Heather Young
Heather Young
Professor and Vice Chair
Full-time Faculty
School: Milken Institute School of Public Health
Department: Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health
Contact:
950 New Hampshire Avenue, Office: 508 - Floor 5
Washington DC 20052
Dr. Young has over twenty years of experience in epidemiologic and biostatistical consulting and has taught numerous courses in graduate epidemiology and biostatistics to public health and health professions students. She completed her MPH and PhD in epidemiology at The George Washington University. She has taught courses in Introduction to Epidemiology, Introduction to Biostatistics, Advanced Data Analysis for Public Health, Design of Health Studies, Advanced Epidemiologic Methods, Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology, and Cancer Epidemiology. Her areas of research interest include cancer particularly reproductive cancers, environmental and occupational exposure assessment, reproductive outcomes related to environmental and occupation exposures, pesticide exposure assessment, and health of military and veteran populations. Her past research has examined AIDS-related malignancies in the District of Columbia, cancer patterns in Gulf War veterans, reproductive outcomes in Army Chemical Corps Veterans exposed to dioxin during Vietnam, cancer disparities in the District of Columbia, and pesticide and forever chemical exposures and male factor reproductive effects. In addition, she has served as a technical advisor for data issues for DC’s HIV AIDS Administration and as a statistical consultant on several veterans’ health studies for the Institute of Medicine’s Medical Follow-Up Agency. Her dissertation research examined ovarian cancer risk in the Central Valley of California as related to triazine herbicide exposure and has extensive knowledge of California’s Pesticide Usage Database. She serves as a reviewer for numerous epidemiology and environmental health journals as well as sitting as an ad hoc member for EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel. She also serves as a contributor for Covid-101.org.
Biostatistics
Chronic Disease
Environmental and Occupational Health
Epidemiology
Health Disparities
Occupational Health
Reproductive Health
Women's Health
Underserved Populations
Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry, Colgate University, 1995.
Master of Public Health in Epidemiology, The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, 1998
Doctor of Philosophy in Epidemiology, The George Washington University, 2002
PubH 6002 Biostatistical Applications in Public Health
PubH 6003 Principles and Practice of Epidemiology
PubH 6244 Cancer Epidemiology
PubH 6247-Design of Health Studies
PubH 6249-Use of Statistical Packages: Data Management and Data Analysis
PubH 6252-Advanced Epidemiologic Methods
PubH 6260-Advanced Data Analysis for Public Health
PubH 6269-Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology
Professor Young has served as an ad-hoc committee member on the EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel, evaluating the evidence concerning prostate cancer and atrazine and reproductive and perinatal effects of chlorpyrifos. She has also served as a consultant for the Institute of Medicine's and has assisted in studies of the long-term health effects of participating in Project SHAD in the 1960s,as well as various studies of Gulf War related illness. She served as an expert panel member for the CDC/ASTDR Camp Lejeune Cancer Incidence Study. She serves as a reviewer for American Association of University Women fellowship review panel. She has also worked with the National Press Foundation to provide lectures on cancer and the environment for their Cancer Issues meetings. She is a member of the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps and a Virginia Department of Health COVID-19 community ambassador. In addition she volunteers with Prince William County Food Rescue and Mothers Out Front Idle Free Schools Campaign.
Selected from over 75 peer reviewed publications
Young HA, Simmens SJ, Kang HK, Mahan CM, Levine PH. Factor Analysis of fatiguing syndrome in Gulf War era veterans: implications for etiology and pathogenesis. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2003; 45(12): 1268-1273.
Young HA, Mills PK, Riordan D, Cress R. Use of a crop and job specific exposure matrix for estimating cumulative exposure to triazine herbicides among female agricultural workers in the Central Valley of California. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2004; 61(11): 945-951.
Mills PK, Riordan DG, Cress RD, Young HA. Perineal talc exposure and epithelial ovarian cancer risk in the Central Valley of California. International Journal of Cancer. 2004; 112(3):458-464.
Levine PH, Young HA, Simmens SJ, Kofie V, Rentz ED, Mahan CM, Kang HK. Is testicular cancer related to Gulf War deployment: evidence from a pilot population-based study of Gulf War era veterans and cancer? Military Medicine. 2005; 170 (2): 149-153.
Hance KW, Anderson WF, Devesa SS, Young HA, Levine PH. Trends in inflammatory breast carcinoma incidence and survival: the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program at the National Cancer Institute. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2005; 97(13): 966-975.
