https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1185-148X
Overview
I am primarily a health outcomes researcher who specializes in cancers and chronic age-related diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease and type II diabetes mellitus. However, I also write in epidemiology, demography, health economics and genetics. I am a specialist in the analysis of administrative big health data. My main contributions to scholarship can be summarized across three focus areas: health outcomes research, epidemiology and methodology, and health economics. Some of my most important findings are described below.
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Associate Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
·
2024 - Present
Social Science Research Institute,
University Institutes and Centers
Recent Scholarly Works
Towards personalized vaccine repurposing for Alzheimer's prevention: genotype-specific protective association of the shingles vaccine with odds of Alzheimer's disease in participants of two large cohort studies.
Journal article BMC neurology · February 2026 BACKGROUND: Our earlier study found that adult vaccination against shingles (herpes zoster infection caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus) was associated with significantly reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) later in life. Here, w ... Full text CiteDevelopment of an Exact Theory of Decomposing Population Attributable Fractions and Application to Decomposition of Alzheimer's Disease Risk.
Journal article Mathematical population studies · January 2026 A new mathematically exact method of population attributable fraction (PAF) decomposition free of limitations inherent in existing approaches was developed and compared to existing methods based on the Miettinen, Norton, and Niedhammer-Chastang formulae. T ... Full text CiteDisease-specific drivers of sex- and locality-related disparities in life expectancy at age 65: two decades of progress before COVID-19.
Journal article Innovation in aging · January 2026 Background and objectivesThe distribution of life expectancy at age 65 (LE65 ) in the United States is characterized by profound sex- and locality-related disparities. Quantifying the disease-specific drivers of these disparities ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Leveraging population-based human data to uncover mechanisms connecting Alzheimer's disease and common infections and facilitate vaccines repurposing for AD prevention
ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2027Genetic Modulations of Morbidity Compression: A Population-Based Study
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute on Aging · 2020 - 2026Racial and Geographic Disparities in Risk and Survival of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias: Effects of Over/UnderDiagnosis and Disease Severity
ResearchSenior Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2025View All Grants
Education
University of South Florida ·
2013
Ph.D.
University of South Florida ·
2006
M.A.
University of South Florida ·
2002
M.P.H.
University of South Florida ·
2000
B.A.