
Kirsten Beyer, PhD, MPH, MS
Associate Professor, Division of Epidemiology; Director, PhD Program in Public & Community Health; Co-Director, Global Health Pathway; Co-Director, GEO Shared Resource; Adjunct Associate Professor, Geography, UW-Milwaukee
Contact Information
Education
MPH, Global Health, University of Iowa
PhD, Geography, University of Iowa
MS, CTSI Epidemiology Track, MCW
Biography
Dr. Kirsten Beyer is on the faculty in the Division of Epidemiology in the Institute for Health & Equity.
Dr. Beyer’s work focuses on the intersection of health, place, and social justice. Her research passion is to identify environmental and systematic causes of health disparities, and to apply a translational research framework, including community engaged research, to move research findings into program and policy interventions to close the gaps. While her interest in social justice has early roots, her specialization in geography and public health stems from her undergraduate focus on international studies, her work in the nonprofit sector after college, and her graduate work in global health, geospatial analysis, and health disparities.
Dr. Beyer received her PhD in Geography and her MPH in Global Health from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She joined MCW in 2009 as an Instructor and a Fellow in the Primary Care Research Fellowship. She was particularly interested in MCW because of its demonstrated investment in community engagement and translational research, its new (at that time) PhD program in public and community health, and the potential for strong mentorship from talented senior faculty. During her postdoctoral work, she also earned a master’s degree in clinical and translational science, with a focus on epidemiology. Dr. Beyer was appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2011.
Dr. Beyer’s current research focuses on the impacts of neighborhood environmental characteristics such as residential racial segregation and green space on cancer outcomes, particularly through pathways that include stress, time spent outdoors, social interaction, and food and physical activity behaviors. Dr. Beyer’s work includes disease mapping, social and spatial epidemiology, and mixed methods approaches that aim to identify spatial patterns of disease and injury and understand the complex human-environment processes that create them. Her goal is to conduct research that leads to the development of community-based interventions and policies to reduce health disparities. Her primary research project (NIH R01CA214805) is focused on the contemporary problems of institutional racism and residential racial segregation, and investigates whether these social structures contribute to the magnitude of racial and ethnic breast cancer survival disparities. The project uses a community engaged research framework that draws upon existing partnerships with community organizations in Milwaukee, WI, which often tops the list of America’s most segregated cities.
Dr. Beyer is a member of the MCW Cancer Center, the Comprehensive Injury Research Center, the Center for Patient Care and Outcomes Research, and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She holds an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, serves as the Associate Director for the PhD Program in Public and Community Health, and is an External Examiner at the Makerere University School of Public Health in Kampala, Uganda. Dr. Beyer is currently on the leadership team for the MCW Cancer Center Community Advisory Board and serves as the academic co-chair of the Prevention and Healthy Communities workgroup of the Board. Dr. Beyer mentors PhD, masters, and medical students, and teaches in the PhD program in public and community health. She is the Chair of the MCW Environmental Sustainability Committee, serves on the Global Health Council, and is currently the Vice-Chair for the Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers. She received the Emerging Scholar award from the HMGSG in 2016.
In her free time, Dr. Beyer spends time with her family, outdoors, enjoying music, and traveling.
Honors and Awards
Research Experience
- Community Medicine
- epidemiology
- Geographic Information Systems
- Geography
- Health Behavior
- Maps
- Participatory research
- Residence Characteristics
- Social Change
- Social Justice
- Spatial Behavior
- Violence
Methodologies and Techniques
- Cluster Analysis
- Epidemiologic Measurements
- Geographic Information Systems
- Models, Statistical
Research Interests
Researching increased time outdoors and reduced symptom burdens of breast cancer survivors
Breast Cancer, Race, and Place
Researching the effects breast cancer from women living in Milwaukee and it's surrounding counties
Publications
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(Michaels EK, Canchola AJ, Beyer KMM, Zhou Y, Shariff-Marco S, Gomez SL.) Cancer Causes Control. 2022 May;33(5):727-735 PMID: 35113296 PMCID: PMC9010391 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85124247775 02/04/2022
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(Anguzu R, Cassidy LD, Beyer KMM, Babikako HM, Walker RJ, Dickson-Gomez J.) BMC Health Serv Res. 2022 Mar 02;22(1):283 PMID: 35232438 PMCID: PMC8889632 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85125601498 03/03/2022
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(Shour AR, Anguzu R, Zhou Y, Beyer K.) Journal of Interpersonal Violence. February 2022;37(3-4):1384-1403 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85085698810 02/01/2022
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(Bikomeye JC, Beyer AM, Kwarteng JL, Beyer KMM.) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. February-2 2022;19(4) SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85124908145 02/01/2022
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(Namin S, Ko Y, Zhou Y, Beyer K.) Local Environment. 2022;27(3):272-286 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85125705524 01/01/2022
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Pharmacy deserts and patients with breast cancer receipt of influenza vaccines.
(Neuner JM, Zhou Y, Fergestrom N, Winn A, Pezzin L, Laud PW, Beyer K.) J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2021 Nov-Dec;61(6):e25-e31 PMID: 34340925 PMCID: PMC8783974 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85115339368 08/04/2021
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(Bemanian A, Cassidy LD, Fraser R, Laud PW, Saeian K, Beyer KMM.) Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 09 15;18(18) PMID: 34574655 PMCID: PMC8465489 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85114895873 09/29/2021
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Mortgage Lending Bias and Breast Cancer Survival Among Older Women in the United States.
(Beyer KMM, Zhou Y, Laud PW, McGinley EL, Yen TWF, Jankowski C, Rademacher N, Namin S, Kwarteng J, Beltrán Ponce S, Nattinger AB.) J Clin Oncol. 2021 09 01;39(25):2749-2757 PMID: 34129388 PMCID: PMC8407650 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85115440319 06/16/2021
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(Bikomeye JC, Namin S, Anyanwu C, Rublee CS, Ferschinger J, Leinbach K, Lindquist P, Hoppe A, Hoffman L, Hegarty J, Sperber D, Beyer KMM.) Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Aug 09;18(16) PMID: 34444169 PMCID: PMC8392137 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85112399799 08/28/2021
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Exposure to socioenvironmental stress as a predictor of physical and mental health.
(Halling M, Timmer-Murillo S, Hunt JC, Geier T, Beyer KM, Malecki KM, deRoon-Cassini TA.) J Health Psychol. 2021 Jun 11:13591053211024712 PMID: 34112016 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85107627230 06/12/2021
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(Bikomeye JC, Namin S, Anyanwu C, Rublee CS, Ferschinger J, Leinbach K, Lindquist P, Hoppe A, Hoffman L, Hegarty J, Sperber D, Beyer KMM.) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2 August 2021;18(16) SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85112399799 08/02/2021
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(Namin S, Zhou Y, Neuner J, Beyer K.) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 1 July 2021;18(13) SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85109203373 07/01/2021