Young HA, Mills PK, Riordan D, Cress R. Triazine herbicides and epithelial ovarian cancer risk in Central California. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 2005; 47 (11): 1148-1156.
Miller RN, Costigan D, Young HA, Kang HK, Dlager N, Mathes R, Crawford H, Page WF, Thaul S. Patterns of health care seeking of Persian Gulf War registry members prior to deployment. Military Medicine. 2006; 171 (5): 370-375.
Levine PH, Richardson PK, Zolfaghari L, Cleary SD, Potolicchio S, Geist CE, Young HA, Simmens S, Schessel D, Williams K, Mahan CM, Kang HK. A clinical evaluation of Gulf War veterans with a possible deployment-related neurological syndrome and Gulf War era controls. Archives of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 2006; 61(6): 271-278.
Karami S, Young HA, Henson DE. Earlier age of onset: another dimension in cancer disparity. Cancer Detection and Prevention. 2007; 31(1): 29-34.
Young HA, Kang HK, Dalager NA, Castel A, Needham LL, Patterson Jr DG, Turner WE, Matanoski G. Risk for fathering children with birth defects among Army Chemical Corps Vietnam veterans who sprayed defoliant in Vietnam. Organohalogen Compounds. 69:
Levine PH, Young HA, Mark L, Rojokowsky H, Holland JF, Pogo BGT. Increased Detection of Breast Cancer Virus Sequences in Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Advances in Tumor Virology. 2009; 1: 1-5.
Sagy N*, Henson DE, Young HA, Patierno S. Second Primary Colon Cancers Associated with First Primary Colon Cancers: A Population Based Study. Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. 2009; 133: 1610.
Levine PH, Zolfghari L, Young HA, Hafi M, Cannon T, Ganesan C, Veneroso C, Brem R, Sherman M. What is Inflammatory Breast Cancer? Revisiting The Case Definition. Cancers. 2010; 2: 143-152.
Young HA, Bocek J, Levine PH, Simmens SJ, Mahan CM, Kang HK. Investigating the Risk of Cancer in 1990-1991 Gulf War Veterans with the Use of State Cancer Registry Data. Annals of Epidemiology. 2010; 20: 265-272.
Patierno SR, LaVerda NL, Alexander LM, Levine PH, Young HA, Hoffman H. Longitudinal Network Patient Navigation: Development of a City-wide Integrative Model to Reduce Cancer Disparities in Washington, DC. Oncology Issues. 2010; 25: 28-35.
Hoffman HJ, Levine PL, Young HA, Alexander LM, LaVerda NL, Patierno SR. Having Health Insurance Does Not Eliminate Race/Ethnicity-Associated Delays in Breast Cancer Diagnosis in the District of Columbia. Cancer. 2011; 117: 3824-32.
Nsouli-Maktabi H*, Schwartz AM, Cleary SD, Younes N, Young HA, Henson DE. Second Primary Breast, Endometrial, and Ovarian Cancers in Black and White Breast Cancer Survivors over 35 years: Effect of Age. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. 2011; 129: 963-9.
Hoffman HJ, Levine PL, Young HA, Alexander LM, LaVerda NL, Patierno SR. Patient Navigation Significantly Reduces Delays in Breast Cancer Diagnosis in the District of Columbia. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention. 2012; 21: 1655-1663.
Moore AG, Young HA, Keller JM, Ojo LR, Yan J, Moore Simas T, Maynard SE. Angiogenic biomarkers for prediction of maternal and neonatal complications in suspected preeclampsia. Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine. 2012; 12: 2651-2657.
Young HA, Engels E, Sufian-Kargbo AM, Vargas A, Rogers K, West T, Castel A. Demographics and survival of AIDS cases with cancer, Washington, DC, 1996-2006. Infectious Agents and Cancer. 2012 7(S1): P5.
Ross A, Jami H, Young HA, Katz R. “Sync and Swim”: the impact of medication consolidation on medication adherence. Journal of Primary Care and Community Health. 2013; 4(4): 240-4.
Young HA, Meeker J, Martinies S, Figueroa Z, Perry MJ. Environmental Exposure to Pyrethroids and Sperm Sex Chromosome Disomy. Environmental Health. 2013; 12(1): 111-120.
