Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD
Professor and Chair
Department of Biostatistics & Data Science

Physical address:
UHC, Suite 4.208
1005 Harborside Drive
Galveston, TX

Mailing address:
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, TX 77555-1150

Phone: (409) 772-5276
Fax: (409) 772-5272
Email: yokuo@utmb.edu

  • Dr. Kuo is the Don W. and Frances Powell Professor in Aging Research. Her research assesses patterns of care, treatment toxicities, and health outcomes using a variety of large data sets. She also examines health care delivery focused on hospitalist care and its impact, and the use and effectiveness of primary care provided by nurse practitioners in communities and nursing homes. In addition, she study effectiveness and safety of opioid and benzodiazepine substitutes, and the effect of annual wellness visits on dementia care. Her research is widely published in medical and health services research journals. Kuo’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. As a biostatistician, she is awarded as the principal investigator or serves as the director of Biostatistics and Analysis Core for several center grants funded by NIH and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. She has been a biostatistics mentor for more than 100 trainees including junior faculty, pre-doc and post-doc fellows. Her expertise is in the analyses for comparative effectiveness research, pharmacoepidemiology, and health outcome studies.

    Curriculum Vitae - CV

    • PhD, Biostatistics, Ohio State University, 1997
    • MAS, Applied Statistics, Ohio State University, 1994
    • MEd, Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, 1986
    • BS, Nursing, Taipei Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan, 1984

