Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death for US women, with particularly high rates in Appalachia. Although lung cancer has declined steadily among men in recent decades, such decreases have not been seen among women, with alarming rates emerging among women under 55 and non-smokers. This talk will focus on a series of completed and ongoing projects, including mixed method and community-engaged approaches, to inform lung cancer prevention strategies that take into consideration social, household, and community factors for women in Appalachian communities.
About the Presenter
Jessica R. Thompson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in Health Policy and Administration and a co-funded faculty member of the Social Science Research Institute. Her long-term research goal is to uncover social, cultural, economic, environmental, and policy factors affecting chronic disease risk among Appalachian women and to develop relevant interventions. She is an expert in qualitative, mixed method, community-engaged, and participatory approaches as well as other population health methods capable of capturing social and environmental contexts. Dr. Thompson currently has a National Cancer Institute-funded K99/R00 entitled Reducing Lung Cancer Risk among Appalachian Women Using Community‐Engaged Intervention Research along with other internally funded projects focused on rural and Appalachian health.
