Research
Four connected questions about who gets sick in America — and why.
My work uses national surveys, claims data, and machine learning to trace how social and economic conditions become biology — and how policy can interrupt that path.
New · Fall 2026
Substance Use, Clinical Outcomes, and Policy Evaluation
Department of Epidemiology · University of Delaware
Department of Epidemiology · University of Delaware
SCOPE Lab brings together faculty and students who study how substance use policies, medications, and health care delivery shape overdose, treatment, and health outcomes. We link administrative, clinical, and survey data with quasi-experimental designs to give policymakers and health systems evidence they can act on.
01
Social Determinants of Health
Health is made long before the clinic — in grocery aisles, housing markets, paychecks, and neighborhoods. My work measures how these everyday conditions accumulate into chronic disease and premature death, and evaluates which policies can interrupt that path. The goal: make social context a routine input in how we predict, prevent, and pay for care.
Selected publications · newest first
Sociodemographic and Health Vulnerabilities Associated with Disaster Exposure: the ECHO Cohort
BMC Public Health · 2025
From Policy to Practice: State Innovation Models & Social Determinants in ASCVD Hospitalizations
Am J Epidemiology · 2024
Neighborhood Walkability and Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Cancer Patients
JACC: CardioOncology · 2024
Food Environment Quality and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: a County-Level Analysis
J Gen Intern Med · 2023
Food Insecurity and Housing Instability as Determinants of Cardiovascular Health: a Systematic Review
Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis · 2022
02
Chronic Diseases & Health Disparities
Chronic diseases — heart, kidney, metabolic, cancer — rarely travel alone, and their burden falls unevenly across race, income, and geography. I study how these conditions cluster and progress across populations, and why some communities carry far more of the load. The goal: earlier detection of risk where it concentrates, and policies that close gaps rather than just track them.
Selected publications · newest first
State-Level Prevalence of Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome Stages, 2011–2023
JACC: Advances · 2025
Cardiovascular Risk Profile and Premature All-Cause & Cardiovascular Mortality in US Adults
BMC Cardiovasc Disord · 2024
COVID-19 and Cancer: Lessons From a Pooled Meta-Analysis
JCO Global Oncology · 2020
Psychiatric Disorders in the U.S. Transgender Population
Annals of Epidemiology · 2019
03
Substance Use & Addiction
Substance use is a health issue, not a moral one. As products, policies, and patterns of use change faster than the evidence, I study the health consequences of emerging substance use in young adults — and what helps at every stage, from early risk prediction to recovery. The goal: science that keeps pace with legalization and new products.
In the news · UDaily, Sep 2026
Cannabis users in focus: a closer look at medicinal vs. recreational use →
Selected publications · newest first
Demographic and Health Profiles of Medicinal, Recreational, and Dual Cannabis Use
J Med Surg Public Health · 2026
The Peer Engaged Empowered Recovery (PEER) Program for Substance-Dependent Jail Inmates
J Addictions Nursing · 2022
Building Risk Prediction Models for Daily Marijuana Use with Machine Learning
Drug Alcohol Depend · 2021
Marijuana Use Among Young Adults (18–44 Years) and Risk of Stroke
Stroke · 2020
Risk of Stroke With E-Cigarette and Combustible Cigarette Use in Young Adults
Am J Preventive Medicine · 2020
04
Disability & Healthcare Disparities
One in four American adults lives with a disability, yet health systems are rarely designed with them in mind. Motivated in part by my own family's experience, I study how disability intersects with prevention, screening, and chronic disease care. The goal: a public health agenda where people with disabilities are counted, studied, and served — not treated as a footnote.
Selected publications · newest first
Cervical Cancer Screening Disparities at the Intersection of Disability and Sexual Orientation
Sexuality and Disability · 2026
HPV Vaccination Uptake Across the Intersection of Disability and Sexual Orientation
Cancer Causes & Control · 2025
Cervical Cancer Screening by Disability Type Among U.S. Women (25–64 Years)
Am J Preventive Medicine · 2023
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Marijuana Use in Adults with Disabilities
Addictive Behaviors · 2023
Prevalence of E-cigarette Use Among Adults with Disabilities
Disability and Health Journal · 2021
© 2026 Tarang Parekh · Epidemiologist & Health Services Researcher