Associate Professor
Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
School of Medicine
Director
Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods
School of Medicine
Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Member
Population and Cancer Prevention Program
Dr. Erika S. Trapl is an epidemiologist using statistical methodologies to investigate health behavior. Her research is focused on adolescent health risk behavior and multiple determinants of health and tobacco prevalence and prevention. She has extensive experience in community-based tobacco control research and evaluation, with specific interest in cigar, cigarillo and little cigar use among urban adolescents and young adults. The majority of her projects over the past 15 years have involved longitudinal data collection to inform interventions to promote health behavior change. Through this work she has made a substantial contribution to the literature in the areas of tobacco control, dietary behavior, and sexual behavior among adolescents.
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
Introduction to Health Behavior
Research Information
Research Interests
- Tobacco control and little cigars
- Built environment and obesity
- Food access and the food environment
- Adolescent sexual behavior
- Health behavior measurement and surveillance
- Survey-based data collection methods and technology
- Community-based Interventions
Professional Memberships
American Academy of Health Behavior
American Public Health Association
Healthy Cleveland, BreatheFree Committee Chair
Health Improvement Partnership-Cuyahoga
Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
Publications
- Freedman, DA, Bell, BA, Clark, J, Ngendahimana, D, Borawski, E, Trapl, E, Pike, S, Sehgal, AR. Small Improvements in an Urban Food Environment Resulted in No Changes in Diet Among Residents. J Community Health 2020; : . PubMed PMID:32170531 .
- Schlosser, AV, Joshi, K, Smith, S, Thornton, A, Bolen, SD, Trapl, ES. "The coupons and stuff just made it possible": economic constraints and patient experiences of a produce prescription program. Transl Behav Med 2019; 9 (5): 875-883. PubMed PMID:31570919 PubMed Central PMC6937548.
- Lim, R, Ishler, K, Trapl, E, Flocke, S. "Phantom smokers": Young cigarillo users who do not identify as smokers. Drug Alcohol Depend 2019; 204 : 107551. PubMed PMID:31541873 PubMed Central PMC6949010.
- Schlosser, AV, Smith, S, Joshi, K, Thornton, A, Trapl, ES, Bolen, S. "You Guys Really Care About Me…": a Qualitative Exploration of a Produce Prescription Program in Safety Net Clinics. J Gen Intern Med 2019; 34 (11): 2567-2574. PubMed PMID:31512182 PubMed Central PMC6848686.
- Moore, SM, Borawski, EA, Love, TE, Jones, S, Casey, T, McAleer, S, Thomas, C, Adegbite-Adeniyi, C, Uli, NK, Hardin, HK, Trapl, ES, Plow, M, Stevens, J, Truesdale, KP, Pratt, CA, Long, M, Nevar, A. Two Family Interventions to Reduce BMI in Low-Income Urban Youth: A Randomized Trial. Pediatrics 2019; 143 (6): . PubMed PMID:31126971 PubMed Central PMC6565337.
- Stein, CM, Ponsaran, R, Trapl, ES, Goldenberg, AJ. Correction: Experiences and perspectives on the return of secondary findings among genetic epidemiologists. Genet. Med. 2019; 21 (6): 1463. PubMed PMID:30792497 .
- Antognoli, E, Ishler, KJ, Trapl, E, Flocke, SA. A comparison of methods to measure daily cigarillo consumption among adolescents and young adults. Tob Control 2020; 29 (2): 153-158. PubMed PMID:30696781 .
- Stein, CM, Ponsaran, R, Trapl, ES, Goldenberg, AJ. Experiences and perspectives on the return of secondary findings among genetic epidemiologists. Genet. Med. 2019; 21 (7): 1541-1547. PubMed PMID:30467403 .
- Trapl, ES, Smith, S, Joshi, K, Osborne, A, Benko, M, Matos, AT, Bolen, S. Dietary Impact of Produce Prescriptions for Patients With Hypertension. Prev Chronic Dis 2018; 15 : E138. PubMed PMID:30447106 PubMed Central PMC6266424.
- Antognoli, E, Koopman Gonzalez, S, Trapl, E, Cavallo, D, Lavanty, B, Lim, R, Flocke, S. Cigarettes, Little Cigars, and Cigarillos: Initiation, Motivation, and Decision-Making. Nicotine Tob. Res. 2018; 20 (suppl_1): S5-S11. PubMed PMID:30125020 PubMed Central PMC6093420.
- Borawski, EA, Jones, SD, Yoder, LD, Taylor, T, Clint, BA, Goodwin, MA, Trapl, ES. We Run This City: Impact of a Community-School Fitness Program on Obesity, Health, and Fitness. Prev Chronic Dis2018; 15 : E52. PubMed PMID:29729132PubMed Central PMC5951154.
- Freedman, DA, Lee, E, Ohri-Vachaspati, P, Trapl, E, Borawski, E, Bess, K, Flocke, S. Predictors of Farmers' Market Shopping among People Receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits.Am J Community Psychol 2018; : . PubMed PMID:29659024 .
