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
Barlow WE, Beaber EF, Geller BM, Kamineni A, Zheng Y, Haas JS, Chao CR, Rutter CM, Zauber AG, Sprague BL, Halm EA, Weaver DL, Chubak J, Doria-Rose VP, Kobrin S, Onega T, Quinn VP, Schapira MM, Tosteson ANA, Corley DA, Skinner CS, Schnall MD, Armstrong K, Wheeler CM, Silverberg MJ, Balasubramanian BA, Doubeni CA, McLerran D, Tiro JA. Evaluating screening participation, follow-up and outcomes for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer in the PROSPR consortium. J Natl Cancer Inst. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2020 Mar 1;112(3):238-246. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djz137. PubMed
Pocobelli G, Ziebell R, Fujii M, Hutcheson KA, Chang S, McClure JB, Chubak J. Symptom burden in long-term survivors of head and neck cancer: patient-reported versus clinical data. EGEMS (Wash DC). 2019;7(1):25. doi: 10.5334/egems.271. PubMed
Burnett-Hartman AN, Chubak J, Hua X, Ziebell R, Kamineni A, Zhu LC, Upton MP, Malen RC, Hardikar S, Newcomb PA. The association between colorectal sessile serrated adenomas/polyps and subsequent advanced colorectal neoplasia. Cancer Causes Control. 2019 Jul 9. pii: 10.1007/s10552-019-01205-y. doi: 10.1007/s10552-019-01205-y. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Green BB, Anderson ML, Cook AJ, Chubak J, Fuller S, Kimbel KJ, Kullgren JT, Meenan RT, Vernon SW. Financial incentives to increase colorectal cancer screening uptake and decrease disparities: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Jul 3;2(7):e196570. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.6570. PubMed
Burnett-Hartman AN, Powers JD, Chubak J, Corley DA, Ghai NR, McMullen CK, Pawloski PA, Sterrett AT, Feigelson HS. Treatment patterns and survival differ between early-onset and late-onset colorectal cancer patients: the Patient Outcomes to Advance Learning network. Cancer Causes Control. 2019 May 17. doi: 10.1007/s10552-019-01181-3. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Breen N, Skinner CS, Zheng Y, Inrig S, Corley DA, Beaber EF, Garcia M, Chubak J, Doubeni C, Quinn VP, Haas JS, Li CI, Wernli KJ, Klabunde CN. Time to follow-up after colorectal cancer screening by health insurance type. Am J Prev Med. 2019;56(5):e143-e152. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.01.005. PubMed
Clarke CL, Kushi LH, Chubak J, Pawloski PA, Bulkley JE, Epstein MM, Burnett-Hartman AN, Powell B, Pearce CL, Spencer Feigelson H. Predictors of long-term survival among high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2019 May;28(5):996-999. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-1324. Epub 2019 Apr 9. 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.