DECODE Lab
The DECODE lab uses classic and molecular epidemiologic tools to examine environmental and biologic heterogeneity and susceptibility of cancer and other chronic diseases. Our research examines how social determinants of health influence disparate disease outcomes through a transdisciplinary social-genomic perspective. Social determinants of health are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. We focus on a few specific social domains: neighborhoods and built environment, health care access and quality, and the social and community contexts.
We are currently studying the interaction between the built environment, stress, inflammation, and the development of ovarian, prostate, colorectal, and other cancers. These projects have received funding from the NIH, CDC, and DOD. Another research project examines the impact of environmental stressors on chronic disease disparities in mental and behavioral health in women.
Our team recently received NIH NIA funding to investigate the effects of social stressors on epigenetic age acceleration and chronic health disparities and test whether the social environment, individual health behaviors, and race/geography/SES modify or mediate the association between traumatic stress and health (disparities), directly or indirectly through biologic age acceleration.
Lab Team
Tim Hawks Chair in Cancer Prevention and Population Science
Chair, UNMC Department of Epidemiology
Professor
Full member, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
Professor, UNMC College of Public Health Department of Epidemiology
Associate Director, Community Outreach & Engagement, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
Co-Director, Biostatistics & Epidemiology Research Design Core, Great Plains IDeA-CTR
Research Director, Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska
Full Member, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center
Assistant Professor, UNMC Department of Epidemiology
Associate Director of Research, Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska
Collaborators
Vice Chair, UNMC Department of Epidemiology
Associate Professor, UNMC Department of Epidemiology
Associate Professor, Wayne State University College of Medicine Oncology
Contact Us
Department of Epidemiology
College of Public Health
984395 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-4395
Phone: 402-559-4112
Fax: 402-559-7259
Email