Expertise
- Faculty Director: Tasleem J. Padamsee, PhD
- Director: Heather Aker, MPH
- Senior Faculty Advisor: Electra Paskett, PhD
- Data Manager: Caroline Gault, MPH
- Clinical Research Manager: Jennifer Moon, MPH, CCRP
- Qualitative Research Specialist: Jill Oliveri, DrPh, MPH
- Regulatory and Recruitment Specialist: Cecilia DeGraffinreid, MHS, RHIA
- Population-Based Data Retrieval Specialist: James Fisher, PhD
Tasleem J. Padamsee, PhD, a sociologist by training who brings theoretical and methodological tools from sociology and women’s studies to bear on public health problems. At The Ohio State University, Dr. Padamsee is Associate Professor of Health Services Management and Policy in the College of Public Health, Member of the James Cancer Center and Cancer Control Program, and Associate Professor (by Courtesy) of Sociology. As a methodologist, Dr. Padamsee specializes in developing and applying qualitative and mixed-methods approaches to health research influenced by social science paradigms. Her methodology leadership roles include serving as Faculty Director of the OSUCCC’s Recruitment, Intervention, and Survey Shared Resource; Founder and Director of the campus-wide Advanced Seminar on Qualitative and Community Engaged Research (QCERM); lead qualitative investigator for several large federally funded health disparities research projects; and trainer and mentor to a wide range of graduate students, research scientists, and faculty members learning to utilize qualitative methodologies in their health science studies. Substantively, Dr. Padamsee is a scholar of health disparities and health systems, whose research program explores the intersections of social inequality, public policy, and health care. Dr. Padamsee is the Principal Investigator of the Daughter Sister Mother Project, which conducts multi-method studies of how diverse groups at elevated risk for breast cancer make prevention decisions and how these populations can better be supported to manage their cancer risks. She has also led long-term research projects on HIV/AIDS policy in the United States and the United Kingdom, COVID-19 among historically marginalized populations, and other topics. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Wellcome Trust, the Reed Foundation, and the Control Program and the Stefanie Spielman Fund at the Ohio State University.
Heather Aker, MPH, serves as the technical and administrative director of the RISSR. She oversees operational, research and patient activities, and directs the development and implementation of data collection and management plans. She provides initial consultations with investigators and works closely with faculty and staff to ensure timely, high-quality and cost-effective work.
Electra Paskett, PhD, founded the shared resource in 2003 and continues to provide oversight, support and guidance to RISSR leadership and staff. Dr. Paskett is a professor and the Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in the Department of Internal Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She holds the Marion N. Rowley Designated Chair in Cancer Research. She is a professor in the Division of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health, the Associate Director for Population Sciences, and the co-leader of the Cancer Control Program in the OSUCCC. Dr. Paskett’s research focuses on a team science approach to understanding and intervening in energy balance and cancer prevention, promoting the use of early-detection exams, improving access to diagnostic and treatment services, reducing health disparities, and preventing lymphedema. Her recent work focuses on intervention studies directed at cancer prevention and early detection and survivorship issues, specifically among underserved populations.
Caroline Gault, MPH, RISSR’s data manager, provides support for all electronic data capture services, offering oversight and direction for both quantitative and qualitative data collection and management. She oversees the design and development of tailored applications and the implementation of strategies for data collection and management. She evaluates, tests and trains staff on updates to existing technology and drives technological advances by identifying and implementing modalities for innovative data collection procedures. Ms. Gault manages a team of data specialists who develop and implement strategies for electronic data capture and management, monitor participant accrual and retention, and generate project-specific data reports.
Jennifer Moon, MPH, CCRP, clinical research manager, provides support for community recruitment and the conduct of non-therapeutic clinical trials, including the planning, direction, assignment and monitoring of team workflow, specifically with regard to participant recruitment, screening, enrollment and proper data collection according to research protocols. She has experience working with medical networks and organizations to establish the mechanisms for effectively recruiting participants to clinical trials. She also works directly with clinics and physicians within the Ohio State medical community, surrounding communities and other states to identify sources of potential participants for inclusion in OSUCCC research trials. Ms. Moon oversees a team of experienced clinical research specialists who provide support to non-therapeutic clinical trials, including participant recruitment, eligibility screening, enrollment and accrual documentation, administration of surveys, patient chart abstraction, documentation of research visits and coordination of study monitoring visits.
Jill Oliveri, DrPH, MPH, is the RISSR specialist for qualitative research, as well as a program director in the Population Sciences division of the OSUCCC – James, where she manages studies on underserved and minority populations. Dr. Oliveri provides expertise for qualitative research activities within the RISSR and offers training and oversight in proper qualitative analysis methodology.
Cecilia DeGraffinreid, MHS, RHIA, is the RISSR specialist for regulatory and recruitment and accrual, as well as a program director in the Population Sciences division of the OSUCCC – James. She has significant experience in all aspects of managing large, multi-centered, NIH/NCI, industry and cooperative group cancer control clinical trials. Among her primary interests is access to health care, especially the inclusion of minorities and the underserved in research studies.
James Fisher, PhD, an adjunct associate professor of epidemiology in Ohio State’s College of Public Health, provides consultation and assistance in locating, accessing and interpreting population-based data. Dr. Fisher provides data concerning cancer incidence, cancer mortality, cancer survival and cancer-related behaviors using large datasets, including Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System (OCISS).