Garth H Rauscher, MPH, PhD
Associate Professor
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Contact
Building & Room:
952 SPHPI
Address:
1603 W. Taylor St.
Office Phone:
Email:
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About
I have a PhD in epidemiology and teach introductory and advanced epidemiology methods courses at UIC. I am an active mentor on the T32 Cancer Prevention and Control training grant. Much of my research has focused on the role of social determinants of health and structural racism as drivers of disparities in cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survival. I am lead for the Metro Chicago Breast Cancer Registry (MCBCR), which contributed demographic, radiology, and population-based breast cancer data to the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. I oversaw the implementation of the Breast Cancer Care in Chicago (BCCC) study which was undertaken to examine racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in breast cancer tumor characteristics, timing and quality of screening and diagnostic care, treatment, DNA methylation, and outcomes. I led the Colon Cancer Patterns of Care in Chicago study which aimed to better understand Black-White disparities in care and outcomes for colon cancer. I have collaborated for many years with the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force (recently rebranded as Equal Hope) on quality improvement initiatives and research on the quality of breast cancer care. For the last several years I have collaborated with multiple investigators on examining and explaining disparities in adult myeloid leukemia treatment and survival.
Selected Publications
Abraham IE, Rauscher GH, Patel AA, Pearse WB, Rajakumar P, Burkart M, Aleem A, Dave A, Bharadwaj S, Paydary K, Acevedo-Mendez M, Goparaju K, Gomez R, Carlson K, Tsai SB, Quigley JG, Galvin JP, Zia M, Larson ML, Berg S, Stock W, Altman JK, Khan I; Structural racism is a mediator of disparities in acute myeloid leukemia outcomes. Blood 2022; 139 (14): 2212–2226.
Rauscher GH, Molina Y, Silva A, Murphy AM. Initial point of entry to the health care system may affect downstream quality of breast cancer care. Journal of the American College of Radiology. 2021 Oct 1;18(10):1442-6.
Rauscher GH, Tossas-Milligan K, Macarol T, Grabler PM, Murphy AM. Trends in attaining mammography quality benchmarks with repeated participation in a quality measurement program: Going Beyond the Mammography Quality Standards Act to address breast cancer disparities Journal of the American College of Radiology 2020;17(11):1420-1428.
Warnecke RB, Campbell RT, Vijayasiri G, Barrett RE, Rauscher GH. A Multilevel Examination of Health Disparity: The Roles of Policy, Neighborhood Context, Patient Resources and Healthcare Facilities in Stage at Diagnosis. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 2019;28(1):59-66.
Jones L, Brewer K, Ferrans CF, Polite B, Rauscher GH. Examining Racial Disparities in Colon Cancer Clinical Delay in the Colon Cancer Patterns of Care in Chicago Study. Annals of Epidemiology 2017;27(11):731-738.
Rauscher GH, Dabbous F, Dolecek TA, Friedewald SM, Tossas-Milligan K, Macarol T, Summerfelt WT. Absence of an anticipated racial disparity in interval breast cancer within a large healthcare organization. Annals of Epidemiology 2017;27(10):654-58.
Rauscher GH, Silva A, Pauls H, Frasor J, Bonini MG, Hoskins K. Racial disparity in survival from estrogen and progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer: implications for reducing breast cancer mortality disparities. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2017;163(2):321-330.
Dabbous F, Dolecek TA, Berbaum M, Friedewald S, Summerfelt WT, Hoskins K, Rauscher GH. Impact of a false positive screening mammogram on subsequent screening behavior and stage at breast cancer diagnosis. Cancer Epidemiol Biom Prev 2017;26(3):397-403.
Rauscher GH, Wiley EL, Campbell RT, Wiley E, Hoskins K, Stolley M. Socioeconomic position and reproductive factors mediate racial and ethnic disparities in estrogen/progesterone receptor negative breast cancer. American Journal of Epidemiology 2016;183(10): 884–893.
Rauscher GH, Johnson TP, Cho YI, Schlichting J. Accuracy of self-reported cancer screening histories: a meta-analysis. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 2008;17:748-757.
Publication Aggregators
Education
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Doctoral degree in epidemiology, December 2001
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
MPH, concentration in chronic disease epidemiology
State University of New York at Albany
BS in Physics
Research Currently in Progress
The role of structural racism in adult AML outcomes and disparities.
Principal Investirgators
Garth Rauscher (UIC)
Irum Khan (NW)
Hardik Marfatia (NEIU)
Aim 1. Estimate independent associations of multiple SPE domains with AML subtype, treatment, survival, and disparities, based on residence at diagnosis. Through collaboration with the UIC Population Health Analytics, Metrics, and Evaluation (PHAME) Center, we will access data from Metopio, a resource for geospatial measures of SPE. We will estimate the independent contributions of geospatial access to health care, healthy food sources, walkability, and green space, proximity to sources of pollution, and crime on survival and survival disparities. The main limitation of these analyses will be the lack of data on cumulative, historical exposure histories on these patients, which we attempt to overcome in subsequent aims.
Aim 2. Link patients to their residential histories and create a backbone for linking geospatial data on the SPE. We will submit patient identifiers to LexisNexis for linkage to its proprietary residential history database and create a dataset of patient residential histories. Each residence will be geocoded and assigned to its census tract. The analysis dataset will contain each patient’s geocoded residence for each year of history as far back as 1980. As a proof of principle, we will define time-weighted or average measures of food environments for each patient and examine associations with AML survival and disparities.
Aim 3. Connect our findings to what patients experience in terms of burdens and barriers related to structural racism and develop policy proposals to address these barriers. Our community partner will conduct semi-structured interviews with members of clinical care teams that diagnose and treat AML, including nurse navigators, social workers, and transplant coordinators. We will identify themes related to barriers patients face related to receipt of precision oncology care including next-generation sequencing, targeted therapies, and allogeneic stem cell transplant (ASCT). These will include an assessment of barriers pertaining to their neighborhood of residence. Results of these interviews and results of our quantitative analyses will inform peer-reviewed manuscripts aimed at relevant clinical journals, and policy briefs aimed at health insurers and the state legislature to impact policy change.