Uma Nair

Research

Health Equity and Disparities Research Lab

Eliminating cancer-related health disparities through research, education, and empowerment!

ABOUT US:
The Health Equity and Disparities Research Lab is committed to addressing cancer-related health disparities in medically underserved communities. Our work is guided and firmly rooted in health equity theories, principles of social determinants of health, and psychological and social factors underlying behavior change. The mission of our lab is to develop evidence-based and innovative behavioral interventions for cancer prevention and control through interdisciplinary collaborations, community-engagement, and rigorous scientific inquiry. By prioritizing the needs of communities where health disparities are most stark, we work towards building an inclusive and equitable society where everyone can attain their highest level of health.

JOIN OUR TEAM:
If you are interested in joining our lab, please email your CV and a cover letter outlining your research experience and interests to Dr. Uma Nair at nairu@usf.edu.

For all inquiries about our lab, please email Dr. Nair.

Uma Nair, PhD -- Lab Director/ Principal Investigator and Associate Professor

As a cancer control and prevention researcher with a primary focus on reducing health disparities, Dr. Nair’s research agenda broadly falls under two domains: (a) developing scalable interventions to address nicotine and tobacco dependence and (b) cancer screening interventions in underserved populations (i.e., LGBTQ+ adults). Dr. Nair is an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing. Her academic training in clinical psychology, public health, behavior change theories, and kinesiology forms a strong foundation for her independence and ongoing research agenda.

Lucia Anton Del Rio -- USF Student

Lucia is a second-year student from Barcelona (Spain) majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology and she is planning in following a career on medical research.

Title: Cancer Screenings in LGBTQ+ adults residing in Florida
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: Internal
Goal: Using a mixed-methods approach, the goal of this study is to understand barriers and facilitators to breast and cervical cancer screenings in lesbian and bisexual women, and transgender and gender non-conforming adults. Results from the study will provide strong pilot data to develop tailored interventions to increase uptake of cancer screenings in the community,

Title: Understanding attitudes and comfort within the Florida Nursing workforce when caring for LGBTQ+ adults
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding: Internal
Goal: using a cross-sectional survey, the goal of this study is to examine attitudes, curricula adequacy, and knowledge within the nursing workforce in Florida when caring for LGBTQ+ adults. Results will guide next steps in promoting efforts to increase training and competency in healthcare providers when working with LGBTQ+ populations.

Title: Developing and testing a conversational agent (chatbot) for individuals ambivalent about quitting smoking: A Proof-of-Concept study
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding: USF New Research Award
Goal: The goal of this study is to use choice-based experiments and conjoint analysis to develop a chatbot for individuals who are not actively intending to quit smoking. This proof-of-concept study will test feasibility and acceptability of the chatbot in a population that is often overlooked in smoking cessation research.
Title: Applying a control systems engineering approach to prevent postpartum smoking relapse (No Grant ID)
Agency: Eighteenth Mile Funding (University of Arizona)
Role: Co-I (Allen, PI)

Title: Understanding factors associated with cervical cancer screenings among sexual and gender diverse adults in Arizona- A multilevel framework (P30CA118100; Williams)
Agency: National Cancer Institute
Role: PI

Title: Testing an evidence-based smoking cessation Quitline in Qatar (NPRP 10-0219-170477)
Agency: Qatar National Research Fund (State of Qatar)
Role: Sub-contract PI

Title: Testing the Feasibility of a novel smoking cessation intervention by timing quit dates to menstrual phase in a quitline setting (R21DA046604)
Agency: National Institute of Drug Abuse
Role: PI
Nicotine dependence and treatment

Women and smoking:

Nair, U.S., Miller, E.S., Bell, M.B., Allen, S., Collins, B.N., & Allen, A. M. (2020). Feasibility and Acceptability of Timing a Quit Attempt to the Menstrual Cycle in a Telephone-based Smoking Cessation Intervention: Protocol of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communication. 18, PMCID: PMC7229486, PMID: 32435718.

Allen, A.M., Skobic, I., Bell. M. L., Allen, S., Collins, B. N., Nair, U.S. (2022). Feasibility and acceptability of testing a menstrual-cycle timed smoking cessation intervention for women of reproductive age (Project Phase): Results of a pilot randomized control trial. Addictive Behaviors, 14; 125; doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107153.

Allen, A., Peterson, A., Harrison, K., Nair, U.S., Allen, S. (2021). Effect of Exogenous Progesterone Administration on Smoking Topography. Addictive Behaviors, 112, PMCID: PMC7572886, PMID: 32763623

Physical activity and smoking

Collins, B.C., Baishya, M., Hoadley, A., Verkouw, E., Nair. U.S. (2022). Steps to quit smoking: Preliminary evidence of daily walking integrated with counseling to facilitate abstinence among smokers intending to quit. Poster presented at the Annual Conference for the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Baltimore, MD.

Nair, U.S., Collins, B. N., Patterson, F., & Rodriguez (2017). A telephone-based intervention to promote physical activity during smoking cessation: A randomized proof of concept study. Translational Behavioral Medicine. 7(2), 138-147.PMID: 27896797.

Nair, U.S., Collins, B.N., Jordon J., Funk, D (2016). Integrating health education and physical activity programming for cardiovascular health promotion among female inmates: A proof of concept study. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 48, 65-69. PMID: 27020419.

Conversational agents and smoking

Nair, U.S. Greene, K., Marhefka, S., Kosyluk, K. & Galea, J, G. (2023). Development of a Conversational agent (Chatbot) for Individuals Ambivalent about Quitting Smoking: Protocol for a Proof-of-Concept Study. JMIR Research Protocols, 12:e44041. doi: 10.2196/44041. PMID: 37000505.

Nair, U.S. (2024). Development of a Human-Centered Design Conversational Agent (Chatbot) For Smokers Ambivalent About Quitting Smoking Using Conjoint Analysis. Symposium on Application of Discrete Choice Experiments for Development of Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Interventions. Presented at Society for Research in Nicotine and Tobacco, March 2024, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Nair, U.S. Greene, K., Marhefka, S., Kosyluk, K., Galea, J (2024). Feasibility, and Acceptability of a Conversational Agent for Ambivalent Smokers: Results from a Proof-of-Concept Study. Oral presentation at the Annual conference for Society for Research in Nicotine and Tobacco, March 2024, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Quitlines and smoking cessation

Levantakou, V., Al Thani., Sofroniou A., Butt, H., Hakim, I.A., Thomson, C., Nair. U.S. (2022). Feasibility and acceptability of a telephone-based smoking cessation intervention for Qatari residents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (24), DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192416509

Al Thani M, Leventakou V, Sofroniou A, Eltayeb SM, Sadoun E, Hakim IA, Thomson C, Nair U.S. (2021) A Telephone-Based Tobacco Cessation Program in the State of Qatar: Protocol of a Feasibility Study. Internatioal Journal of Environment Research in Public Health;18(9): 4750. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094750. PMID: 33946848; PMCID: PMC8125450.

Nair, U.S., Rabe, B., Brady, B.R., Bell, M. L. (2020). Predictors of Client Retention in a State-based Tobacco Quitline. Journal of Smoking Cessation, 15 (2), https://doi.org/10.1017/jsc.2020.10.

Gordon J., Bell, M.B., Armin, J.S., Giacobbi, P.R., & Nair, U.S. (2020). A Telephone-based Guided Imagery Tobacco Cessation Intervention: Results of a Randomized Feasibility Trial. Translational Behavioral Medicine. PMID: 32542352.

LGBTQ+ health

Nair, U.S., Pinerio, B., Howard, A., Francis, I., & Kue, J. (2023). Digital health interventions for cancer screening in Sexual and Gender Diverse (SGD) populations: Scoping review protocol. Retrieved from osf.io/z9cp2

Beckie, T.M., Lengacher, C., Rodriguez, C., Pares-Avila, J., Turner D., Nair, U.S. (2022). Health Inequities in Sexual and Gender Diverse Populations: A call to Action for Nurses. Nursing Outlook, 70(4):651-663, doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2022.04.001.

Adsul, P., Nair, U.S., Tami-Maury, I., Madhivanan, P., Kano, M (2022). Shifting the Research Paradigm towards Cancer Equity – Incorporating Participatory Approaches and Implementation Science across the Research Agenda for Sexual and Gender Diverse Populations. Annals of LGBTQ Public and Population Health, 3 (1), DOI: 10.1891/LGBTQ-2021-0016.

Nair, U.S., Madhivanan, P., Adsul, P. (2022). Factors associated with cervical cancer screenings in lesbian, bisexual, and transgender men in Arizona. Oral presentation at the Annual Conference for the American Society of Preventive Oncology, Tucson, AZ.

Social determinants of Health

Nair, U.S., Kue, J, Athilingam, P., Rodriguez, C., & Menon, U. (2023). Application of the ConNECT Framework to Achieve Digital Health Equity. Nursing Outlook., 71 (4), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2023.101991
CONTACT INFORMATION

Uma Nair, PhD
Associate Professor
Email: nairu@usf.edu
Phone: 813-974-2578