Jessica Chubak, PhD

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“My research focuses on improving cancer control by finding effective ways to get screened for cancer and to navigate treatment and survivorship.”

Jessica Chubak, PhD

Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute

Biography

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.

Research interests and experience

 

Recent publications

Jones SM, Ziebell R, Walker R, Nekhlyudov L, Rabin BA, Nutt S, Fujii M, Chubak J. Association of worry about cancer to benefit finding and functioning in long-term cancer survivors.  Support Care Cancer. 2017 May;25(5):1417-1422. doi: 10.1007/s00520-016-3537-z. Epub 2016 Dec 15. PubMed

Singal AG, Tiro J, Li X, Adams-Huet B, Chubak J. Factors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance rates among patients with cirrhosis in a population-based integrated healthcare delivery system. J Clin Gastroenterology.2016 Nov 18. [Epub ahead of print].

Shortreed SM, Johnson EJ, Rutter CM, Kamineni A, Wernli KJ, Chubak J. Cohort restriction based on prior enrollment: Examining potential biases in estimating cancer and mortality risk. Obs Stud. 2016 Aug;2:51-64. Epub 2016 Sep 26. PubMed

Chubak J, Ziebell R, Greenlee RT, Honda S, Hornbrook MC, Epstein M, Nekhlyudov L, Pawloski PA, Ritzwoller DP, Ghai NR, Feigelson HS, Clancy HA, Doria-Rose VP, Kushi LH. The Cancer Research Network: a platform for epidemiologic and health services research on cancer prevention, care, and outcomes in large, stable populations.  Cancer Causes Control. 2016 Sep 17. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Hubbard R, Johnson E, Chubak J, Wernli KJ, Kamineni A, Bogart A, Rutter C. Estimating screening test effectiveness when screening indication is unknown using generalized linear finite mixture models. Health Services Outcomes Res Methodol.2017 17(2):101-112.

Drescher CW, Beatty JD, Resta R, Andersen MR, Watabayashi K, Thorpe J, Hawley S, Purkey H, Chubak J, Hanson N, Buist DS, Urban N. The effect of referral for genetic counseling on genetic testing and surgical prevention in women at high risk for ovarian cancer: results from a randomized controlled trial. Cancer. 2016 Jul 22. doi: 10.1002/cncr.30190. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Klabunde CN, Zheng Y, Quinn VP, Beaber EF, Rutter CM, Halm EA, Chubak J, Doubeni CA, Haas JS, Kamineni R, Schapira MM, Vacek PM, Garcia MP, Corley DA on behalf of PROSPR consortium. Influence of age and comorbidity on colorectal cancer screening in the elderly. Am J Prev Med. 2016 Sep;51(3):e67-75. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.04.018. Epub 2016 Jun 22. PubMed

 

Research

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Improving cancer prevention and early detection

How KPWHRI is contributing to better cancer screening and better outcomes for patients.

Research

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How did the pandemic impact hospital visits with animals?

Top pediatric oncology hospitals reported lasting changes to programs involving visits with animals.

Healthy findings blog

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Improving reporting of cancer screening harms

Aruna Kamineni, PhD, MPH, discusses her recent study on how guidelines report screening risks.