PhD
May 20, 2022
Genetics, Mammographic Density and Breast Cancer Risk
Mammographic, or breast density, describing breast tissue composition, is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer, the most common cancer type among women in the US. In general, women in the highest breast density quartile are estimated to have a three to five-fold higher risk of developing breast cancer, compared to those in…
May 16, 2022
Livestock and the epidemiology of sleeping sickness: mechanisms and implications
In recent decades, remarkable progress in the control of Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT)—a bloodborne protozoal parasite transmitted by the tsetse fly (Glossina species)— has led the WHO to set targets for elimination as public health problem (EPHP) by 2020, and elimination of transmission (EOT) by 2030. Global EPHP targets were met in 2018, however most…
Cervical cancer prevention in the context of abating HIV prevalence in Kenya
In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an initiative to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem globally. While high-income countries are expected to achieve this goal in the coming decades, the timeline for elimination will be significantly longer for lower-resourced countries with high HIV burden. In low-and-middle income countries, HIV infection is…
Using Big Data to Improve Bacterial Sepsis Risk Stratification Among Immunocompromised Cancer Patients
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients are an immunocompromised population that is disproportionately affected by sepsis, a life-threatening dysregulated immunologic response to an infection. While it is well established that early detection and treatment of sepsis with fluids and broad-spectrum antibiotics reduce the risk of mortality, recent data suggests early broad-spectrum antibiotic use in…
Predictors of Velopharyngeal Insufficiency After Surgical Advancement of the Maxilla Among Young Adults with Cleft Palate
Introduction: Maxillary hypoplasia refers to undergrowth of the upper jaw and results in malocclusion of varying severity. While the prevalence of severe maxillary hypoplasia in the general population of the United States is 0.3%, the prevalence among patients with a cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP/L) is more than 40%. The timeline of…
May 14, 2022
Residential green space and behavioral and mental health outcomes in early childhood
BackgroundNatural environments, including urban green spaces, have been associated with a range of health outcomes across the life course. Green space may promote healthy development, even early in childhood. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between residential green space exposures and child behavioral and mental health in a socio-demographically diverse cohort…
The genetics of sex hormones and their effects on mammographic density in women
In this work we leveraged genomic information from large-scale population-based studies to explore the relationships between three epidemiologic factors associated with breast cancer in women: 1) mammographic density, 2) sex hormone concentrations, and 3) body mass index (BMI). Mammographic density, which describes the proportion of dense (i.e., epithelial and stromal) tissue in the breast, is…
August 6, 2021
Cancer incidence, mortality, and immunotherapy outcomes in relation to sleep problems: Results from Cardiovascular Health Study and a cancer immunotherapy cohort
Background: Sleep problems (SP) affect a large proportion of adults: an estimated 50-70 million U.S. adults suffer from sleep problems. Among numerous potential health consequences, sleep problems may be adversely associated with cancer risk and cancer mortality. There has been evidence from human studies and numerous animal studies linking sleep problems to cancer development and…
Diabetes Mellitus as a Risk Factor for Tuberculosis in HIV-Infected and Uninfected Populations
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading infectious causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Diabetes and HIV are important risk factors that contribute to the persistently high TB incidence globally. However, the importance of diabetes on TB risk in key sub-populations is not well-established. Additionally, body mass index (BMI) affects both TB and diabetes risk,…
January 14, 2021
Does the union make us strong? Labor unions, health, and health inequities in the United States
Recently, life expectancy in the U.S. has stagnated or declined for the poor and working classes and risen for the middle and upper classes. Declining labor union density – the percent of workers belonging to labor unions – has contributed to burgeoning income inequity. In this dissertation, we examined the relationship between unionism and health,…
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