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
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Cancer
Risk factors and survivorship
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Women's Health
Menopausal hormone therapy and perinatal epidemiology
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Medication Use & Patient Safety
Pharmacoepidemiology studies of cancer risk and medication safety in pregnancy
Recent publications
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. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024;24(1):234. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-10685-x. 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. J Pediatr Health Care. 2023 Nov 4:S0891-5245(23)00279-1. doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2023.09.010. [Epub ahead of print]. 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. J Pediatr Health Care. 2023 Mar-Apr;37(2):173-178. doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2022.09.011. Epub 2022 Sep 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. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2022 Jun 7. doi: 10.1002/pds.5489. Online ahead of print. 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. Prev Med. 2022 Jan;154:106871. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106871. Epub 2021 Nov 8. PubMed
Silver M, Anderson ML, Beaber EF, Haas JS, Kobrin S, Pocobelli G, Skinner CS, Tiro JA, Kamineni A. De-implementation of cervical cancer screening before age 21. Prev Med. 2021 Sep 29:106815. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106815. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Pocobelli G, Akosile MA, Hansen RN, Eavey J, Wellman RD, Johnson RL, Carls G, Bron M, Dublin S. Obstructive sleep apnea and risk of motor vehicle accident. Sleep Med. 2021 Jul 17;85:196-203. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2021.07.019. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Pocobelli G, Dublin S, Bobb JF, Albertson-Junkans L, Andrade S, Cheetham TC, Salgado G, Griffin MR, Raebel MA, Smith D, Li DK, Pawloski PA, Toh S, Taylor L, Hua W, Horn P, Trinidad JP, Boudreau DM. Prevalence of prescription opioid use during pregnancy in eight US health plans during 2001-2014. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2021 Nov;30(11):1541-1550. doi: 10.1002/pds.5312. Epub 2021 Jul 7. PubMed
Cheetham TC, Dublin S, Pocobelli G, Bobb JF, Andrade S, Hechter RC, Portugal C, Munis M, Albertson-Junkans L, Salgado G, Wong L, Maarup TJ, Carroll K, Griffin MR, Raebel MA, Smith D, Li DK, Pawloski PA, Toh S, Taylor L, Hua W, Dinatale M, Ceresa C, Trinidad JP, Boudreau DM. Validity of diagnosis and procedure codes for identifying neural tube defects in infants. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2020 Sep 15. doi: 10.1002/pds.5128. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Chen L, Chubak J, Yu O, Pocobelli G, Ziebell RA, Aiello Bowles EJ, Fujii MM, Sterrett AT, Boggs JM, Burnett-Hartman AN, Ritzwoller DP, Hubbard RA, Boudreau DM. Changes in use of opioid therapy after colon cancer diagnosis: a population-based study. Cancer Causes Control. 2019 Dec;30(12):1341-1350. doi: 10.1007/s10552-019-01236-5. Epub 2019 Oct 30. 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.
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