Ada O Youk

Contributions to Public Health

• Mentoring and teaching: My career has focused on mentoring and teaching while incorporating my research activities into my classes. My contributions have been to inspire students to learn and master statistics, regression modeling, design and research methodology as well as learning innovative pedagogical techniques and ways to reach and retain underrepresented students.
• Ye L, Youk AO, Sereika, SM, Anderson SJ, Burke LE. A three-step estimation procedure using local polynomial smoothing for inconsistently sampled longitudinal data. Statistics in Medicine. 2016;35(20):3613-22. PMC4961582
• Mitchell-Miland CE, Miller RG, Kriska AM, Youk AO, Gary-Webb TL, Devaraj SM, Songer TJ, Arena VC, King WC, Rockette-Wagner B.  Impact of a Community-Based Lifestyle Intervention with Initial Sedentary Reduction or Physical Activity Increasing Goals on Self-Reported Health Related Quality of Life.  Translational Behavioral Medicine.  2025;15(1):1-10, ibae076, https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibae076.
• Frailty research among Veterans: One of my main areas of work at the VA was regarding novel frailty (Risk Analysis Index (RAI), operative stress (Operative Stress score (OSS) measures and loss of independence (LOI) after surgery.  
• Jacobs MA, Duncan CA, Intrator O, Makineni R, Youk A, Boudreaux-Kelly MY, Kinosian B, Shireman PK, Hall DE.  Long-Term Trajectories of Postoperative Independence in Younger and Older Veterans. JAMA Surgery. 2025;160(1):56-64. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2024.4691.
• Mosher E, Nassereldine H,  McKibben JC, Johanning J, Arya S, Massarweh N, Shah R, Shinall M, Shireman P, Varley PR, George EL, Youk A, Backhus L, Brown AJ, Christie N, Dhupar R, Donnellan N, Giori NJ, Goede MR, Guido R, Krajewski C, Lee J, Griffin Miller JL, Siebler JC, Tonetti DA, Vincent SA, Reitz KM, Hall DE. Frailty and Survival for Diagnoses Feasibly Managed Operatively or Nonoperatively. Annals of Surgery. 2025 Apr 28. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000006739. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40293277.
• Health Equity Research Among Veterans: Throughout my work at the VA, I have been involved in many different types of research projects all of which relate to health disparities.
• George EL, Jacobs MA, Reitz KM, Massarweh NN, Youk A, Arya S, Hall DE. Outcomes of Women Undergoing Noncardiac Surgery in Veterans Affairs Compared to Non-Veterans Affairs Care Settings. JAMA Surgery 2024;159(5):501-509. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2023.8081.
• Bramoweth AD, Hough CE, O’Brien EM, Klingaman EA, Deininger CJ, Ulmer CS, Boudreaux-Kelly MY, McCoy JL, Youk AO. Implementing brief behavioral treatment for insomnia in Department of Veterans Affairs Primary Care Mental Health Integration clinics: Reach outcomes from a hybrid type 3 effectiveness–implementation trial. Psychological Services 2025. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ser0000924
• Statistical analyses of complex exposure histories: The earlier part of my career was in occupational epidemiology, analyzing large occupational cohorts with complex exposure histories.  I applied the analytical methods of exposure computation and statistical analyses used in occupational epidemiology to pharmacy claims data which was novel in pharmaco-epidemiology.  
  Youk AO, Marsh GM, Buchanich JM, Downing S, Kennedy KJ, Esmen NA, Hancock RP, Lacey SE. Long-term health experience of jet engine manufacturing workers: IX. Further investigation of general mortality patterns in relation to workplace exposures. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2013;55(6):709-21. 
  Mundy LM, Youk AO, McComsey GA, Bowlin SJ. Overall benefit of antiretroviral treatment on the risk of bone fracture in HIV: nested case-control analysis in a health-insured population. AIDS. 2012;26:1073-82.