Bethea Traci N

Dr. Traci N. Bethea joined the faculty of Georgetown University in 2020. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at BU School of Medicine and an Epidemiologist at the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University. She received her B.A. from Duke University, M.P.A. from Columbia University, and Ph.D. in environmental health from Boston University School of Public Health. Trained in both environmental science and environmental epidemiology, Dr. Bethea has extensive experience analyzing and interpreting data related to environmental exposures and human health. Her work has investigated health impacts related to the siting of correctional facilities, healthy housing in housing developments, particulate matter exposure in public transit systems, urban/rural status and self-rated health, and individual- and community-level factors in relation to head and neck cancer. Her postdoctoral research has focused on cancer epidemiology and cancer health disparities affecting African Americans. In particular, Dr. Bethea has used pooled data from consortial projects to examine risk factors for breast cancer subtypes among African American women and to assess the relation of body mass index to risk of pancreatic cancer mortality among African Americans. Current work continues research on breast cancer subtypes in African American women and also examines risk factors for ovarian cancer and for sleep disturbances. New research directions involve the study of environmental and social factors as predictors of health disparities in cancer incidence and survivorship and aims to “bridge the gap” between the biologic, individual, and macroenvironmental levels.