Joanne G. Patterson, PhD, MPH, MSW

Assistant Professor
Health Behavior and Health Promotion

Email
patterson.1191@osu.edu
Phone
614-247-1780
Office
353 Cunz Hall, 1841 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43210
Joanne G. Patterson

“We know that living in discriminatory contexts effects the economic and social resources available to LGBTQ people, which shapes health decision-making. I want to understand that process and figure out, with community members, where we can intervene at a population level. I want us to create a level playing field for LGBTQ people in cancer prevention and control.”

Biography

Dr. Joanne G. Patterson is a behavioral scientist whose research program aims to reduce cancer inequities, with a special focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) populations. Her research applies multilevel and intersectionality frameworks to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of culturally tailored interventions to reduce behavioral cancer risks among minoritized LGBTQ+ populations. She is especially interested in tobacco and alcohol use, cancer screening, and upstream socioeconomic factors, including food insecurity.
   
Dr. Patterson applies mixed methods to her experimental and implementation studies to qualitatively explore how context and culture affect participant engagement with behavioral interventions, experimental findings, and intervention implementation and adoption. She is an expert in qualitative data collection and analysis, including rapid data analytic methods, thematic analysis and content analysis.
   
At Ohio State, Dr. Patterson collaborates on multiple studies in health communications and marketing, which have been funded by the National Cancer Institute and The Ohio State University James Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is currently funded by a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Career Development Award (R00CA260718) to examine the effect of exposure to culturally tailored tobacco public education messages on dual use of nicotine vapes and combustible cigarettes among LGBTQ+ young adults. She is also Co-I on The Ohio State University Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science to assess the effect of marketing on uptake of oral nicotine pouches, and their addiction potential among LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ young people (U54CA287392; MPIs: Wagener and Shields; Role: Co-I Project 4).
   
Dr. Patterson's community-engaged work aims to build organizational capacity to implement evidence-based interventions to reduce behavioral cancer risks among LGBTQ+ populations. She recently partnered with Equitas Health to conduct a mixed-methods formative program evaluation to develop patient-focused LGBTQ+ culturally tailored smoking cessation materials for use in behavioral and primary care settings. She is currently co-leading an LGBTQ+ community health needs assessment in partnership with Columbus Public Health and the Ohio State University Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Evaluation Studies.

Education

PhD
Health Behavior and Health Education; University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN
MPH
Social and Behavioral Sciences; Boston University School of Public Health, Boston MA
MSW
Program Planning and Evaluation (Macro); Boston University School of Social Work, Boston MA
BA
English; Wesleyan College, Macon GA

Research interests

Health Equity; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Health; Social Determinants of Health; Cancer Prevention; Tobacco Prevention and Cessation; Tobacco Regulatory Science; Health Communications; Community Engaged Research; Implementation Science; Mixed Methods; Qualitative Methods

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