In memoriam: Dr. Jean Hankin-Jones (May 7, 1923 - March 3, 2026), trailblazing UH researcher in cancer and nutritional epidemiology
Professor and Researcher Emerita of Public Health Epidemiology focused on cancer epidemiology, specifically dietary studies, at the then-Cancer Research Center of Hawaiʻi
The University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center joins colleagues, students, the broader scientific community, family and friends in mourning the passing of pioneering nutrition researcher and educator Dr. Jean Hankin-Jones, who died on March 3, 2026, at the age of 102.
A trailblazer in the field of nutritional epidemiology, Dr. Hankin-Jones devoted her career to advancing the understanding of how diet influences chronic diseases and cancer across diverse populations. Her groundbreaking research helped shape modern approaches to cancer prevention and public health, while her mentorship inspired generations of researchers and healthcare professionals.
Dr. Hankin-Jones received her PhD in Public Health from UC Berkeley in 1967, and created a path for nutritional epidemiology as her work examined the role of diet in chronic diseases and cancer across various populations. She was a Professor and Researcher Emerita of Public Health Epidemiology program at the University of Hawaiʻi. Her work focused on cancer epidemiology, specifically dietary studies, within the Cancer Research Center of Hawaiʻi (now the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center).
Jeanne Yeh, Sabrina Umphress in 2014. The dietitians
worked together in the Nutrition Support Shared Resource,
UH Cancer Center, at the time that Dr. Hankin-Jones retired.
Dr. Hankin-Jones was renowned for her work on dietary assessments in various understudied populations, while advancing methodological improvements of dietary assessments that have been the backbone of nutritional epidemiology. Her work with both the Honolulu Heart Program and the then-Cancer Research Center of Hawaiʻi has been critical to the examination of the effects of westernization of the Asian diet on increased risk for cancer and other diseases.
Dr. Hankin-Jones joined the faculty of the UH School of Public Health in 1968, with the primary task to develop a program in public health nutrition. She succeeded in this endeavor, while also including a dietetics training program. Many of her graduates and mentees became distinguished members of the academic nutrition community in the U.S. She joined the Epidemiology Program of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaiʻi as a full-time professor/researcher in 1983 to further pursue her interests in research. This shift to research was instrumental to the center's Epidemiology Program because of its emerging emphasis on the role of diet and nutrition in the etiology of cancer, and the need for expertise in dietary assessment tools for various populations, which Dr. Hankin-Jones provided. Her background and reputation within this field played an essential role in the success of the Epidemiology Program over the next several years. She also contributed to the development of the Multiethnic Cohort Study (MEC) of 215,000 participants in Hawaiʻi and California.
of the UH Cancer Center
After retiring in 1999, Dr. Hankin-Jones never stopped contributing to science and mentoring future generations through guest lectures and student/mentor advising, as well as remaining active in the research of the associations between diet and cancer.
University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center colleagues and friends of Dr. Hankin-Jones provided photos, and reflections on her legacy. Dr. Lynne Wilkens, Director of the UH Cancer Center Biostatistics Shared Resource, highlighted several accomplishments of Dr. Jean Hankin-Jones during her tenure, including her earning the 1985 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Distinguished Lecture Award and establishing the Jean Hankin Nutritional Epidemiology Research Grant to provide financial support to a doctoral student working on a dissertation in the area of nutritional epidemiology.
Additionally, Dr. Hankin-Jones was honored at the American Dietetic Association (ADA, now the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics [AND]) Food & Nutrition Conference and Expo in Honolulu as the 2006 recipient of the ADA Foundation’s prestigious Edna and Robert Langholz International Nutrition Award for her contributions to developing nutrition and dietetics methodologies that are appropriate for different groups.
Loic Le Marchand. The researchers worked together in the
Epidemiology Program, UH Cancer Center.
Drs. Suzanne Murphy and Laurence Kolonel (both Researchers Emeritus at the UH Cancer Center) also highlighted this honor. They wrote: “Dr. Hankin-Jones received many honors and awards for her work in dietary assessment, culminating in 2006 when she was named the recipient of the ADA Foundation‘s prestigious Edna and Robert Langholz International Nutrition Award. The Langholz Award, which recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the international community in the fields of nutrition and dietetics, was awarded to her because of her numerous contributions to developing methodology that is appropriate for various groups.”
Dr. Marie Kainoa Fialkowski Revilla, UH Cancer Center Nutrition Support Shared Resource Director, also highlighted how Dr. Hankin-Jones’s legacy lives on through her Nutritional Epidemiology Research Doctoral Grant, as well as her role as a former director of the Hawaiʻi Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Additionally, Drs. Murphy and Kolonel expanded on some of Dr. Hankin-Jones contributions to the field: “Another of Dr. Hankin-Jones' impressive achievements were in the field of food composition. She worked with a team of dietitians to locate the most accurate analytic information on the composition of a wide variety of foods so that nutrient intakes could be examined. She was recognized both nationally and internationally for this important work, which led to further funding to study associations between nutrient intakes and cancer outcomes. For example, fruit, vegetable and dietary fiber intake was identified as a protective factor for colon cancer, whereas dietary fat and obesity were identified as risk factors in several cancers, including breast cancer in women.”
In honor of her memory, the family of Dr. Jean Hankin-Jones invites donations to the scholarship fund she established to support doctoral students within nutrition and public health. More information about the grant can be found here.
