Photo of Murphy, Anne Marie

Anne Marie Murphy, PhD

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Email:

amurph39@uic.edu

About

Over the past 25 years, I have worked extensively on health system change both as a health policy practitioner and as a researcher. My research interests lie in racial, ethnic and class disparities in health outcomes with a particular interest in women’s health disparities, including breast and cervical cancer outcome disparities. I have collaborated with UIC researchers for 15 years looking at how disparate quality of care contributes to health disparities.  Previously as the Executive Director of Equal Hope, a nonprofit in Chicago dedicated to women’s health disparities eradication, I led the creation of the nation’s first federally designated Patient Safety Organization dedicated to health equity and created the first statewide mammography quality measurement and improvement program. I am continuing work in this area, which includes intervention, evaluation and research looking at how we can improve access for people of color and people with less resources to high quality healthcare and in so doing reduce health disparities.  I am also interested in structural racism and how both stigma and racism affect healthcare utilization and access and how we may develop effective interventions to combat their effects and reduce their incidence.

Previously, I worked on Capitol Hill for 8 years as a senior health policy advisor and later became the Illinois Medicaid Director for 4 years and then the Director of State Health Initiatives in the Governor’s office.  This background provides me with a good understanding of health policy and the healthcare system, facilitating my current research in health equity.  I received my Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the Johns Hopkins University in 1996 and my BA in Natural Sciences from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland in 1988.

Selected Publications

Lomahan, S., Rauscher, G. H., & Murphy, A. M. (2023). The role of facility and patient mix factors on recovery of screening and diagnostic mammography volumes following the initial COVID-19 pandemic wave. Cancer medicine, 12(9), 10877–10888. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.5793

Moskowitz, D. A., Silva, A., Castañeda, Y., Battalio, S. L., Hartstein, M. L., Murphy, A. M., Ndebele, S., Switalski, M., Lomahan, S., Lacson, L., Plum, A., Canty, E., Sandoval, A., Thomas, P., De Pablo, M., Spring, B., & Martin, M. (2023). What Chicago community organizations needed to implement COVID-19 interventions: lessons learned in 2021. Frontiers in public health, 11, 1221170. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1221170

Rauscher GH, Molina Y, Silva A, Murphy AM. (2021). Initial point of entry to the health care system may affect downstream quality of breast cancer care. Journal of the American College of Radiology. 18(10):1442-6.

Rauscher, G. H., Murphy, A. M., Qiu, Q., Dolecek, T. A., Tossas, K., Liu, Y., & Alsheik, N. H. (2021). The “Sweet Spot” Revisited: Optimal Recall Rates for Cancer Detection With 2D and 3D Digital Screening Mammography in the Metro Chicago Breast Cancer Registry. AJR. American journal of roentgenology, 216(4), 894–902. https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.19.22429

Rauscher GH, Tossas-Milligan K, Macarol T, Grabler PM, Murphy AM. (2020). 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 17(11):1420-1428.

Sighoko, D., Hunt, B. R., Irizarry, B., Watson, K., Ansell, D., & Murphy, A. M. (2018). Disparity in breast cancer mortality by age and geography in 10 racially diverse US cities. Cancer epidemiology, 53, 178–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2018.02.003

Sighoko, D., Murphy, A. M., Irizarry, B., Rauscher, G., Ferrans, C., & Ansell, D. (2017). Changes in the racial disparity in breast cancer mortality in the ten US cities with the largest African American populations from 1999 to 2013: The reduction in breast cancer mortality disparity in Chicago. Cancer causes & control : CCC, 28(6), 563–568. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-017-0878-y

Mortel, M., Rauscher, G. H., Murphy, A. M., Hoskins, K., & Warnecke, R. B. (2015). Racial and Ethnic Disparity in Symptomatic Breast Cancer Awareness despite a Recent Screen: The Role of Tumor Biology and Mammography Facility Characteristics. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention: a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology, 24(10), 1599–1606. https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0305

Rauscher, G. H., Murphy, A. M., Orsi, J. M., Dupuy, D. M., Grabler, P. M., & Weldon, C. B. (2014). Beyond the mammography quality standards act: measuring the quality of breast cancer screening programs. AJR. American journal of roentgenology, 202(1), 145–151. https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.13.10806

Notable Honors

2021, Catalyst for Health Equity Award, Your Cancer

2017, Population Health National Award for Impact, Honorable Mention, Hearst

2017, Researcher of the Year Impact Award, EverThrive Illinois

2014, Women's Impact Award, Chicago Foundation

2011, Champion in the Fight Against Breast Cancer, White House

2007, Richard J. Phelan Profile in Courage Award, Planned Parenthood Illinois

2007, State Award for Excellence, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners

2005, Loretta Lacey Award, Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition

2005, Excellence in Government Administration, Illinois Primary Health Care Association

Education

B.A. Mod. (Hons.) Natural Sciences – Trinity College Dublin, Ireland 1988
Ph. D. Molecular Genetics – Johns Hopkins University 1996