Wes Kinchen, M.P.H
James (Wes) Kinchen is a Research Specialist, Intermediate for Drs. Kara Wiseman and Phil Chow. Wes serves as the coordinator for Dr. Wiseman’s American Cancer Society funded Motivational Monitoring to Enhance Smoking Cessation (Mme) Study. He also works with Dr. Phil Chow on the Better Understanding Cancer Survivors (BUCS) research trial.
Wes completed his Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health. While at LSUHSC, Wes worked at the Louisiana Tumor Registry where he was a key team member in expanding the “Cancer One-Pager” Program, fulfilling requests for data from SEER*Stat, and various other annual publications and programs. He also had the honor to serve as the 2022-2023 This Is Public Health Ambassador for LSUHSC. He had the opportunity to work with the Lab of Dr. Fern Tsein, working with her team in exploring the genetic effects of Methotrexate on hearing loss in childhood cancer survivors and the social determinants at play with these survivors accessing care. He also completed an internship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, under the mentorship of Drs. Carmen Wilson and Kirsten Ness. There, he worked on an analysis of the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study Data examining the effects of neighborhood deprivation on health behaviors of survivors of childhood cancer.
Wes is also a 15+ year cancer survivor. His own experience with cancer is what has driven him to a career in public health and cancer research. He hopes that his first-hand perspective of what the lives of persons battling cancer are like will benefit the research he is involved in. Wes has an interest in cancer survivorship, health behaviors in persons with cancer (both during treatment and survivorship), prevention of chronic disease in persons with cancer (both during treatment and survivorship), and novel interventions to improve the lives of those who currently have cancer, as well as survivors of cancer. He has a particular interest in these areas in relation to children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer.
Research Specialist, Intermediate
Education:
M.P.H. – Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Epidemiology – 2023
B.A. – Southeastern Louisiana University, World Languages and Cultures – 2021
A.O.S. – Louisiana Culinary Institute, Advanced Baking and Pastry – 2013
Contact:
P.O. Box 800717, Charlottesville, VA 22908
Email: weskinchen@virginia.edu
560 Ray C. Hunt Dr., 2109G
Expertise:
- Cancer Epidemiology
- Cancer Survivorship Research
- Pediatric Cancer Survivorship
- Cancer Surveillance
- Social Determinants of Cancer Survivorship
Research Interests:
- Cancer Survivorship
- Health Behaviors in Persons with Cancer/Survivors
- Prevention of Chronic Disease in Persons with Cancer/Survivors
- Novel Interventions to Improve the Lives of Persons with Cancer/Survivors