Joanne G. Patterson, PhD, MPH, MSW
Assistant Professor
Health Behavior and Health Promotion

“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. She investigates factors that promote and inhibit tobacco use and other leading behavioral cancer risks (e.g., alcohol) and develops culturally relevant interventions to promote informed decision-making and effect behavior.
Dr. Patterson applies mixed methods, sequential designs that strategically integrate data from qualitative (focus groups, interviews, elicitation surveys, content analyses) and quantitative (online survey, experimental) studies. This approach facilitates a comprehensive understanding of factors contributing to behavioral cancer risks and the effectiveness of potential solutions. She is an expert in qualitative data collection and analysis, including rapid data analytic methods, thematic analysis and content analysis.
Her 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. Dr. Patterson is currently co-leading Columbus INSIGHT, an LGBTQ+ community health needs assessment, in partnership with Columbus Public Health and Franklin County Public Health.
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, Harm Reduction, and Cessation; Health Communications; Community Engaged Research; Mixed Methods; Qualitative Methods
Select publications
- Schoen M, Galusha S, Ennis AC, Elson E, Jankowski E, Meadows A, Stanwick M, Curran H, Klein EG, Patterson JG. Young Adults’ Visual Attention to, Unaided Recall, and Perspectives of Tobacco Public Education Messages: An Experimental Eye-Tracking Study. Nicotine Tob Res. 2025 Jul 9:ntaf143. (online ahead of print). PMID: 40632104 doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntaf143
- Ennis AC, Stanwick M, Willett C, Bader K, Jankowski E, Elson E, Meadows A, Turk G, Curran H, Patterson JG. LGBTQ+-Targeted Alcohol Marketing in a Midwestern US City: Retail Practices That May Reinforce Health Disparities. J Stud Alc Drugs. 2025 Aug1. (online ahead of print). PMID: 40748269 doi: 10.15288/jsad.24-00318
- Patterson JG, El-Hellani A, Brinkman MC, Keller-Hamilton B. Oral Nicotine Pouch Misuse Popularized Online Raises Concerns. Nicotine Tob Res. 2025 Jun 28:ntaf136. (online ahead of print). PMID: 40580068 doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntaf136
- Figueroa W, Sridhar S, Jankowski E, Ennis A, Trinh A, Seiber E, Patterson JG. Examining pathways between structural stigma and tobacco use: a comparison among young adults living in the United States by sexual orientation and gender identity. Int J Equity Health. 2025 May 8;24(1):128. PMCID: PMC12060347 doi: 10.1186/s12939-025-02487-2
- Ennis AC, Meadows A, Jankowski E, Miller C, Curran H, Elson E, Galusha S, Turk G, Stanwick M, Patterson JG. “Authentic“ or “Corny”: LGBTQ+ Young Adults Respond to Visual, Thematic, and Semantic Elements of Culturally Targeted Tobacco Public Education Advertisements. Tob Control 2024 Nov 28:tc-2024-058858. doi: 10.1136/tc-2024-058858
- Patterson JG, McQuoid J, Heffner JL, Ye Q, Ennis AC, Ganz O, Tan ASL. Resonating with Pride: Considerations for Tailoring Tobacco Interventions for LGBTQ+ Communities. Nicotine Tob Res. 2024 Sep 23;26(10):1438-1441. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntae08
- Patterson JG, Keller-Hamilton B, Wedel A, Vazquez-Otero C, Liu J, Lee D, Stevens E, Wagener T. Absolute and relative e-cigarette harm perceptions among young adult lesbian and bisexual women and nonbinary people assigned female at birth. Add Beh 2023. Jun 30:107788. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2023
- Lee D, Keller-Hamilton B, Wedel A, Wagener T, Stevens E, Patterson JG. Minoritized sexual identity and perceived effectiveness of Instagram public health messaging about e-cigarettes. J Health Comm 2022. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2022.2059724
- Patterson JG, Keller-Hamilton B, Wedel A, Wagener TL, Stevens EM. Responses to e-cigarette health messages among young adult sexual minoritized women and nonbinary people assigned female at birth: Assessing the influence of message theme and format. Drug Alcohol Depend 2022; 21: 109249. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.109249
- Patterson JG, Hinton A, Cooper SE, Wewers ME. Differences in quit attempts, successful quits, methods, and motivations in a longitudinal cohort of adult tobacco users by sexual orientation". Nicotine Tob Res 2021; ntab116. PMID: 34060633. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab116