PhD
November 18, 2020
Genetic Variations and Risk of Placental Abruption
BACKGROUND Placental abruption (PA) is a premature separation of an implanted placenta due to the rupture of the maternal vessels in the decidua basalis prior to delivery of the fetus. PA complicates approximately 1 in 100 pregnancies leading to significant maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. The etiology of PA is not fully known….
Informing Strategies for Effective HIV Treatment and Prevention
HIV continues to challenge individual and public health throughout the world. Ensuring HIV-infected and high-risk individuals are aware of their infection status, engage in care, and receive effective treatment and prevention tools as early as possible is key to improving health outcomes, disrupting transmission, and reducing the burden of disease globally. To best combat the…
Policing and population health: The relationship between militarization and lethal use of force
At present, the United States has no reliable and accessible federal surveillance system for lethal use of force by law enforcement. National dialogue on use of force has highlighted police militarization as a particularly concerning and potentially related trend but poor data limit the ability of researchers and practitioners to study this relationship. This dissertation…
Effects of individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status on outcomes following a colorectal cancer diagnosis
Evidence indicates inequalities in socioeconomic status (SES), especially those that result in differential access to early detection as well as to high-quality medical and supportive care, as the primary drivers of persistent disparities in outcomes following colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis. Yet research is limited on the independent and joint effects of individual SES (iSES) characteristics…
Exposure to ambient air pollution and outcomes in women undergoing in vitro fertilization
BACKGROUND This study estimates the effect of exposure to air pollution prior to the start of in vitro fertilization (IVF) on fertilization, embryo quality, pregnancy, and live birth. We expand upon previous research by estimating exposure using differing exposure time windows, examining the role of infertility, and examining potential mechanistic pathways. METHODS This retrospective cohort…
Commonly used medications and survival from ovarian cancer
Background: Ovarian cancer is the 10th most common type of cancer and the 5th leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States (U.S.). The majority of incident ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in individual less than 65 years of age, but little evidence exists regarding the economic burden of ovarian cancer in…
Association of air pollution with longitudinal changes in arterial stiffness and correlates of longitudinal change in arterial stiffness in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)
BACKGROUND Many studies have shown associations between particulate matter with diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5), also called fine particulate air matter, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. Improved understanding of the biological mechanisms linking air pollution to cardiovascular health effects is crucial to giving further support and justification for limiting air…
A Randomized Controlled Trial for Treatment of High-Grade Cervical Lesions Among HIV-Infected Women in Kenya
HIV and cervical cancer are co-epidemics that disproportionally impact women living in low resource settings. Women infected with HIV have consistently been reported to have higher burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, persistent HPV infection, and cervical pre-cancerous lesions than HIV-uninfected women. These lesions, if left untreated, can progress to cervical cancer. For women with…
Role of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and host genetic variants in risk of myocardial infarction among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
With the advent of highly effective antiretroviral therapy in the last 20 years, survival of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH) has improved dramatically. Over the same period, morbidity and mortality from non-AIDS-defining illnesses, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), have increased. PLWH are at higher risk of myocardial infarction (MI) compared to the general…
Metabolic syndrome following hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and among HIV infected adults: understanding cardiovascular disease risk
In this dissertation we discuss the findings of two studies that describe the burden of the Metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Kenya, a low resource setting with increasing incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other non-communicable diseases (NCD.). In these two complementary studies, we evaluate the risk of MetS in two different study populations,…
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