
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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Historical Redlining and Breast Cancer Treatment and Survival among older Women in the US.
(Bikomeye JC, Zhou Y, McGinley EL, Canales B, Yen TWF, Tarima S, Ponce SB, Beyer KMM.) J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 Feb 16 PMID: 36794919 02/17/2023
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(Beltrán Ponce SE, Abunike SA, Bikomeye JC, Sieracki R, Niyonzima N, Mulamira P, Kibudde S, Ortiz de Choudens S, Siker M, Small C, Beyer KMM.) JCO Glob Oncol. 2023 Feb;9:e2200218 PMID: 36795990 PMCID: PMC10166435 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85148255029 02/17/2023
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(Hii M, Beyer K, Namin S, Malecki K, Rublee C.) WMJ. 2022 Jul;121(2):94-105 PMID: 35877032 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85135282540 07/26/2022
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(Plascak JJ, Beyer K, Xu X, Stroup AM, Jacob G, Llanos AAM.) JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Jul 01;5(7):e2220908 PMID: 35802373 PMCID: PMC9270695 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85133964112 07/09/2022
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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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(Balza JS, Bikomeye JC, Beyer KMM, Rublee C, Flynn KE.) Rev Environ Health. 2022 Apr 21 PMID: 35443103 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85129277255 04/21/2022
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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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Professional views on priorities for cervical cancer policy in Uganda: a qualitative study.
(Anumolu N, Lechleitner K, Patel N, Jankowksi C, Anguzu R, Kasasa S, Dickson-Gomez J, Banura C, Weber R, Beyer K.) Lancet Glob Health. 2022 Mar;10 Suppl 1:S16 PMID: 35362420 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85127417934 04/02/2022
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(Beyer KMM, Kasasa S, Anguzu R, Nambooze S, Amulen PM, Jankowski C, Nansereko B, Zhou Y, Lukande R, Wabinga H.) Lancet Glob Health. 2022 Mar;10 Suppl 1:S12 PMID: 35362416 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85127449842 04/02/2022
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(Bikomeye JC, Beyer AM, Kwarteng JL, Beyer KMM.) Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 19;19(4) PMID: 35206610 PMCID: PMC8872601 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85124908145 02/26/2022
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(Bikomeye JC, Balza JS, Kwarteng JL, Beyer AM, Beyer KMM.) PLoS One. 2022;17(11):e0276517 PMID: 36417344 PMCID: PMC9683573 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85142876878 11/24/2022
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(Beyer K, Kasasa S, Anguzu R, Lukande R, Nambooze S, Amulen PM, Zhou Y, Nansereko B, Jankowski C, Oyana T, Savino D, Feustel K, Wabinga H.) J Glob Health. 2022;12:04032 PMID: 35493778 PMCID: PMC9022722 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85129781672 05/03/2022