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- Research Centers and Programs
- Acquired Resistance to Therapy and Iron (ARTI) Center
- Behavioral Research and Treatment Center
- Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program
- Brain Tumor Research Program
- Cancer Neuroscience Program
- Cancer Prevention and Control Platform
- Cancer Prevention Research Training Program
- Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging (CABI)
- Center for Cancer Epigenetics
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- Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship
- Center for Inflammation and Cancer
- Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNAs
- Clinical Cancer Genetics Program
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- Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC)
- Dunn Research Foundation Center For Radiological Sciences
- EndTobacco Program
- Hanns A. Pielenz Clinical Research Center for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms
- Image Guided Cancer Therapy Research Program
- Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Program
- Integrative Medicine Program
- Joint Collaborative on Geospatial Analysis and Health
- Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research
- Lung Cancer Interception Program
- Medical Mycology Research Center
- Minimally Invasive New Technology in Oncologic Surgery
- Multidisciplinary Breast Reconstruction Research Program
- Oncofertility Program
- Pain Research Consortium
- Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research
- Patient Mosaic
- Platform for Innovative Microbiome and Translational Research (PRIME-TR)
- PREDICT
- Radiation Quality Assurance Laboratory
- Skull Base Tumor Program
- W. M. Keck Center for Innovative Cancer Therapies
A collaboration between The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) – School of Public Health and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
The environment and context where people live, work and play are increasingly recognized as key factors for overall health and wellness, including the risk of chronic disease. Within the last decade, emergent technological capacity in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geospatial data science has resulted in a growing research community developing and applying geospatial approaches in health research and practice.
The Joint Collaborative on Geospatial Analysis & Health (JCoGA&H), an initiative of the Cancer Prevention and Control Platform led by the Impact Evaluation Core, was created to conduct and deploy focused geospatial analysis to:
- Build consensus on shared strategic impact priorities in population health and health equity.
- Enhance access to spatial analysis essential to research, policy analysis and public health practice.
- Directly enable researchers, public health practitioners and community-based organizations in Greater Houston, across the State of Texas, and nationally to utilize spatial analysis to improve and inform their work in population health.
- Democratize geospatial data to generate synergy in geospatial data science to improve population health and address health disparities.
Core Functionalities
- Provide state-of-the-art geospatial data analysis and visualization expertise to support chronic disease prevention and control research and practice.
- Provide customized geospatial analysis to community-based organizations and build community capacity in geospatial technology.
- Establish the strategic and operational structure for a best-in-class strategic resource core in geospatial data analysis and visualization.
Connect with Us
For more information about how to work with the JCoGA&H, contact Geospatial@MDAnderson.org. We will respond within two business days to set up an initial informational session.
JCoGA&H Portfolio
Engagement of community members throughout the development of JCoGA&H represents a differentiating feature of this work, as it ensures that the solutions we provide capture and present information that is relevant and accessible to interested groups who seek to address chronic disease burden, non-medical drivers of health outcomes and related health challenges.
Working in partnership with communities with limited access to services and resources for health, the JCoGA&H leverages several key networks comprised of community-based organizations, clinical providers and public health practitioners. We interact intentionally with multiple collaborators across the region and state, as well as nationally, to advance understanding and application of the environment and context where people live, work and play as key factors in understanding and transforming overall health and wellness.
Noteworthy current or recent products, analyses and collaborations include:
- Texas Dashboard for CDC Places Data (Census Tract)
- Multi-level Analyses for Prioritized Place-based Community Investments
- Texas Melanoma Stage at Diagnosis and Geospatial Persistent Poverty
- County-Level Social Vulnerability and Breast, Cervical, and Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates in the US, 2018
- Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Factors Associated with Delayed Initiation of Treatment for Breast Cancer
- Lymphoma Clinical Trial Participant Mapping Against SDOH and Environmental Factors for Diagnosis
- Texas Health Equity Alliance for Breast Cancer
- Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Prevention Program Assessment in partnership with Texas Health Institute
For more information, please visit the JCoGA&H page on the UTHealth Houston - School of Public Health's website.
Our Team
Co-Directors
- Ryan Ramphul, Ph.D.
- Larkin Strong, Ph.D., M.P.H.
- Stephanie Nutt, M.A., M.P.A.
- Ruth Rechis, Ph.D.
Core Team
- Marcita Galindez, M.P.A.
- Travis Anthony, M.S.D.A.
The Joint Center on Geospatial Analysis & Health was founded through a grant from the UTHealth/MD Anderson Cancer Center Population Health Initiative Collaborative Projects Fund. Principal Investigators of the original study were Cici Bauer, Ph.D., Ryan Ramphul, Ph.D., Larkin Strong, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Michael T. Walsh Jr., M.H.A. The center transitioned to the Joint Collaborative on Geospatial Analysis & Health in March 2024.
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