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
Figueroa Gray MS, Shapiro L, Dorsey CN, Randall S, Casperson M, Chawla N, Zebrack B, Fujii MM, Hahn EE, Keegan THM, Kirchhoff AC, Kushi LH, Nichols HB, Wernli KJ, Sauder CAM, Chubak J. A patient-centered conceptual model of AYA cancer survivorship care informed by a qualitative interview study. Cancers. 2024 Sep 4;16(17):3073. doi: 10.3390/cancers16173073. PubMed
Alimena S, Lykken JM, Tiro JA, Chubak J, Haas JS, Werner C, Kobrin SC, Silver MI, Perkins RB, Feldman S. Accessibility of criteria to exit cervical cancer screening at age 65 years in the electronic health record. O G Open. 1(3):p 032, September 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/og9.0000000000000035. [Epub 19 Sept 2024]. PubMed
Issaka RB, Ibekwe LN, Todd KW, Burnett-Hartman AN, Clark CR, Del Vecchio NJ, Kamineni A, Neslund-Dudas C, Chubak J, Corley DA, Haas JS, Honda SA, Li CI, Winer RL, Pruitt SL. Association between racial residential segregation and screening uptake for colorectal and cervical cancer among Black and White patients in five US health care systems. Cancer. 2024 Aug 9. doi: 10.1002/cncr.35514. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Dang TH, Rieu-Werden ML, Kobrin SC, Tiro JA, Werner C, Lykken JM, Chubak J, Atlas SJ, Higashi RT, Lee SC, Haas JS, Skinner CS, Silver MI, Feldman S. Association between clinician confidence and making guideline-recommended decisions in the management of abnormal cervical cancer screening results. J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Jul 25. doi: 10.1007/s11606-024-08943-z. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Lu Y, Tong J, Chubak J, Lumley T, Hubbard RA, Xu H, Chen Y. Leveraging error-prone algorithm-derived phenotypes: Enhancing association studies for risk factors in EHR data. J Biomed Inform. 2024 Jul 14;157:104690. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2024.104690. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Hahn EE, Munoz-Plaza CE, Jensen CD, Ghai NR, Pak K, Amundsen BI, Contreras R, Cannizzaro N, Chubak J, Green BB, Skinner CS, Halm EA, Schottinger JE, Levin TR. Patterns of care following a positive fecal blood test for colorectal cancer: A mixed methods study. J Gen Intern Med. 2024 May 21. doi: 10.1007/s11606-024-08764-0. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Wernli KJ, Haupt EC, Chawla N, Osuji T, Shen E, Smitherman AB, Casperson M, Kirchhoff AC, Zebrack BJ, Keegan THM, Kushi L, Baggett C, Kaddas HK, Ruddy KJ, Sauder CAM, Wun T, Figueroa Gray M, Chubak J, Nichols H, Hahn EE. Emergency Department Use in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Early Survivors from 2006 to 2020. LID - 10.1089/jayao.2023.0174 [doi] J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. 2024 Apr 29. doi: 10.1089/jayao.2023.0174 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
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.
Top pediatric oncology hospitals reported lasting changes to programs involving visits with animals.