Professor
Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
School of Medicine
Professor
Center for Community Health Integration
School of Medicine
Secondary Faculty
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
Member
Population and Cancer Prevention Program
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
School of Medicine
Dr. Koroukian’s research is informed by her early career in nursing and health policy focused on Ohio’s Medicaid program and the population that it serves. Much of her academic work bridges between public health and big data/informatics to uncover disparities in access and outcomes, with a focus on chronic illnesses, including cancer and epilepsy, especially among older adults. Her studies on cancer and aging highlight the importance of developing methods to identify adults with multimorbidity (MM), and underscore the importance of defining MM as not only co-occurrence of chronic conditions, but also of functional limitations and geriatric syndromes.
Central to her work are data originating from large databases, such as Medicare and Medicaid, tumor registries, clinical assessments, vital records, and more recently, electronic health records. In collaboration, Dr. Koroukian has developed comprehensive data infrastructures to evaluate complex problems in health services research, such as determining the effectiveness of Ohio’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection program, or assessing the care needs of older adults with cancer. Most recently, she was the senior author of a study that found that middle-to-low-income Ohioans who don’t qualify for Medicaid often and who purchase insurance through the Exchanges can’t afford adequate healthcare.
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
Secondary Analysis of Large Health Care Data Sets
Department Seminar
Integrated Thinking in Population and Quantitative Health
Use of Large Databases in Epidemiology and Health Services Research
Research Information
Research Interests
- Multimorbidity in older cancer patients
- Methodological issues in the use of large databases in health services research
- Medicare and Medicaid programs
- Health Disparities
- Cancer-related health services research
Awards and Honors
Clinical Quality Award
2011
Integrated Care Research, Ohio Department of Mental Health
Nominated for the John S. Diekhoff Graduate Student Mentoring Award
2011
Case Western Reserve University
National Institute on Aging
2005
Institute on Aging Research
Academic Career Development Award
National Cancer Institute (K07 CA96705)
Post Doctoral fellowship
National Institutes of Health (F32 CA84621)
Recipient, Training Grant
AHCPR (T32 HS00059)
The Dekker Foundation Outstanding Student Award
1999
Sloan Program International Prize
1987
Professional Memberships
State Health Improvement Plan, Ohio Department of Health, Advisor
Ohio Partners for Cancer Control, Advisor
NIH/NIA Comorbidity Scientific Interest Group
CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Panelist
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, Panelist
Association for State and Territorial Health Officials, Panelist
Cancer Research UK, Review Panel
Gerontological Society of America
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Publications
View all of Koroukian's publications
- Basu, J, Hanchate, A, Koroukian, S. Multiple Chronic Conditions and Disparities in 30-Day Hospital Readmissions Among Nonelderly Adults. J Ambul Care Manage2018; : . PubMed PMID:29771742 .
- Owusu, C, Schluchter, M, Koroukian, SM, Schmitz, KH, Berger, NA. Black-white disparity in physical performance among older women with newly diagnosed non-metastatic breast cancer: Exploring the role of inflammation and physical activity.J Geriatr Oncol 2018; : . PubMed PMID:29699938 .
- Ammori, JB, Navale, S, Schiltz, N, Koroukian, SM. Predictors of 30-day readmissions after gastrectomy for malignancy. J. Surg. Res. 2018; 224 : 176-184. PubMed PMID:29506837 .
- Ho, VP, Steinhagen, E, Angell, K, Navale, SM, Schiltz, NK, Reimer, AP, Madigan, EA, Koroukian, SM. Psychiatric disease in surgically treated colorectal cancer patients. J. Surg. Res. 2018; 223 : 8-15. PubMed PMID:29433889 .
- Augestad, KM, Keller, DS, Bakaki, PM, Rose, J, Koroukian, SM, Øresland, T, Delaney, CP. The impact of rectal cancer tumor height on recurrence rates and metastatic location: A competing risk analysis of a national database. Cancer Epidemiol 2018; 53 : 56-64. PubMed PMID:29414633 .
- Schiltz, NK, Warner, DF, Sun, J, Smyth, KA, Gravenstein, S, Stange, KC, Koroukian, SM. The Influence of Multimorbidity on Leading Causes of Death in Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment. J Aging Health2018; : 898264317751946. PubMed PMID:29347865 .
- Koroukian, SM, Schiltz, NK, Warner, DF, Klika, AK, Higuera-Rueda, CA, Barsoum, WK. Older Adults Undergoing Total Hip or Knee Arthroplasty: Chronicling Changes in Their Multimorbidity Profile in the Last Two Decades. J Arthroplasty 2018; 33 (4): 976-982. PubMed PMID:29223403 .
