RESEARCH INTERESTS

PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY
Research included in this domain spans multiple settings (primary care, nursing homes, hospitals) and reflects multiple interests all relating to medication use.  Pharmacoepidemiologic research focusses on geriatric populations, as well as populations marginalized by US society (nursing home residents, racial/ethnic minorities).  Research includes documention quality of medication care and the factors that drive distributions of medication use, adverse effects of medications, and beneficial effects of medications in populations systematically excluded from clinical trials.  Research includes intervention studies using health information technology to improve all aspects of patient-centered pharmacy care. 

PSYCHIATRIC  EPIDEMIOLGY
Psychiatric epidemiology is concerned with the determinants of psychiatric and behavioral conditions in the population and how those determinants change across developmental stages.  This research program aims to understand the interface between behavior and physiology to integrate social, psychological and biological approaches to understanding mental health and illness over the life course.  Current projects in this research area include:

1. examining the influence of employment and occupational stressors (e.g., demand-control imbalance, workplace discrimination, job insecurity) on mental and physical health in later life,
2. evaluating biological (e.g., hypercortisolism, inflammation) and behavioral (e.g., sleep, smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity) pathways linking mental and physical health conditions, particularly cardiovascular disease and diabetes, over the life span,
3. exploring the predictors and correlates of suicide in the population, with particular focus on gender, age, and geography. 

The goal of this line of research is to inform interventions which reflect an integrative approach to health to effectively reduce the burden of mental disorders.

HIV/AIDS
Research on HIV/AIDS focuses on social and behavioral aspects of HIV/AIDS, with strong interests in HIV-related risk behaviors, stigma, social and risk networks in high risk population as well as general population. Issues of etiologic studies are of special interest including using of social epidemiologic approaches to investigate psychosocial factors for risk behaviors and preventive practices and using of advanced epidemiologic methodologies to quantitatively examine social and cultural determents of HIV infection in international settings.  

CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY
Research interests include cancer prevention and control particularly in the adult population. Research includes identifying the predictors and barriers of cancer screening behavior, predominantly colorectal cancer screening. In addition, research focuses on the understanding the biologic mechanisms supporting the link between obesity and colorectal cancer.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
Research interests include issues related to perinatal health, provision of comprehensive care to underserved pregnant women, youth violence, sexual violence prevention, and assessment of women’s health status. In addition, research interests include the interplay of biologic (e.g., preterm/low birthweight) and social (e.g., mother child interactions) factors on children's school readiness and social determinants of children's health and development.  Methodologic work in this area focusses on the development of probabilistic data linkage methods which can enhance Maternal and Child Health surveillance by tracking mothers and infants longitudinally using existing data.