Evan Thacker

Research Interests

The purpose of my research program at BYU is to involve undergraduate and graduate students in creating new knowledge through epidemiologic research that will benefit the health of older adults. Currently we focus primarily on projects exploring determinants of cognitive decline, cognitive impairment, and dementia.

We use data from epidemiologic cohort studies in the United States including the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) and the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study (REGARDS).

I serve as one of multiple principal investigators (MPI) of an NIH-funded multi-cohort project, "Effects of Vascular Risk Factors on Risk for Dementia and Stroke After Late-onset Epilepsy," which involves CHS, REGARDS, and four other US epidemiologic cohorts: ARIC, MESA, NOMAS, and WHICAP. (R01 AG 074335)

Undergraduate students who wish to begin working with us on epidemiologic research projects can best prepare by completing the following courses:
HLTH 345 -- Principles of Epidemiology
HLTH 440 -- Computer Applications in Epidemiology
HLTH 447 -- Introduction to Biostatistics

Teaching Interests

I currently teach the following courses for students majoring in Public Health:

HLTH 314 (undergraduate) -- Health, Disease, and Their Determinants, Part 1. The purpose of this course is for public health students in all emphasis areas to learn basic concepts about human health from a life course perspective, determinants of health including biological, behavioral, social, and environmental, major infectious diseases, and major chronic non-communicable diseases. In addition to studying a variety of topics as a class, students complete a series of research and writing assignments to go into more depth on selected topics that interest them.

HLTH 493 (undergraduate) -- Epidemiology Capstone. The purpose of this course is for epidemiology emphasis student teams to conduct an epidemiologic research project using quantitative data. Students complete a research proposal, systematic literature review, detailed statistical analysis plan, quantitative data analysis, and structured research report. All student projects involve real data and are potentially publishable.

HLTH 621 (graduate [MPH]) -- Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Public Health, Part 2. The purpose of this course is for MPH students to learn and use statistical software to manage and analyze quantitative data for public health projects. We also touch on mixed methods -- research that combines quantitative and qualitative methods.

Education

• PhD, Epidemiology , University of Washington School of Public Health (2011)
• SM (MS), Epidemiology , Harvard School of Public Health (2005)
• BS, Neuroscience , Brigham Young University (2003)

Honors and Awards

• Distinguished Service Award, BYU Gerontology Program (2023 - 2023)
• Outstanding Research Award, BYU College of Life Sciences (2020 - 2020)
• Student loan repayment renewal award, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (2015 - 2017)
• "Top Reviewer" recognition, American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2015 - 2015)
• Student loan repayment award, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (2012 - 2014)
• First place, Public Health Research Day faculty and staff poster competition, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health (2013 - 2013)
• Finalist, Jeremiah and Rose Stamler Research Award for New Investigators, American Heart Association (2012 - 2012)
• Predoctoral fellowship, University of Washington (2007 - 2011)

Memberships

• American Epilepsy Society (2024 - Present)
• American Heart Association, Stroke Council (2024 - Present)
• American Heart Association, Council on Epidemiology and Prevention (2007 - Present)
• American Heart Association, Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health (2014 - 2024)
• American Epilepsy Society (2019 - 2020)
• Gerontological Society of America (2018 - 2019)
• Society for Epidemiologic Research (2014 - 2015)

Courses Taught

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Publications

Ricardo X Noriega J Nañez E F Hartmann John D Beard Chantel D Sloan-Aagard Evan L Thacker Evan L Thacker Reena Karki Rachel Gabor Natalie Jean Blades R P Sawyer Cyrille N Kouambo Beckodro Quinn Preece Samuel Prince McKay M Smith S R Gillett S E Judd R E Kennedy J R Kizer D A Levine W M McClellan M Kurella Tamura F W Unverzagt V G Wadley M Cushman M V Springer R T Whitney W Ye E M Briceño A L Gross H J Aparicio A S Beiser J F Burke M SV Elkind R A Ferber B Giordani R F Gottesman R A Hayward V J Howard A S Kollipara S Koton R M Lazar W T Longstreth S T Pendlebury J B Sussman Evan L Thacker D A Levine S S Martin A W Aday N B Allen Z I Almarzooq C AM Anderson P Arora C L Avery C M Baker-Smith N Bansal A Z Beaton Y Commodore-Mensah M E Currie M SV Elkind W Fan G Generoso B B Gibbs D G Heard S Hiremath M C Johansen D S Kazi D Ko M H Leppert J W Magnani E D Michos M E Mussolino N I Parikh S M Perman M Rezk-Hanna G A Roth N S Shah M V Springer M P St-Onge Evan L Thacker S M Urbut H GC Van Spall J H Voeks S P Whelton N D Wong S S Wong K Yaffe L P Palaniappan H Choi Evan L Thacker M Liu K Strobino S Misiewicz T Rundek M SV Elkind J D Gutierrez L B Harrington A N Ehlert Evan L Thacker N S Jenny O Lopez M Cushman N C Olson A Fitzpatrick K J Mukamal M K Jensen K L Cole A K Boehme Evan L Thacker W T Longstreth Bruce Leonard Brown Shawn D Gale Dawson Ward Hedges J K Anderson M SV Elkind M C do Oliveira Otto J HY Wu Evan L Thacker H TM Lai R N Lemaitre N Padhye X Song I B King O Lopez D S Siscovick D Mozaffarian M L Harris E Bennion K R Magnusson V J Howard V G Wadley L A McClure D A Levine J J Manly J F Avila M M Glymour J J Wisco Evan L Thacker H Choi M SV Elkind W T Longstreth A K Boehme R Hafen E J Hoyt Evan L Thacker L B Harrington A N Ehlert Evan L Thacker N S Jenny O Lopez M Cushman A Fitzpatrick K J Mukamal M K Jensen H Choi Evan L Thacker W T Longstreth M SV Elkind A K Boehme

Presentations