Primary Research Focus
The Griese Lab is committed to utilizing innovative data analytics and community-based collaboration to better understand the unique social determinants of health facing our communities, specifically among our rural populations.
With a shifting health care climate driven by value, including decreased costs and increased quality, it is crucial to have innovative approaches to understanding and addressing the health of our populations, both those who touch health care and those who do not.
About the Griese Lab
Lab Projects and News

Transdisciplinary Center for Population Health Grant
Project Title: Exploring Trajectories of Social-Emotional Risk and Resilience for Rural Youth
Role: Project Primary Investigator
The purpose of this project is to examine the longitudinal impact of peer victimization on mental health outcomes among rural youth. The project collaborates with four rural school districts to identify rates of peer victimization and important sources of resilience that may assist to offset unwanted maladjustment for rural youth.

National Cancer Institute Grant
Title: A New Prospective U.S. Cohort set within the Health Care System Institutions to Study Cancer
Role: Co-Investigator
This project is an epidemiological, longitudinal cohort study examining the precursors to cancer leveraging health care data from various integrated health care systems.

Risk and Resilience Among Rural Youth
Youth in rural communities face various disparities including heightened rates of suicide and mental health outcomes. However, these youth are also situated within communities and educational systems that may provide unique protective factors. The goal of this project is to investigate longitudinal trajectories of peer victimization and associated mental health outcomes alongside potential unique, buffering protective factors present for youth in rural communities.

Food Deserts
Food deserts are an important public health issue facing our communities. Lack of access to quality food and/or transportation to access quality food can play a significant role in health outcomes, specifically among those already facing chronic conditions with recommendations to eat better and live a healthier lifestyle. This project examines locations of food deserts in our communities, linking important health outcomes and various other social determinants to begin understanding and intervening through policy to improve health outcomes.

Shifting Rural Health Care
The health care needs of rural communities continue to shift. Understanding and examining the unique community factors and economic variables impacting these shifting needs is crucial to providing the best care to our rural populations. This project will examine the various predictors impacting health care utilization including shifting populations, economic developments and closures, and various social determinants of health impacting our rural communities and patients.