Public Health Assistant Professor Victoria Hart

Assistant Professor

Victoria Hart, PhD

Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

About Victoria Hart

I discovered public health after earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering and working for 9 years as an aerospace engineer. As an engineer, I became interested in statistical process control and was intrigued by the application of those methods to health research. I left engineering and went back to school for an MS in Biostatistics and a PhD in Epidemiology. I’ve found my professional home in public health because it allows me to apply the quantitative skills that I enjoy to a field that is necessary and rewarding. The COVID pandemic has only emphasized the need for evidence-based health research.

Before joining the full-time MPH faculty, I worked as a cancer epidemiologist and biostatistician in the Office of Health Promotion Research at UVM, and then as an independent consultant in research design and analysis. Consulting gave me the opportunity to work on a wide variety of public health projects, including youth substance use surveys, institutional nutrition surveys, childhood asthma research, and nursing workforce analysis.

I started teaching part-time in the UVM MPH program in 2014 and discovered a passion for teaching quantitative courses online. I joined the full-time faculty in 2019 and have made it my goal to provide accessible, engaging, and evidence-based online public health education to inspire the next generation of researchers and practitioners.

Courses

  • PH302 Epidemiology I
  • PH303 Biostatistics I
  • PH307 Epidemiology II
  • PH309 Biostatistics II

Articles & Publications

  1. Palumbo MV, McLaughlin V, Mcintosh B, Ramber B. Practial nurses’ health and safety in nursing homes. J Health Hum Serv Adm. 2011 Winter;34(3):271-301. PMID: 22359843
  2. Reeves KW, McLaughlin V, Fredman L, Ensrud K, Cauley JA. Components of Metabolic Syndrome and Risk of Breast Cancer by Prognostic Features in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Cohort. Cancer Causes Control. 2012 Aug;23(8):1241-51.PMCID: 3576860
  3. Sprague BL, McLaughlin V, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA, Trentham-Dietz A. Disease-free survival by treatment after a DCIS diagnosis in a population-based cohort study. 2013 Aug;14(1):145-54. PMCID: 3915783
  4. McLaughlin V, Reeves KW, Bertone-Johnson E. Fatty acid consumption and the risk of osteoporotic fracture. Nutr Rev. 2013 Sep;7(9):600-10. PMID: 24032364
  5. McLaughlin V, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA, Sprague BL. Lifestyle factors and the risk of a second breast cancer after ductal carcinoma in situ. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2014 Mar; 23(3):450-60. PMCID: 3951673
  6. Berkman AM, Trentham-Dietz A, Dittus K, Hart V, Vatovec CM, King JG, James TA, Lakoski SG, Sprague BL. Health behavior change following a diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ: An opportunity to improve health outcomes. Prev Med. 2015 Nov;80:53-9. PMCID: 4592364
  7. Hart V, Reeves KW, Sturgeon SR, Reich NG, Sievert LL, Kerlikowske K, Ma L, Shepherd J, Tice JA, Mahmoudzadeh AP, Malkov S, Sprague BL. The effect of change in body mass index on volumetric measures of mammographic density. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2015 Nov;24(11):1724-30. PMCID: 4633314
  8. Khadanga S, Lakoski SG, Hart V, Sprague BL, Ba Y, Hampton JM, Higgins ST, Ades PA, Newcomb PA, Trentham-Dietz A. Partnership Status and Socioeconomic Factors in Relation to Health Behavior Changes after a Diagnosis of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2016 Jan;25(1):76-82. PMCID: 4713311
  9. Hart V, Sprague BL, Lakoski SG, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA, Gangnon RE, Trentham-Dietz A. Trends in Health-Related Quality of Life After a Diagnosis of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ. J Clin Oncol. 2016 Apr 20;34(12):1323-9. PMCID: 4872345
  10. Palumbo MV, Sandoval M, Hart V, Drill C. Teaching Electronic Health Record Communication Skills. Comput Inform Nurs. 2016 Jun;34(6):254-8. PMID: 27058674
  11. Hart V, Sturgeon SR, Reich N, Sievert LL, Crawford SL, Gold EB, Avis NE, Reeves KW. Menopausal vasomotor symptoms and incident breast cancer risk in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Cancer Causes Control. 2016 Nov;27(11):1333-40. PCMID: 5353975
  12. Palumbo MV, Rambur B, Hart V. Is health care payment reform impacting nurses’ work settings, roles, and education preparation? J Prof Nurs. 2017 Nov-Dec;33(6):400-404. PMID: 29157566
  13. Veal CT, Hart V, Lakoski SG, Hampton JM, Gangnon RE, Newcomb PA, Higgins ST, Trentham-Dietz A, Sprague BL. Health-related behaviors and mortality outcomes in women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ. J Cancer Surviv. 2017 Jun;11(3):320-28. PCMID: 5419859
  14. Sandoval MB, Palumbo MV, Hart V. Electronic Health Record’s Effects on the Outpatient Office Visit and Clinical Education. J Innov Health Inform. 2017 Jan 24;23(4);151. PMID: 28346132
  15. Hart V, Trentham-Dietz A, Berkman A, Fujii M, Veal C, Hampton J, Gangnon RE, Newcomb PA, Gilchrist SC, Sprague BL. The association between post-diagnosis health behaviors and long-term quality of life in survivors of ductal carcinoma in situ: a population-based longitudinal cohort study. Qual Life Res. 2018 May;27(5):1237-47. PMCID: 6168944
  16. Sandoval MB,2, King JG, Hart V, Repp AB. Increasing Advance Care Planning in Primary Care Practices: a Multi-site Quality Improvement Initiative. J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Jun;34(6):809-11. PMID: 30604129
  17. Atherly A, Van Den Broek-Altenburg E, Hart V, Gleason K, Carney J. Consumer Reported Care Deferrals Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Role and Potential of Telemedicine: Cross-Sectional Analysis. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020 Sep 14;6(3):e21607. PMID: 32833661; PMCID: PMC7498465.
  18. van den Broek-Altenburg EM, Atherly AJ, Diehl SA, Gleason KM, Hart V, MacLean CD, Barkhuff DA, Levine MA, Carney JK. Jobs, Housing, and Mask Wearing: Cross-Sectional Study of Risk Factors for COVID-19. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 Jan 11;7(1):e24320. PMID: 33315576; PMCID: PMC7800904.
  19. Finley C, Dugan MJ, Carney JK, Davis WS, Delaney TV, Hart V, Holmes BW, Stein GS, Katrick R, Morehouse H, Cole B, Bradford LS, Boardman MB, Considine H, Kaplan NC, Plumpton M, Schadler L, Smith JJ, McAllister K. A Peer-Based Strategy to Overcome HPV Vaccination Inequities in Rural Communities: A Physical Distancing-Compliant Approach. Crit Rev Eukaryot Gene Expr. 2021;31(1):61-69. PMID: 33639056; PMCID: PMC8128079.

Community Engagement

Through my experience in academia and consulting, I have worked broadly with public health community organizations to develop research hypotheses, develop informative metrics, gather research data, and perform statistical analysis. I currently support the Northern New England Clinical & Translational Research Rural Health Core in developing research projects with rural health providers to benefit their patient population and provide them with the skills and resources to conduct further research independently. I am also the Chair of the Larner College of Medicine (LCOM) Service Corps, which coordinates and communicates volunteer service opportunities within LCOM and the local community.

Accolades

  • 2021 – University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA®) New England Region Exemplary Teaching Award.
  • 2016 – UVM College of Medicine, Trainee Award for Outstanding Research Publication, Postdoctoral Fellow
  • 2015 – American Society of Preventive Oncology, Top Abstract Travel Award

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