- Joshi, K, Smith, S, Bolen, SD, Osborne, A, Benko, M, Trapl, ES. Implementing a Produce Prescription Program for Hypertensive Patients in Safety Net Clinics. Health Promot Pract 2018; : 1524839917754090. PubMed PMID:29380633 .
- Heerman, WJ, JaKa, MM, Berge, JM, Trapl, ES, Sommer, EC, Samuels, LR, Jackson, N, Haapala, JL, Kunin-Batson, AS, Olson-Bullis, BA, Hardin, HK, Sherwood, NE, Barkin, SL. The dose of behavioral interventions to prevent and treat childhood obesity: a systematic review and meta-regression. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2017; 14 (1): 157. PubMed PMID:29141651 PubMed Central PMC5688650.
- Trapl, ES, Pike, SN, Borawski, E, Flocke, SA, Freedman, DA, Walsh, CC, Schneider, C, Yoder, L. Food Melt in Consumer Food Environments in Low-income Urban Neighborhoods. Am J Health Behav 2017; 41 (6): 710-718. PubMed PMID:29025499.
- Pike, SN, Trapl, ES, Clark, JK, Rouse, CD, Bell, BA, Sehgal, AR, To, T, Borawski, E, Freedman, DA. Examining the Food Retail Choice Context in Urban Food Deserts, Ohio, 2015. Prev Chronic Dis 2017; 14 : E90. PubMed PMID:28981402 PubMed Central PMC5645198.
- Antognoli, E, Koopman Gonzalez, S, Trapl, E, Cavallo, D, Lim, R, Lavanty, B, Flocke, S. The Social Context of Adolescent Co-Use of Cigarillos and Marijuana Blunts. Subst Use Misuse 2018; 53 (4): 654-661. PubMed PMID:28933976 PubMed Central PMC5820125.
- Flocke, SA, Ohri-Vachispati, P, Shon, EJ, Trapl, ES, Borawski, E, Matlack, K, Freedman, DA. Developing multidimensional measures of healthy food access among low-income adults in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Public Health Nutr2017; 20 (16): 2859-2868. PubMed PMID:28847323 .
- Flocke, SA, Hoffman, R, Eberth, JM, Park, H, Birkby, G, Trapl, E, Zeliadt, S. The Prevalence of Tobacco Use at Federally Qualified Health Centers in the United States, 2013. Prev Chronic Dis 2017; 14 : E29. PubMed PMID:28384096 PubMed Central PMC5386614.
- Freedman, DA, Flocke, S, Shon, EJ, Matlack, K, Trapl, E, Ohri-Vachaspati, P, Osborne, A, Borawski, E. Farmers' Market Use Patterns Among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients With High Access to Farmers' Markets. J Nutr Educ Behav2017; 49 (5): 397-404.e1. PubMed PMID:28274790 .
Publishing impact
Metrics from Web of Science/publons and Scopus/SciVal:
- H-index: 11
- Total publications: 59
- Total citations: 558
- Publications in top-tier journals: 33%
- Collaborative publishing national/international: 94%/6%
Editorial roles:
- American Journal of Health Behavior, editorial board
- Health Behavior and Policy Review, associate editor
- Health Behavior Research, editor of special issue
Education
PhD
Epidemiology
Case Western Reserve University
2007
MS
Epidemiology
Case Western Reserve University
2004
Bachelor of Arts
Sociology
Case Western Reserve University
2000
Additional Information
Contributions to science:
- Examine the measurement and use of cigars, cigarillos and little cigars among adolescents and cigar use among adults in Cuyahoga county
- Understanding and intervening upon multiple levels of influence associated with adolescent risk behaviors that contribute to chronic disease. This has involved the development of social environment measures as well as built environment measures, including a comprehensive, ground-truth city-wide food and tobacco retail database.
- Understanding the role of the social and physical environment on health and behavior, with a focus on using the environment as an intervention to influence behavior
Active grants:
- NIH/NCI 2P30: Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Grant
- CDC and Cuyahoga County Board of Health: Creating synergies around access and opportunities for healthy eating, physical activity and quality health care
- NIH/NCI and US FDA: Implied modified risk statements as predictors of flavored little cigar and cigarillo use
- Ohio Department of Health: Tobacco Disparities Demonstration: A multi-level approach to reducing tobacco use in low-income minority neighborhoods
- CDC: CWRU Prevention Research Network
- NIH NCI/FDA R01: Measurement of nicotine dependence among adolescent cigarillo users
- CDC and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District: Surveillance for school-based HIV/STI prevention
- Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research: Modeling the future of food in your neighborhood
- Cleveland Foundation: Cleveland-Cuyahoga Youth Risk Behavior Survey
- Summit County Public Health: Summit County Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Student and mentee totals, over Case Western Reserve University career:
- PhD: 6
- A sampling of CWRU PhD graduates and Post-docs’ current careers:
- Department of Nutrition Dominican University, Assistant Professor
- IBM