Gaia Pocobelli, PhD
“I provide epidemiological support for KPWHRI research projects in the areas of cancer epidemiology and perinatal epidemiology, with a focus on the risks and benefits of medication use.”
Gaia Pocobelli, PhD
Senior Collaborative Scientist, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Gaia.S.Pocobelli@kp.org
206-287-2914
Biography
Gaia Pocobelli, PhD, is passionate about providing rigorous epidemiological support for KPWHRI research projects in the areas of cancer epidemiology and perinatal epidemiology, with a focus on medication safety.
Dr. Pocobelli completed her doctoral work in epidemiology at the University of Washington. Her dissertation research was on menopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer mortality. As a doctoral student research associate she worked on a variety of cancer epidemiology studies at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and at Kaiser Permanente Washington with Dr. Jessica Chubak. After her doctoral work, she honed her skills in the area of perinatal epidemiology and medication safety during pregnancy as a National Institutes of Health Reproductive, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington, working in part with Dr. Sascha Dublin of Kaiser Permanente.
Research interests and experience
-
Cancer
Risk factors and survivorship
-
Women's Health
Menopausal hormone therapy and perinatal epidemiology
-
Medication Use & Patient Safety
Pharmacoepidemiology studies of cancer risk and medication safety in pregnancy
Recent publications
Pocobelli G, Lykken J, Haas JS, Tiro J, Doria-Rose VP, Hyun N, Silver MI, Kamineni A, Chubak J Positive predictive value of cervical cancer screening results recommended for colposcopy by human papillomavirus vaccination status at 3 U.S. healthcare systems 2025 Nov;36(11):1549-1561 doi:10.1007/s10552-025-02039-7. doi: 10.1007/s10552-025-02039-7. Epub 2025-08-06. PubMed
Boudreau DM, Pocobelli G, Bobb JF, Cheetham C, Dublin S, Andrade SE, Albertson-Junkans L, Griffin MR, Li DK, Raebel MA, Hechter RC, Pawloski PA, Toh S, Hua W, Ouellet-Hellstrom R, Horn P, Dinatale M, Ceresa C, Soukup M, Ma Y, Trinidad JP Neural tube defect risk in relation to opioid analgesic exposure during early pregnancy 2025 Apr 22 doi: 10.1093/aje/kwaf079. Epub 2025-04-22. PubMed
Sheridan L, Pocobelli G, Anderson M, Li CI, Kruse GR, Tiro JA, Kamineni A Cervical cancer screening rates in females living with HIV at three healthcare settings in the United States, 2010-2019 2025 Mar;36(3):275-284. doi: 10.1007/s10552-024-01937-6. Epub 2024-11-13. PubMed
Levin TR, Jensen CD, Udaltsova N, Burnett-Hartman AA, Kamineni A, Chao CR, Schottinger JE, Ghai NR, Pocobelli G, White LL, Oliver M, Chowdhry H, Hixon BP, Badalov JM, Goldberg SR, Bradford SC, Quesenberry CP, Lee JK Colorectal Cancer Screening Completion and Yield in Patients Aged 45 to 50 Years : An Observational Study 2024 Dec;177(12):1621-1629. doi: 10.7326/M24-0743. Epub 2024-10-22. PubMed
Boratyn VM, Pocobelli G, Atlas SJ, Clark CR, Feldman S, Kruse G, Marie McCarthy A, Rieu-Werden M, Silver MI, Santini NO, Tiro JA, Haas JS Clinician-perceived barriers to cervical cancer screening before and during the COVID-19 pandemic at three US healthcare systems 2024 Jul;43:102783. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102783. Epub 2024-06-01. PubMed
Chubak J, Adler A, Bobb JF, Hawkes RJ, Ziebell RA, Pocobelli G, Ludman EJ, Zerr DM A Randomized Controlled Trial of Animal-assisted Activities for Pediatric Oncology Patients: Psychosocial and Microbial Outcomes 2024 May;38(3):354-364. doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2023.09.010. Epub 2023-11-04. PubMed
Pocobelli G, Oliver M, Albertson-Junkans L, Gundersen G, Kamineni A Validation of human immunodeficiency virus diagnosis codes among women enrollees of a U.S. health plan 2024 Feb 22;24(1):234. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-10685-x. Epub 2024-02-22. PubMed
Chubak J, Pocobelli G, Ziebell RA, Hawkes RJ, Adler A, Bobb JF, Zerr DM Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Animal-Assisted Activities in Pediatric Hospitals 2023 Mar;37(2):173-178. doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2022.09.011. Epub 2022-09-30. PubMed
Pocobelli G, Ichikawa L, Yu O, Green BB, Meyers K, Gray R, Shea M, Chubak J Validation of international classification of diseases, tenth revision, clinical modification diagnosis codes for heart failure subtypes 2022 Sep;31(9):992-997. doi: 10.1002/pds.5489. Epub 2022-06-07. PubMed
Haas JS, Cheng D, Yu L, Atlas SJ, Clark C, Feldman S, Silver MI, Kamineni A, Chubak J, Pocobelli G, Tiro JA, Kobrin SC Variation in the receipt of human papilloma virus co-testing for cervical screening: Individual, provider, facility and healthcare system characteristics 2022 Jan;154:106871. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106871. Epub 2021-11-08. PubMed
Research
How did the pandemic impact hospital visits with animals?
Top pediatric oncology hospitals reported lasting changes to programs involving visits with animals.
diabetes research
How do we screen for gestational diabetes?
In our learning health system, we discovered that a new screening approach had increased diagnoses without improving overall outcomes. So remarkably, we switched back.
medication safety
Using phentermine for weight loss longer term found to be safe, effective
Dr. David Arterburn discusses reassuring news from his PCORnet study of the most widely used anti-obesity drug in the United States.
Land Acknowledgment
Our Seattle offices sit on the occupied land of the Duwamish and by the shared waters of the Coast Salish people, who have been here thousands of years and remain. Learn about practicing land acknowledgment.