Summary
Julie Smith-Gagen is an Associate Professor at the Â鶹´«Ã½AV. As an epidemiologist, her work uses epidemiology to inform health policy to promote equity in utilization and access to healthcare. Her current area of focus is on the real-world use of diagnostics and treatments for patients with Cancer of Unknown Primary. Another area of focus is on prevention treatments that can slow the progression of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and liver cancer.
Additionally, Smith-Gagen has several lines of inquiry into breastfeeding and women’s health. Smith-Gagen received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the University of Utah Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program and the Southern California NIOSH Education and Research Center, to name a few. She was awarded and recognized as a Healthcare Quality Scholar from the UCLA Network for Multicultural Research on Health and Healthcare and as a Rising Star from the Geographic Management of Cancer Health Disparities Program at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Smith-Gagen serves as Vice Chair for the Minority Affairs Committee in the American College of Epidemiology.
Research interests
Julie Smith-Gagen's research focuses on serving the under-served, especially where data can inform policy implications. Her focus was on minority, female and overlooked populations in the fields of cancer, chronic disease and women's health. She also collaborates with life-scientists and clinicians to facilitate intersections between biology and epidemiology.
- Ethnic disparities in cancer survivors and utilization of care
- Cancer care in Managed Care Organizations
- Cancer registry methodology
- Breastfeeding practices and laws
Professional affiliations
- American College of Epidemiology
- Minority Affairs Committee
Awards
- Health Care Scholars Award, UCLA’s Network for Multicultural Research on Health and Healthcare, 2010
Grants
- National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, 2010 to 2012
- Differential Delivery of Follow-up Care and Survivorship Among Latinos Care and Survivorship Among Latinos Using Medicare
- Occupational Health and Safety Research Training Pilot Project grant", Southern California NIOSH Education and Research Center, 2011 to 2012
- Workplace Breastfeeding Policies and Practices that Promote Healthy Families
- Renown Health, 2015 to 2016
- Evaluation of a Foot and Ankle Service
- National Institutes of Health, 2015 to 2017
- Risk of CFS Due to IgG Receptor Genes that Impair ADCC
- Role: Co-investigator with principal investigator Hudig, D.
Selected publications
- Smith-Gagen, J., Drake, C. M., White, L. L. & Pinheiro, P. S. (2019). Extent of diagnostic inquiry among a population-based cohort of patients with cancer of unknown primary. Cancer Reports and Reviews, 3(3).
- Pavlidis, N., Rassy, E. & Smith-Gagen, J. (2019). Cancer of unknown primary: Incidence rates, risk factors and survival among adolescents and young adults. International Journal of Cancer.
- Smith-Gagen, J., White, L. L., Santos, A., Hasty, S. M., Tung, W. C. & Lu, M. (2019). Scope-of-practice laws and expanded health services: The case of underserved women and advanced cervical cancer diagnoses. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 73(3), 278-284.
- See, H., Smith-Gagen, J., Hollen, R., White, L. & Christiansen, E. (2018). Pragmatic effectiveness of the Loving Support Peer Counseling Program to increase breastfeeding duration among Nevada WIC participants. Clinical Lactation.
- Thiel de Bocanegra, H., Carter-Pokras, O., Ingleby, J. D., Pottie, K., Tchangalova, N., Allen, S. I., Smith-Gagen, J. & Hidalgo, B. (2017). Addressing refugee health through evidence-based policies: A case study. Annals of Epidemiology.
- Malone, R. W., Homan, J., Callahan, M. V., Glasspool-Malone, J., Damodaran, L., De Bernardi Schneider, A., Zimler, R., Talton, J., Cobb, R. R., Ruzic, I., Smith-Gagen, J., Janies, D. & Wilson, J. J.; Zika Response Working Group. (2016). Zika virus: Medical countermeasure development challenges. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 10(3), e0004530.
- Smith-Gagen, J., Loux, T., Drake, C. & Pérez-Stable, E. J. (2016). How does managed care improve the quality of breast cancer care among Medicare-insured minority women? Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 3, 496-507.
- Deadmond, M. A. & Smith-Gagen, J. (2015). Changing incidence of myeloproliferative neoplasms: Trends and subgroup risk profiles in the United States, 1973-2011. Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 141(12), 2131-2138.
- Dieringer, P., Klass, E. M. & Smith-Gagen, J. (2015). Body mass index and diagnosis of thyroid cancer. Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 141(1), 93-98.
- Mnatsakanyan, E., Tung, W. C., Caine, B. & Smith-Gagen, J. (2014). Cancer of unknown primary: Time trends in incidence, United States. Cancer Causes & Control, 25(6), 747-757.
- Smith-Gagen, J., Goodwin, G. A. III & Tay, J. (2014). Multiple primary tumors following Stage II and III rectal cancer in patients receiving radiotherapy, 1998-2010. Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 140(6), 949-955.
- Smith-Gagen, J., Hollen, R., Tashiro, S., Cook, D. M. & Yang, W. (2014). The association of state law to breastfeeding practices in the US. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 18(9), 2034-2043.
- Smith-Gagen, J., Cress, R. D., Drake, C. M., Romano, P. S., Yost, K. Y. & Ayanian, J. Z. (2010). Quality-of-life and surgical treatments for rectal cancer: A longitudinal analysis using the California Cancer Registry. Psycho-Oncology, 19(8), 870-878.
**Student author
Education
- Ph.D. in Epidemiology, University of California, Davis, 2004
- MPH, University of South Florida. Tampa, 1998
- B.S. in Biology, Florida State University, 1989
- B.S. in Physics, Frostburg State University, MD, 1987