, Sundquist K, Sundquist J, Brenner H, Fallah M. Familial colorectal cancer risk in half siblings and siblings: nationwide cohort study. BMJ 2019 364:1803 (Reuters Health and many other websites; abstract awarded by AACR).

 

Press releases

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