Amanda Janitz, PhD, MPH

Biography

Dr. Amanda Janitz has worked as an Assistant Professor in Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Hudson College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) since 2015. After graduating in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, she worked as a pediatric oncology nurse. In 2009, she completed a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology in the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health with a focus on childhood cancer. Upon graduation, she worked as a Research Nurse in pediatric oncology before returning to the University of Oklahoma in 2010 to complete her doctorate with a goal of contributing to cancer research in Oklahoma. Dr. Janitz is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Dr. Janitz is working on projects to understand health disparities and risk factors related to cancer, including analysis of biomarkers. She is working with the Strong Heart Study, which historically focused on cardiovascular disease, to understand metabolic risk factors for cancer among American Indian people. She has worked with tribes or tribal- serving organizations for over ten years. In partnership with Chickasaw Nation, Dr. Janitz is a co-Principal Investigator of an NIH-funded research project to evaluate exposure to both aeroallergens (e.g., pollens) and anthropogenic air pollution (e.g., ozone) and asthma exacerbations using mobile health devices and personal air samplers. Dr. Janitz is also a co-Project Director of the Cherokee Nation Health Analytics Core, a capacity building project of the Cherokee Nation Native American Research Center for Health focused on cancer. Dr. Janitz is also involved in the COVID-19 response in partnership with Cherokee Nation to improve testing and contact tracing and is working with the Oklahoma Shared Clinical Translational Resources Center on an NIH-funded study to evaluate and address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Email

Amanda-Janitz@ouhsc.edu

Additional Websites

• Publications
• OUHSC Profile

Additional Profiles:

• Department Webpage
• OUHSC Research Profile

Research Interests:

• Cancer
• Health disparities
• Environmental risk factors
• Metabolic risk factors
• Childhood

Grant Funding

Cherokee Nation, SCC and OSU Collaborative Partnership for Cancer Research
Project Director
1P20CA25325801, NIH/NCI, Doescher (PI)
Expand authentic tribal capacity to address cancer disparities through a coordinated program of jointly executed pilot research directly involving early-stage investigators and students, and through specific cancer research curriculum development and outreach activities.; Role: Co- 07/01/20 – 06/30/24

RAD-X UP NARCH Supplement: A Cherokee Nation Community-Driven Program for Testing and Contact Tracing (Cherokee PROTECT)
OUHSC PI
3S06GM127983-03S1, NIH/NIGMS, Khan (PI)
This Cherokee Nation Community-Driven Program for Testing and Contact Tracing (Cherokee PROTECT) unites tribal, academic, and community partners under the leadership of the Cherokee Nation (CN) to solve a dire need for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and culturally informed education in underserved and vulnerable rural populations
09/15/20 – 09/14/22

Financial Hardship Screening among Native American Cancer Patients (Administrative Supplement to the Stephenson Cancer Center - Cancer Center Support Grant)
P30CA225520-03S6, NIH/NCI, Mannel (PI)
Co-Investigator
This project will position the Stephenson Cancer Center (SCC) for system-wide, longitudinal research on implementation of financial hardship assessment, navigation, and mitigation for Native Americans as well as all patients served by SCC. Role: Co-Investigator
05/01/20-04/30/21

Barriers to accessing specialty care among American Indian children with cancer
Principal Investigator
134128-IRG-19-142-01-IRG, American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS-IRG) at the Stephenson Cancer Center
4/1/20 to 3/31/21

Building Partnerships to Explore Patterns of Care among American Indian Children with Cancer
Co-Principal Investigator

Oklahoma Shared Clinical Translational Resources, Community-Engaged Research Exploratory (CERE) Awards
09/09/19-06/30/20

Pesticide exposure and risk of childhood acute myeloid leukemia
Principal Investigator
Children’s Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
The pilot funds will be used to support the analysis of the relationship between organochlorine pesticide, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated biphenyl 153 exposure and childhood acute myeloid leukemia using newborn bloodspots from the Michigan BioTrust for Health.
09/01/18-08/31/20

Pesticide exposure and risk of childhood acute myeloid leukemia
Principal Investigator
Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Pilot Grant (no number)
The pilot funds will be used to support the analysis of the relationship between organochlorine pesticide, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polybrominated biphenyl 153 exposure and childhood acute myeloid leukemia using newborn bloodspots from the Michigan BioTrust for Health.
09/01/18-08/31/20

Pesticide exposure and risk of childhood acute myeloid leukemia
Scholar, Co-PIs: Stoner and Houchen
5R25MD011564-02, Addressing Health Disparities among Oklahoma Minority and Rural Communities through Clinical Research Education and Career Development (CRECD)
The overall goal of the CRECD is to facilitate the education of participants from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research to pursue clinical research, translational and/or patient-oriented research, or population health research particularly on diseases that disproportionately impact minority, rural, and health disparity populations. The goal of my career development project is to develop a research career in childhood cancer epidemiology, with a particular focus on environmental epidemiology and health disparities. 03/04/18-03/03/21

Cherokee Nation Native American Research Center for Health
Project Co-Director and Co-Investigator, PI: Khan
1S06GM123546-01, National Institutes of Health
Cherokee Nation Health Analytics Core (CNHAC) Capacity Building Project; Project Co-Directors: Kahn and Janitz
The Cherokee Native American Research Center for Health continues the productive research training and capacity-building partnership between the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) and the Cherokee Nation
Breast cancer patterns of care and outcomes by diabetes status among American Indians in the Cherokee Nation; Project Director: Martinez
Breast cancer treatment, follow up care, and survival among AI/AN women in the Cherokee Nation by diabetes status 09/15/17-07/31/21