Jessica Chubak, PhD

Chubak_Jessica__205x293.jpg

“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

Sarma EA, Thompson MJ, Bowles EA, Burnett-Hartman AN, Hubbard RA, Yu O, Chubak J. Patient and tumor characteristics of screening-age adults diagnosed with screen-detected versus symptomatic colon cancer. Colorectal Dis. 2022 Jun 23. doi: 10.1111/codi.16232. Online ahead of print. PubMed

Beatty JD, Sun Q, Markowitz D, Chubak J, Huang B, Etzioni R. Identifying breast cancer recurrence histories via patient-reported outcomes. J Cancer Surviv. 2021 Apr 14. doi: 10.1007/s11764-021-01033-7. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Hubbard RA, Lett E, Ho GYF, Chubak J. Characterizing bias due to differential exposure ascertainment in electronic health record data.  Health Serv Outcomes Res Methodol. 2021;21(3):309-323. doi: 10.1007/s10742-020-00235-3. Epub 2021 Jan 4.  PubMed

A'mar T, Beatty JD, Fedorenko C, Markowitz D, Corey T, Lange J, Schwartz SM, Huang B, Chubak J, Etzioni R. Correction: incorporating breast cancer recurrence events into population-based cancer registries using medical claims: cohort study.  JMIR Cancer. 2020;6(2):e23821. doi: 10.2196/23821.  PubMed

Zheng Y, Corley DA, Doubeni C, Halm E, Shortreed SM, Barlow WE, Zauber A, Tosteson TD, Chubak J. Analyses of preventive care measures with incomplete historical data in electronic medical records: an example from colorectal cancer screening. Ann Appl Stat.14(2), 1030-1044. https://doi.org/10.1214/20-AOAS1342.

A'mar T, Beatty JD, Fedorenko C, Markowitz D, Corey T, Lange J, Schwartz SM, Huang B, Chubak J, Etzioni R. Incorporating breast cancer recurrence events into population-based cancer registries using medical claims: cohort study. JMIR Cancer. 2020 Aug 17;6(2):e18143. doi: 10.2196/18143. PubMed

Ghai NR, Jensen CD, Merchant SA, Schottinger JE, Lee JK, Chubak J, Kamineni A, Halm EA, Skinner CS, Haas JS, Green BB, Cannizarro NT, Schneider JL, Corley DA. Primary care provider beliefs and recommendations about colorectal cancer screening in four healthcare systems. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2020 Nov;13(11):947-958. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-20-0109. Epub 2020 Jul 15. PubMed

 

Research

Cancer-prevention-story_1col.jpg

Improving cancer prevention and early detection

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

Research

Animal-care-giver_service-dog_with-patient_1col.jpg

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

QA_Cancer-Harm_illustration_1col.jpg

Improving reporting of cancer screening harms

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