    • Comparative effectiveness research
    • Health services research
    • Cancer outcomes research
    • Health policy research
    • Pharmacoepidemiology
    • Developing/refining algorithms and prediction models
    • Department of Biostatistics & Data Science
    • Office of Biostatistics
    • Department of Internal Medicine, Geriatric Division
    • Sealy Center on Aging
    • School of Nursing
    1. Hsu CD, Yu X, Guo F, Adekanmbi V, Kuo YF, Westra J, Berenson AB. Cervical cancer screening utilization among kidney transplant recipients, 2001-2018. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2024 Jul 11. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-24-0225. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38990185.
    2. Raji MA, Shah R, Westra JR, Kuo YF. Central nervous system active medication use in Medicare enrollees receiving home health care: association with chronic pain and anxiety level. Pain. 2024 Jul 10. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003331. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38985202.
    3. Zaidan M, Puebla Neira D, Polychronopoulou E, Yong-Fang K, Sharma G. Healthcare utilization 9 months pre- and post- COVID-19 hospitalization among patients discharged alive. PLoS One. 2024 Jun 20;19(6):e0303509. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303509. PMID: 38900737; PMCID: PMC11189225.
    4. Westra J, Raji M, Baillargeon J, Aparasu RR, Kuo YF. Patterns of gabapentinoid use among long-term opioid users. Prev Med. 2024 Aug;185:108046. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2024.108046. Epub 2024 Jun 17. PMID: 38897356.
    5. Esani M, Faubion D, Chen L, Walker L, Freeman VS, Kuo YF. Association of Laboratory Science Education and Certification with Laboratory Errors: The Value of Education and Certification Study. J Allied Health. 2024 Summer;53(2):130-135. PMID: 38834339.
    6. Adekanmbi V, Guo F, Hsu CD, Gao D, Polychronopoulou E, Sokale I, Kuo YF, Berenson AB. Temporal Trends in Treatment and Outcomes of Endometrial Carcinoma in the United States, 2005-2020. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Mar 26;16(7):1282. doi: 10.3390/cancers16071282. PMID: 38610960; PMCID: PMC11011139.
    7. Porterfield L, Ram M, Kuo YF, Gaither ZM, O'Connell KP, Roy K, Bhardwaj N, Fingado E. Disparities in the Timeliness of Addressing Patient-Initiated Telephone Calls in a Primary Care Clinic: The Impact of Quality Improvement Interventions. Health Commun. 2024 Apr 3:1-9. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2024.2335056. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38567512.
    8. Zhang S, Chou LN, Swartz MD, Mehta HB, Goodwin JS, Kuo YF, Giordano SH, Tucker CA, Basen-Engquist KM, Lyons EJ, Downer B, Peterson SK, Cao T, Swartz MC. Association of cancer diagnosis with disability status among older survivors of colorectal cancer: a population-based retrospective cohort study. Front Oncol. 2024 Mar 15;14:1283252. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1283252. PMID: 38559557; PMCID: PMC10978737.
    9. Hussain MR, Abdelgadir O, Polychronopoulou E, Tsilidis KK, Alzweri L, Villasante-Tezanos A, Baillargeon J, Canfield S, Kuo YF, Lopez DS. Evaluating the impact of pre-diagnostic use of statins and testosterone replacement therapy on mortality outcomes in older men with hormone-related cancers: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare 2007-2015. Andrology. 2024 Feb 29. doi: 10.1111/andr.13616. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38421134.
    10. Nguyen AV, Soto JM, Digbeu BD, Nguyen CY, Wu E, Huang JH, Kuo YF. Factors associated with longer survival among older medicare patients after diagnosis of supratentorial primary brain malignancies: a retrospective cohort study. Neurol Res. 2024 May;46(5):379-390. doi: 10.1080/01616412.2024.2323335. Epub 2024 Feb 28. PMID: 38415699.
    11. Belalcazar LM, Kuo YF. Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes. N Engl J Med. 2024 Feb 22;390(8):766-767. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2400414. PMID: 38381683.
    12. Guo F, Adekanmbi V, Hsu CD, Berenson AB, Kuo YF, Shih YT. Cost-Effectiveness of Population-Based Multigene Testing for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Feb 5;7(2):e2356078. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.56078. PMID: 38353949; PMCID: PMC10867683.
    13. Adame MJ, Raji M, Shan Y, Zhang Y, Kuo YF, Tripple JW. Reply to "Diet may be the common factor linking aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease". J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2024 Feb;12(2):540-541. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2023.12.015. PMID: 38336405.
    14. Berenson AB, Panicker G, Unger ER, Rupp RE, Kuo YF. Immunogenicity of 2 or 3 Doses of 9vHPV Vaccine in U.S. Female Individuals 15 to 26 Years of Age. NEJM Evid. 2024 Feb;3(2):EVIDoa2300194. doi: 10.1056/EVIDoa2300194. Epub 2024 Jan 23. PMID: 38320488.
    15. Taha SA, Westra JR, Tacker DH, Raji MA, Kuo YF. Trends in co-prescribed opioids and benzodiazepines, non-prescribed opioids and benzodiazepines, and schedule-I drugs in the United States, 2013 to 2019. Prev Med Rep. 2023 Dec 29;38:102584. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102584. PMID: 38292029; PMCID: PMC10827545.
    16. Bhatt SP, Westra J, Kuo YF, Sharma G. Pulmonary Rehabilitation Utilization in Older Adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 2013-2019. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2024 May;21(5):740-747. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202307-601OC. PMID: 38241014; PMCID: PMC11109909.
    17. Jalil S, Elfeki MA, Kiefer MK, Kuo YF, Singal AK. Waitlist and posttransplant outcomes of pregnancy-related acute liver failure in the United States. Liver Transpl. 2024 Jun 1;30(6):573-581. doi: 10.1097/LVT.0000000000000319. Epub 2023 Dec 18. PMID: 38108820.
    18. Phatak UR, Raji M, Chen L, Baillargeon JG, Yong-Fang K. Opioid Prescribing Patterns After Colorectal Resections in the United States of America. Cureus. 2023 Nov 16;15(11):e48890. doi: 10.7759/cureus.48890. PMID: 38106740; PMCID: PMC10725122.
    19. Pritchard KT, Baillargeon J, Lee WC, Doulatram G, Raji MA, Kuo YF. Inequitable access to nonpharmacologic pain treatment providers among cancer-free U.S. adults. Prev Med. 2024 Jan;178:107809. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2023.107809. Epub 2023 Dec 9. PMID: 38072313; PMCID: PMC10872296.
    20. Gutiérrez M, Wong R, Kuo YF. Rural and urban differences in lifetime occupation and its influence on mortality among Mexican adults. Salud Publica Mex. 2023 Sep 15;65(5, sept-oct):513-522. doi: 10.21149/14757. PMID: 38060914; PMCID: PMC10751987.

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