Jessica Chubak, PhD, is an epidemiologist who works to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, control, and survivorship. She contributes to several national collaborations that are finding practical, efficient, effective ways to screen for cancer, especially colorectal cancer. She also studies how common medications affect cancer risk and recurrence. Intrigued by how pets positively affect health, Dr. Chubak is studying animal-assisted activities in clinics and hospitals where children get treated for cancer. Dr. Chubak’s methodological research focuses on the use of administrative and electronic health record data in epidemiologic and health services studies.
Dr. Chubak joined KPWHRI in 2007, bringing expertise in epidemiologic methods, pharmacoepidemiology, and cancer. Awarded a Fulbright graduate student grant, Dr. Chubak pursued her master's degree in bioethics and health law in New Zealand before completing her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Washington (UW). Dr. Chubak is an affiliate associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health, where she enjoys guest-lecturing and getting to work with students.
Epidemiology; colorectal cancer; medication use; survivorship; recurrence; secondary prevention; quality of life; automated data collection; screening; animal-assisted activities; survivorship
Screening
Cancer risk and use of common medications
Halm EA, Beaber EF, McLerran D, Chubak J, Corley DA, Rutter CM, Doubeni CA, Haas JS, Balasubramanian BA. Association between primary care visits and colorectal cancer screening outcomes in the era of population health outreach. J Gen Intern Med. 2016 Oct;31(10):1190-7. doi: 10.1007/s11606-016-3760-9. Epub 2016 Jun 8. PubMed
Hubbard RA, Johnson E, Chubak J, Wernli K, Kamineni A, Bogart A, Rutter CM. Accounting for misclassification in electronic health records-derived exposures using generalized linear finite mixture models. Health Serv Outcomes Res Methodol. 2017 Jun;17(2):101-112. doi: 10.1007/s10742-016-0149-5. Epub 2016 Jun 3. PubMed
McCarthy AM, Kim JJ, Beaber EF, Zheng Y, Burnett-Hartman A, Chubak J, Ghai NR, McLerran D, Breen N, Conant EF, Geller BM, Green BB, Klabunde CN, Inrig S, Skinner CS, Quinn VP, Haas JS, Schnall M, Rutter CM, Barlow WE, Corley DA, Armstrong K, Doubeni CA. Follow-up of abnormal breast and colorectal cancer screening by race/ethnicity. Am J Prev Med. 2016 Apr 28. pii: S0749-3797(16)30075-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.03.017. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Chubak J, Whitlock EP, Williams SB, Kamineni A, Burda BU, Buist DS, Anderson ML. Aspirin for the prevention of cancer incidence and mortality: systematic evidence reviews for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med. 2016 Apr 12. doi: 10.7326/M15-2117. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Burnett-Hartman AN, Mehta SJ, Zheng Y, Ghai NR, McLerran DF, Chubak J, Quinn VP, Skinner CS, Corley DA, Inadomi JM, Doubeni CA. Racial/ethnic disparities in colorectal cancer screening across healthcare systems. Am J Prev Med. 2016 Apr 1. pii: S0749-3797(16)00105-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.02.025. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Green BB, Anderson ML, Chubak J, Baldwin LM, Tuzzio L, Catz S, Cole A, Vernon SW. Colorectal cancer screening rates increased after exposure to the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). J Am Board Fam Med. 2016;29(2):191-200. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2016.02.150290. PubMed
Chubak J, Hubbard R. Defining and measuring adherence to cancer screening. J Med Screen. 2016 Mar 4. pii: 0969141316630766. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
The findings can help guide colorectal cancer screening decisions later in life.
Understanding emergency department use among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors can help address care gaps.
How KPWHRI is contributing to better cancer screening and better outcomes for patients.