Sarah A Nowak
Associate Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
89 Beaumont Ave
Given C415B
Burlington, VT 05405
United States
- Ph.D., Biomathematics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
- M.S., Biomathematics, University of California
- B.S., Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
University of Vermont Cancer Center
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Areas of expertise
health services and policy research, computational modeling and network analysis, computational social science and text analysis.
BIO
Sarah's research focuses on understanding and improving population-level health outcomes by examining health care systems influence how patients and providers make decisions about preventive health behaviors. She aims to develop models and empirical evidence that can guide policies and interventions to enhance public health through improved decision making around cancer screening, contraception, antimicrobial stewardship, and vaccination. She uses a multidisciplinary approach that integrates agent-based modeling, microsimulation, network analysis, and analysis of survey, administrative, and social media data to study how social and health care systems shape health behaviors. Ongoing projects include analyzing statewide cancer screening and vaccination trends, understanding pediatric and prenatal vaccination, and understanding how parenting forums might shape contraception decisions in the postpartum period.
Publications
Awards and Achievements
- 2020 Blodwen S. Huber Early Career Green and Gold Professor in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
- 2012 RAND Silver Medal Award
- 2008-2009 UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship
- 2005-2008 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- 2004-2005 NIH Systems and Integrative Biology Training Grant
- 2004 Matthew J. Orloff Award (outstanding senior thesis, MIT dept of Physics)
Bio
Sarah's research focuses on understanding and improving population-level health outcomes by examining health care systems influence how patients and providers make decisions about preventive health behaviors. She aims to develop models and empirical evidence that can guide policies and interventions to enhance public health through improved decision making around cancer screening, contraception, antimicrobial stewardship, and vaccination. She uses a multidisciplinary approach that integrates agent-based modeling, microsimulation, network analysis, and analysis of survey, administrative, and social media data to study how social and health care systems shape health behaviors. Ongoing projects include analyzing statewide cancer screening and vaccination trends, understanding pediatric and prenatal vaccination, and understanding how parenting forums might shape contraception decisions in the postpartum period.
Publications
Awards and Achievements
- 2020 Blodwen S. Huber Early Career Green and Gold Professor in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
- 2012 RAND Silver Medal Award
- 2008-2009 UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship
- 2005-2008 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- 2004-2005 NIH Systems and Integrative Biology Training Grant
- 2004 Matthew J. Orloff Award (outstanding senior thesis, MIT dept of Physics)