Cancer control and screening aims to prevent and manage cancer to ensure that all people live healthier, longer lives. Within public health, it also focuses on the community health needs of diverse and underrepresented populations who face disparities in the burden of disease. At UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, we harness the power of community-based research to understand and address cancer health inequities, including tobacco prevention, cancer early detection, and survivorship.
Karen Edwards, MS, PhD
Research Interests
Primary research focus is in genetic epidemiology and the use of multivariate approaches to define phenotypes for complex diseases. Edwards’ genetic epidemiology research covers a broad range of conditions, including diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, melanoma and Parkinson’s Disease. Her research interest also looks into the interactions between environmental factors (particularly diet) and genetic susceptibility (Gene x environment interactions). Additionally, Edwards works on several interdisciplinary projects that focus on the ethical, legal or social implications of genomics and applications to clinical and public health practice.
Michael Hoyt, PhD
Research Interests
Dr. Hoyt’s research interests include coping, adjustment to chronic illness, psychoneuroimmunology, and stress. In his work, he identifies biobehavioral processes associated with quality of life in those facing chronic illness. He conducts basic and clinical research to examine coping processes and other psychological factors associated with mental health, neuroendocrine and immune function, and adjustment to illness, with an emphasis on cancer survivors and caregivers.
Cynthia Lakon, PhD
Research Interests
Dr. Lakon’s research interests include social networks and health; social support; adolescent social networks and substance use; ecological models of health; systems science; health and aging; and computational social science.
Yunxia Lu, MSc, PhD
Research Interests
Some of Dr. Lu’s research interests are in cancer etiology and prevention, cancer prognosis, obesity epidemiology, and pharmacoepidemiology.
Joel Milam, PhD
Research Interests
Dr. Milam’s research interests include young adult cancer survivorship, positive psychology, and HIV prevention/control.
Anamara Ritt-Olson, PhD
Research Interests
Dr. Ritt-Olson believes that we meet people where they are, and many adolescents and young adults are often found on social media. Her work now focuses on the ways to engage social media platforms to connect people with existing resources to better address unmet needs. Additionally, Dr. Ritt-Olson explores the factors that promote mental health, resiliency, and well-being among culturally diverse adolescents and young adults. This work covers multiple health risk behaviors including substance use prevention, identity development, access to care and increasing general self-efficacy. She works with varied populations including cancer survivors, middle school students, as well as other vulnerable groups. She has designed, taught and evaluated 20+ health promoting programs both globally and nationally using varied modalities including innovative technologies. She teaches across several levels of education: undergraduate, graduate, and medical fellows drawing upon social determination theory as a guide to engaging students by building autonomy, competence, and relatedness in person and online.
Sora Park Tanjasiri, MPH, DrPH
Research Interests
Some of Sora Tanjasiri’s research interests are cancer health disparities, cancer prevention, breast and cervical early detection, and community-based participatory research.
Min Zhang, MD, PhD, MS, PhD
Research Interests
Dr. Zhang’s research interests include bioinformatics, statistical genetics and genomics, machine learning, genome-wide association studies, and RNA-seq data analysis.
