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
Feldman S, Lykken JM, Haas JS, Werner CL, Kobrin SC, Tiro JA, Chubak J, Kamineni A Factors associated with timely colposcopy following an abnormal cervical cancer test result 2022 Nov;164:107307. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107307. Epub 2022-10-18. PubMed
Nicholson BD, Thompson MJ, Hobbs FDR, Nguyen M, McLellan J, Green B, Chubak J, Oke JL Measured weight loss as a precursor to cancer diagnosis: retrospective cohort analysis of 43 302 primary care patients 2022 Oct;13(5):2492-2503. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.13051. Epub 2022-07-28. 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
Beaber EF, Kamineni A, Burnett-Hartman AN, Hixon B, Kobrin SC, Li CI, Oliver M, Rendle KA, Skinner CS, Todd K, Zheng Y, Ziebell RA, Breslau ES, Chubak J, Corley DA, Greenlee RT, Haas JS, Halm EA, Honda S, Neslund-Dudas C, Ritzwoller DP, Schottinger JE, Tiro JA, Vachani A, Doria-Rose VP Evaluating and Improving Cancer Screening Process Quality in a Multilevel Context: The PROSPR II Consortium Design and Research Agenda 2022 Aug 2;31(8):1521-1531. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-22-0100. PubMed
Chubak J, Burnett-Hartman AN, Barlow WE, Corley DA, Croswell JM, Neslund-Dudas C, Vachani A, Silver MI, Tiro JA, Kamineni A Estimating Cancer Screening Sensitivity and Specificity Using Healthcare Utilization Data: Defining the Accuracy Assessment Interval 2022 Aug 2;31(8):1517-1520. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-22-0232. PubMed
Chubak J, Lund JL Noncancer comparators in cancer survivorship studies 2022 Aug;128(15):2994. doi: 10.1002/cncr.34253. Epub 2022-05-03. PubMed
Schottinger JE, Jensen CD, Ghai NR, Chubak J, Lee JK, Kamineni A, Halm EA, Sugg-Skinner C, Udaltsova N, Zhao WK, Ziebell RA, Contreras R, Kim EJ, Fireman BH, Quesenberry CP, Corley DA Association of Physician Adenoma Detection Rates With Postcolonoscopy Colorectal Cancer 2022 Jun 7;327(21):2114-2122. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.6644. 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.