Christina R. Studts

(University of Louisville, 2008)

101 Medical Behavioral Science Building
Lexington, KY 40536-0086
Phone: 859.323.1788
Fax: 859.323.5350
Email: tina.studts@uky.edu

Research Description

Dr. Studts’ research interests include psychosocial issues in pediatric primary care, health disparities, measurement, and the application of biostatistical methods to social work research. In the Department of Behavioral Science, she will be contributing to two large randomized, community-based intervention studies addressing health disparities in Appalachia. Her ongoing research involves the application of item response theory (IRT) methods to the evaluation and improvement of measures used in pediatric primary care psychosocial screening. Previously, Dr. Studts investigated predictors of health care access problems in Appalachia; multilevel predictors of changes in health status over time among women affected by welfare reform; and cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors in a lung cancer screening RCT.

2011 Accomplishments

In 2011, Dr. Christina R. Studts continued to serve as Co-Investigator on three NIH-funded community-based intervention trials targeting health-related outcomes in Appalachia with Schoenberg, PI. She also contributed to two NCI-funded projects with Dignan, PI, in the department of Internal Medicine, and began serving on a Center for Clinical and Translational Science committee focused on social networks and bioinformatics. She is the PI evaluating the effects of integrated primary care in community mental health for a SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services project with the Pennyroyal Regional Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board in western Kentucky. This year, Dr. Studts was honored to be selected as a Fellow for the two-week 11th Annual Summer Institute on Behavioral Randomized Clinical Trials in Airlie, Virginia, sponsored by the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research at NIH. At the Institute, Dr. Studts received intensive training from an array of experts on the design, conduct, and analysis of RCTs testing behavioral interventions. With regard to publications, Dr. Studts had two manuscripts published in 2011 (co-authored with Schoenberg and others, in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved and Health Education and Behavior), with one additional manuscript in press (co-authored with Knudsen and J. Studts, in the Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research) and two under review (one first-author). She has nine manuscripts currently in preparation (four first-author). She was invited to present her research at two regional venues: at the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work (an overview of item response theory applications), and at the Contemporary Pediatrics Conference, sponsored by UK Children’s Hospital and the Department of Pediatrics (on the implementation of an integrated primary care clinic in General Pediatrics). With regard to service, Dr. Studts served as an ad hoc manuscript reviewer for three journals, and as an abstract reviewer for submissions to the upcoming annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM). She was also invited to serve as co-chair of the Rapid Communications Track for the upcoming 33rd annual meeting of SBM. Throughout the year, Dr. Studts mentored several graduate students working on various research studies through which she is funded. Dr. Studts is preparing to defend her Master’s thesis in Biostatistics in 2012.

Research Funding

Current
R01 DK081324-01 (NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
An Intergenerational Intervention to Reduce Appalachian Health Disparities
Role: Co-Investigator (Schoenberg, PI)

R24 MD002757 (NIH/National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities)
Faith Moves Mountains: A CBPR Appalachian Wellness & Cancer Prevention Program
Role: Co-Investigator (Schoenberg, PI)

Awarded but declined due to early study completion
1 R36 HS016940-01 (Dissertation Grant, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ))
Improving Screening for Externalizing Behavior Problems in Very Young Children: Applications of Item Response Theory to Evaluate Instruments in Pediatric Primary Care
Role: Principal Investigator

Representative Publications

Studts, C. R., Stone, R., & Barber, G. M. (2006). Predictors of access to health-care services among groups of TANF recipients in Kentucky. Social Service Review, 80(3), 527-548.

Studts, J. L., Ghate, S. R., Gill, J. L., Studts, C. R., Barnes, C. N., LaJoie, A. J., Andrykowski, M. A., & LaRocca, R. V. (2006). Validity of self-reported smoking status among participants in a lung cancer screening trial. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 15(10), 1825-1828.