Recent Teaching & Advising

Instruction and Guest Lectures - University of Minnesota

Guest Lecturer:  "Childhood cancer epidemiology," Cancer Epidemiology (PubH 5387) (Spring 2004, 2005)

Invited Lecture:  "Childhood cancer etiology: current knowledge and future directions," Pediatric Cancer and Blood Diseases Conference, University of Minnesota Medical School (Fall 2004)

Faculty Discussant:  Pediatric Resident Journal Club, University of Minnesota Medical School (2005-present)

Expert Panel Member for Epi Methods: Data Collection (PubH 6345) (Fall 2005)

Guest Lecturer:  "Case-control studies: the example of childhood cancer," Epidemiology I (PubH 6330) (Fall 2005)

Invited Lecture: "Following furry friends: basic epidemiology for veterinarians," Comparative Medical Biosciences Seminar Series, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine (Fall 2005)

“Neonatal oxygen exposure and childhood cancer: plausible or preposterous?” Grand Rounds, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota (Spring 2006)

“Biostatistics and clinical research study design” and “Research ethics and IRB protocols,” Pediatric Core Curriculum for the Subspecialty Resident (2006-present)

Instructor and Course Director:  Epidemiologic Methods I (PubH 6341); 30 lecture-hours provided per semester (2006-present)

Mentoring/Advising/Committees

2004-2006 - Suzanne Sobotka (Epidemiology MPH Academic Advisor)

2004-2005 - Lucy Alderton (Epidemiology MPH Research Advisor).  Project: Child and maternal chemical exposure and risk of acute leukemia in children with Down syndrome.  Current position: Health Planner, Division of Chronic Diseases, City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health

2004-2005 - Michelle Morrison (Epidemiology MPH Research Advisor).  Project: Maternal diet and risk of acute leukemia in children with Down syndrome. Current position: Program analyst, National Center for Environmental Health Sciences

2005-2006 - Amy Hughes (Epidemiology MPH Research Advisor).  Project: Family history of disease and risk of childhood germ cell tumors

2005-2008 - Jacob Zdon (Epidemiology MPH Academic Advisor and thesis committee chair).  Thesis: Incidence of Campylobacter infection in Minnesota, 1996-2005.  Current position: None

2006 - Kimberly Canfield MPH, third year medical student research rotation preceptor. Project: Maternal hormone exposure during pregnancy and risk of infant leukemia.  Current position: Medical student, University of Minnesota Medical School

2006-2007 - Kim Johnson MPH (Epidemiology PhD dissertation committee member).  Dissertation: Perigestational risk factors for childhood cancer.  Current position: Post-doctoral fellow, Division of Epidemiology/Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota

2006-2007 - Zhi Huang (Biostatistics MPH thesis committee member).  Thesis: Handling missing data from case-parent triad designs.  Current position: Associate statistician, Abbott Laboratories

2006-2007 - Richard Tower MD (Clinical Research MS thesis committee member).  Thesis: DNA repair protein polymorphisms and the risk of infant leukemia.  Current position: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin

2007 - Haiying Lin (Biostatistics MPH thesis committee member).  Thesis: Use of repeated measures analysis for evaluation of tobacco biomarker changes in a smokeless tobacco brand-switching study.  Current position: Biostatistician, Boston Scientific Corporation

2008 - Marc Roe (Environmental Health Sciences MS thesis committee member). Thesis: Risk assessment from various refractory ceramic fiber sampling endpoints at a manufacturing facility.  Current position: Industrial hygienist, 3M Corporation

2006-present - Pawan Hari MBBS (Epidemiology MPH academic advisor and thesis committee chair).  Thesis: Physical and bio-chemical correlates of human degenerative disc disease

2006-present - Stephanie Gaston (Epidemiology MPH academic advisor and thesis committee chair.  Thesis: Childhood history of non-infectious disease, medication use, and the risk of acute leukemia among children with Down syndrome

2006-present - Susan Puumala (Epidemiology PhD academic advisor)

2007-present - Blair Manthey (Epidemiology MPH academic advisor)

2008 - Sandhya Panch MBBS (Epidemiology MPH thesis committee member).  Thesis: Correlation of birth weight and gestational age with insulin-like growth factors measured in neonatal blood spots