Epidemiology Research

The Epidemiology Department has a strong track record of research. The department conducts a wide range of investigations from molecular and genetic markers, plasma biomarkers, lifestyle factors to health informatics. In addition to the investigator-initiated research projects below, we are committed to multidisciplinary collaborative research toward assessing the distribution and determinants of human illness with the aim of establishing reasoned preventive and control measures.

Associate Professor

• Evaluation of DOH Capacity for Using EHR Data for Cardiovascular Disease Surveillance
  Public Health Informatics Institute | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Assessing Adherence to and Impact of Syphilis Testing in Pregnancy and STD Medical Examinations in Immigrants and Refugees
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Establishing a collaborating research center at Indiana University to improve population health integrated services and advanced analytics
  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Regional Data Exchange to Improve Care for Veterans after Non-VA Hospitalization
  Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Health Services Research & Development Service
• Advancing Methods to Measure and Improve the Quality of Large Scale Health Data
  National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
• Development of an Electronic Health Record Repository for Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries in Indiana: Toward a Rapid-Learning Health System
  Indiana Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Board, Indiana State Department of Health
• Improving Population Health through Enhanced Targeted Regional Decision Support
  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Professor, Epidemiology Department Chair

Dr. Han is interested in understanding the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the etiology and prevention of skin lesions. His genetic epidemiological research started with the etiology of skin cancers and expanded to other skin lesions such as psoriasis, moles, and acne. Besides a series of genetic susceptibility investigation, he has also conducted a great deal of epidemiological research to identify lifestyle and environmental risk factors and comorbidities for skin cancers, psoriasis, and acne. He has played a leading role in large national and international collaborative consortia on melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, and human pigmentation. Currently he leads post-GWAS collaborative projects examining the biological function of genetic variants using bioinformatics and molecular biology tools. In addition, he recently has conducted cancer network research and pharmacoepidemiology research.

Visiting Lecturer

• Describing screening and diagnostic testing patterns for Lyme disease in Veterans
• Evaluating electronic health record data as a public health resource for determining valid measures of hypertension prevalence at the county-level
• Managing a traumatic brain injury cohort assembled from 11 years of clinical data from the Indiana Network for Patient Care
• Describing the epidemiology of shaken infant syndrome as a cause of traumatic brain injury in Indiana
• Assessing the role of adverse childhood experiences and traumatic brain injury in behavioral outcomes among children
• Leveraging electronic health record data to establish correlates of time to return to work among traumatic brain injury patients

Professor, Epidemiology PhD Program Director

• Racial/Ethnic Differences in 25(OH)D and PTH Levels and CVD among Women

Clinical Associate Professor

• Evaluation of the BeHealthy Indiana University worksite wellness program

Associate Professor

• Using Childs Genetic Risk to Stimulate Diabetes Risk Reducing Change in Families
  American Heart Association National Scientist Development Grant