- Koroukian, SM, Sajatovic, M. Increased cancer-specific mortality in individuals developing mental disorders after cancer diagnosis: biomedical factors versus psychosocial support. Ann Transl Med2017; 5 (21): 432. PubMed PMID:29201884 PubMed Central PMC5690976.
- Koroukian, SM, Basu, J, Schiltz, NK, Navale, S, Bakaki, PM, Warner, DF, Dor, A, Given, CW, Stange, KC. Changes in Case-Mix and Health Outcomes of Medicare Fee-for-Service Beneficiaries and Managed Care Enrollees During the Years 1992-2011.Med Care 2018; 56 (1): 39-46. PubMed PMID:29176368 .
- Koroukian, SM, Schiltz, NK, Warner, DF, Sun, J, Stange, KC, Given, CW, Dor, A. Multimorbidity: constellations of conditions across subgroups of midlife and older individuals, and related Medicare expenditures. J Comorb 2017; 7 (1): 33-43. PubMed PMID:29090187PubMed Central PMC5556436.
Publishing impact
Metrics from Web of Science/publons and Scopus/SciVal:
- H-index: 26
- Total publications from CV: 130
- Total citations: 1,390
- Publications in top-tier journals: 37%
- Collaborative publishing – national/international: 95%/5%
Editorial roles:
- Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, Editorial Board
- Journal of Immigrant Health, Editorial Board
- Epidemiology and Health Services Research Section, Women’s Health Encyclopedia, Editor
- Health Services Research Section, Encyclopedia on Aging and Public Health, Editor
Education
PhD
Health Services Research
Case Western Reserve University
1999
MHA
Cornell University
1987
MS
Nursing, Obstetrical Care (Maitrise en Sciences Infirmieres)
Universite St. Joseph
1986
BS
Nursing (Licence en Soins Infirmieres)
Universite St. Joseph
1982
Postdoctoral Fellow
National Institutes of Health/ National Cancer Institute
Case Western Reserve University
2002
Additional Information
Professional Experience:
- 2010: Director, Population and Health Outcomes Research Core, Clinical & Translational Science Collaborative, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University
- 2008: Associate Professor, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University
- 2007-2008: Associate Editor, Health Services Research and Policy, J Immigrant and Minority Health
- 2004 – Present: Associate Member, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
- 2003 – 2008: Assistant Professor, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University
- 2001 – 2003: Senior Instructor, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University
- June 2000 – May 2002: National Cancer Institute (NCI) Postdoctoral Fellow
- March 2000 – 2002: Technical Advisor to the American University of Armenia (AUA)
- March 1995 through June 1995 — Consultant to the Office of Medicaid Policy, Ohio Department of Human Services, Columbus, Ohio
- 1989-1994 — Social Program Administrator, Office of Medicaid Policy, Ohio Department of Human Services, Columbus, Ohio
- 1987-1989 — Consultant, Corporate Health Strategies, Inc., Westport, Connecticut
Contributions to science:
- Methodology to evaluate older individuals’ multi-morbidity (MM) profile
- Investigating disparities in healthcare access and outcomes in people with chronic diseases, including cancer and epilepsy
- Developing comprehensive data infrastructures to evaluate complex problems in health services research
Active grants:
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center P30: Population Cancer Analytics Shared Source
- CDC: Targeting treatment gaps: Describing when, how quickly, and why persons with epilepsy are referred to specialty care
- NIH/NHLBI: Association of health care delivery and payment innovations with avoidable cardiovascular hospitalizations
- NIH/NINR: Identifying Electronic Phenotypes of Patients that Benefit from Air Medical Transfer
- Celgene / Cleveland Clinic: Effectiveness of DNA Hypomethylating agents and lenalidomide in elderly patients with myeloid malignancies in the United States
- NIH/NIDCR: Multilevel interventions to reduce caries disparities in primary care settings
- Cleveland Clinic Foundation: Investigating Orthopaedic and Cardiothoracic-related issues using data from the HealthCare Cost and Utilization Project
- Ohio Medicaid: MEDTAPP Hypertension Quality Improvement and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
Student and mentee totals, over Case Western Reserve University career:
- Master’s: 40
- PhD: 30
- Post-doc: 2
- A sampling of CWRU PhD graduates’ and Postdoctoral fellows’ current careers:
- Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic
- Bristol-Myers Squibb, Immunoscience Epidemiology Lead
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine