PhD

October 27, 2026

Understanding and Addressing Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening: Patient Perspectives and the Impact of HPV Self‑Sampling Interventions

In 2025, there were an estimated 13,360 cases of cervical cancer and 4,320 deaths from the disease in the United States. Most cervical cancers are diagnosed in individuals who are unscreened or have never been screened. Cervical cancer screening (CCS) adherence has been declining, with disparities across some sociodemographic groups, including individuals with limited English…

Advancing Causal Inference in Climate Disaster Epidemiology: Evidence from Wildfires and Power Outages

As climate change accelerates and reshapes the ways in which our environment affects human health, the frequency and severity of wildfires have been steadily increasing. Unfortunately, climate disasters such as wildfires cannot be fully prevented, so we must turn to mitigation strategies instead. To target such policies and interventions appropriately, we must weigh the full…

Chlamydia trachomatis: Explorations of correlates, transmission, and treatment

Introduction: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) globally, with an estimated 128.5 million CT infections worldwide in 2020 in people aged 15-49 years. CT can cause severe reproductive tract sequelae, including pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and infertility. Despite CT being a common cause of reproductive tract morbidity, there are…

Optimizing patient-centered interventions using digital health for repeat lung cancer screening in Washington state

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States. Annual screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) reduces lung cancer mortality by 20%. However, annual adherence to lung cancer screening (LCS) remains low, ranging from 22-55% nationally. The Larch Trial tested two multilevel digital health interventions embedded in the EHR patient portal…

Incorporating Equity in Influenza Vaccination Strategies: An Assessment of Neighborhood Disadvantage and Influenza Outcomes

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that influenza vaccinations prevented 9.8 million influenza-related illnesses, 120,000 influenza-related hospitalizations, and 7,900 influenza-related deaths in 2023 – 2024. However, influenza vaccination rates are declining and fall short of the Healthy People 2030 goal of 70%. Improving vaccination rates is important to reduce the influenza burden….

Towards Whole Person Health: Investigating the Gut-Brain Axis and Low Back Pain in People with Symptomatic Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Using a Traditional Indian Medicine Informed Theory Model

Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a degenerative spinal condition common in older adults and is characterized by the narrowing of the spinal canal. People with this condition can experience leg pain and lower back pain and symptoms related to nerve compression, such as neurogenic claudication, including pain or numbness, tingling, weakness, or heaviness in the…

Malnutrition Among Children Under Five with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: Identifying and Managing Risk Using a Multimethod Approach

Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) are at elevated risk of malnutrition compared to children without NDD. Yet they remain notably underrepresented in prevention and intervention research. This dissertation used a multimethod approach to examine malnutrition risk and management among children under five with NDD. The first study used retrospective longitudinal electronic health record (EHR) data…

Optimizing Cervical Cancer Screening: Investigating the Implementation and Impact of Home-Based HPV Self-Sampling in the United States

Cervical cancer (CC) screening and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing programs have been successful in reducing CC incidence and mortality in the United States. However, screening adherence has declined over the past 20 years, in part due to knowledge gaps, stigma, and inaccessibility driven by structural determinants of health. This has established the need for alternative…

Characterizing sexual and reproductive health needs, experiences, and disparities in care access among transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive communities in the United States

Transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive (henceforth, trans) communities are disproportionately burdened with higher rates of negative sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes and gaps in healthcare engagement. Gender affirmation has been shown to be associated with improved health outcomes for trans populations, including SRH care access and outcomes. To improve our understanding of this relationship,…

Neighborhood Environment in Relation to Racial and Ethnic Colorectal Cancer Disparities in the Multiethnic Cohort Study: Consideration for Downstream Individual-Level Behavior and Microbial Factors

Background: Racial and ethnic disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality persist in the U.S., even after accounting for differences in screening, access to care, and other socioeconomic factors. To better understand the multifactorial and multilevel risk factors for disparities, this dissertation leverages data from a large multiethnic cohort to study associations of neighborhood…