Investigator Jiang Li, Ph.D., MPH

Jiang Li, Ph.D., MPH, is an Assistant Scientist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute.

She studies disease prevention, chronic disease management, and psychosocial factors in obesity, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and smoking with a specific emphasis on underserved populations.

Dr. Li collaborated on multiple National Cancer Institute, Center for Disease Control, and National Institutes of Health-funded studies on racial/ethnic health disparities and the implementation and influence of tobacco control, cancer prevention, and weight loss programs.

She is the Principal Investigator for the Multilevel Study of Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines Implementation (MUST), funded by the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program to assess Sutter-wide implementation of lung cancer screening and smoking cessation interventions.

Dr. Li’s other projects include studies determining the underlying causes of cardiovascular disease disparities among Asian and Pacific Islander residents in Hawaii and Northern California, and; a study to assess the development, functionality, and user experience with Sutter’s online cost estimation tool—a means to integrate insurance reimbursement rates to provide patients with more accurate out-of-pocket cost estimates.

Prior to joining Sutter Health, Dr. Li worked as a postdoctoral fellow with the Los Angeles Area Health Services Research Training Program at the Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, a joint program of the Fielding School of Public Health and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Dr. Li graduated with a Ph.D. and MPH in health behavior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received a Bachelor of Medicine in preventive medicine from Fudan University and worked for the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Shanghai, China.

Sutter Health Research Enterprise
Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute
795 El Camino Real, Ames Building
Palo Alto, CA, 94301-2302
(650) 853-2336
lij14@sutterhealth.org

Primary Research Interests

Publications

Developing a health care intermediary-delivered intervention to promote an online health information resource: results from formative research

Describes the development of a healthcare intermediary-delivered intervention to promote an existing state-based health information website.

Knowledge and perceptions of overweight employees about lifestyle-related health benefit changes.

Benefit plan changes that require employees who are obese or smoke to pay more for health care may motivate some, but not all, individuals to change their behaviors.

Healthcare access and utilization among Korean Americans: the mediating role of English use and proficiency.

In a study of Korean Americans, health care utilization was primarily driven by having health insurance and a usual source of care.

Promoting men's health within barbershops: barber/owner survey results and implications for intervention planning.

Comorbid chronic diseases and their associations with quality of life among gynecological cancer survivors.

Among gynecological cancer survivors, 3/4 reported at least one comorbid chronic disease. Highest prevalence was in endometrial cancer survivors.

Gene-environment correlation: difficulties and a natural experiment-based strategy.

Natural experiments could protect against potential bias introduced by gene-environment correlations.

Statin use in older adults for primary cardiovascular disease prevention across a spectrum of cardiovascular risk

Statin treatment patterns and incident ASCVD among older patients for primary prevention across the spectrum of ASCVD risk.

Machine learning and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk prediction in a multi-ethnic population.

Machine learning models achieved comparable/improved performance compared to the pooled cohort equations & allowed risk discrimination in a larger group of pts.

How, when, and why individuals with stage IV cancer seen in an outpatient setting are referred to palliative care: a mixed methods study.

We found high rates of referral for palliative care in stage 4 ovarian cancer. Referrals vary in timing, reason, usefulness to pts, families, & clinical teams.

Heterogeneity of treatment and outcomes among Asians with coronary artery disease in the United States.

Disaggregation of Asian Americans with CAD into individual racial/ethnic subgroups reveals significant variability in treatment patterns and outcomes.

Smoking-cessation interventions after lung cancer screening guideline change.

After implementation of new lung cancer screening guidelines, smoking-cessation interventions increased. This could have substantial public health benefits.

Does SLE widen or narrow race/ethnic disparities in the risk of five co-morbid conditions? Evidence from a community-based outpatient care system.

SLE status does not independently confer substantial interaction by race/ethnicity toward the risk of pneumonia, other infections, CVD, neoplasms.

Assessment of accuracy and usability of a fee estimator for ambulatory care in an integrated health care delivery network.

QI study: Fee estimator was easy to use and provided accurate results.

New recommendation and coverage of low-dose computed tomography for lung cancer screening: uptake has increased but is still low.

Lung CA screening may be more effective if they focus on accurate documentation of smoking hx and target former smokers who don't see their own PCP.