Castel AD, Young HA, Sufian-Kargbo AM, Vargas A, Levine PH. Trends in Cancer Diagnoses and Survival among AIDS Cases with Cancer in a High HIV Prevalence Urban Area. AIDS Care. 2015; 27: 1-10. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2015.1011074
Alhamoud HA, Dudum R, Young HA, Choi BG. Discrepancies Between Author Self-Disclosure and Pharmaceutical Company Reporting of Payment to Physicians. American Journal of Medicine. 2016; 12: 59-63. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.06.028
Lam CJK, Curtis RE, Dores GM, Engels EA, Caporaso NE, Polliack A, Warrant LJ , Young HA, Levine PH, Elmi AF, Fraumeni JF, Tucker MA, Morton LM. Risk Factors for Melanoma among Survivors of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2014.60.2094
Perry MJ, Young HA, Grandjean P, Halling J, Petersen MS, Martenies SE, Karimi P, Weihe P. Sperm Aneuploidy in Men with Elevated Lifetime Exposure to Dicholordiphenyldichloro-ethylene (DDE) and Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Pollutants. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2016; 124(70); 951-956. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1509779.
Rakhmanina N, Lam KS, Hern J, Young HA, Walters A, Castel AD. Interruptions of Antiretroviral Therapy in Children and Adolescents with HIV Infection in Clinical Practice. JIAS. 2016; 19:20936. doi: 10.7448/IAS.19.1.20936
Lam CJ, Curtis RE, Dores GM, Engels EA, Caporaso NE, Polliack A, Warren JL, Young HA, Levine PH, Elmi AF, Fraumeni JF, Tucker MA, Morton LM. Risk Factors for Second Acute Myeloid Leukemia/Myelodysplastic Syndrome among Survivors of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Leukemia. 2016; 30: 1187-90. doi: 10.1038/leu.2015.248.
Alhamoud HA, Dudum R, Young HA, Choi BG. The Limits of Sunshine as a Disinfectant: Despite Improvements, Open Payments Still Lacks Systematic and Transparent Reporting. American Journal of Medicine. 2016; 129: 59-63. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.06.02
Castel A, Kalmin MM, Hart RLD, Young HA, Hays H, Benator D, Kumar P, Elion R, Parenti D, Ruiz MD, Wood A, D’Angelo L, Rakhmanina N, Rana S, Bryant M, Hebou A, Fernandez R, Abbott S, Peterson J, Wood K, Subramanian T, Binkley J, Powers-Happ L, Kharfen M, Masur H, Greenberg AE. Disparities in Achieving and Sustaining Viral Suppression among a Large Cohort of HIV-Infected Persons in Care-Washington, DC. AIDS Care. 2016; 28: 1355-64. doi: 10.1080/09540121.2016.1189496 .
Battaglia TA, Darnell JS, Ko N, Snyder F, Paskett ED, Wells KJ, Whitley L, Griggs JJ, Karnad A, Young H, Warren-Mears V, Simon MA, Calhoun E. The Impact of Patient Navigation on the Delivery of Diagnostic Breast Cancer are in the National Patient Navigation Research Program: A Prospective Meta-Analysis. Breast Care Research and Treatment. 2016; 158: 523-34. doi: 10.1007/s10549-016-3887-
Castel AD, Hart R, Terzian A, Hart R, Rayeed N, Kalmin MM, Young HA, Greenberg AE. Use of National Standards to Monitor HIV Care and Treatment in a High Prevalence City-Washington, DC. 2017. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186036
Figueroa ZI, Young HA, Mumford SL, Meeker JD, Barr DB, Gray GB, Perry MJ. Pesticide Interactions and Risks of Sperm Chromosomal Abnormalities. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. 2019; 222: 1021-1029. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2019.07.001
McCray NL, Young HA, Irwig MS, Frankfurter D, Schwartz AM, Witmyer J, Hynes M, Jayanthi VV, Marcus M, Patel M, Perry MJ. The Association between Race, Obesity, and Sperm Quality among Men Attending a University Physician Practice in Washington, DC. American Journal of Men’s Health. 2020. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1557988320925985#articleShareContainer
Agopian A, Young HA, Quinlan S, Rice MM. Timeliness of Childhood Vaccinations in Armenia, 2015-2016. Vaccine. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.05.032
Happ LP, Monroe A, Ma H, Young H, Horber M, Greenberg A, Castel A. Individual and Clinic Level Factors Associated with Achieving Glycemic Control in a Large Cohort of People with HIV in Care-Washington, DC. JAIDS. 2020. https://journals.lww.com/jaids/Abstract/2020/09010/Individual_Level_and_Clinic_Level_Factors.18.aspx
Huang Q, Braffett BH, Simmens SJ, Young HA, Ogden CL. Dietary Polyphenol Intake in US Adults and 10 Year Trends: 2007-2016. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212267220305578