Tomi Akinyemiju
Overview:
Area of Expertise: Epidemiology
Dr. Akinyemiju is a social and molecular cancer epidemiologist with expertise in epidemiologic methods, translational research, health disparities and global health. Her research interests focus on identifying the impact of social (such as access to healthcare) and biological factors (such as metabolic dysregulation), on cancer related risk, tumor aggressiveness and survival. She has a specific interest in understanding the causes of cancer disparities among women of African descent in the US and sub-Saharan Africa, given their significantly higher risk of aggressive cancer subtypes relative to other racial groups. To achieve these research aims, she utilizes data from population-based cancer registries, administrative claims, and existing cohort studies. Dr. Akinyemiju also leads several primary epidemiologic research studies. She is the PI of a case-control study of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and healthy women in Nigeria designed to elucidate the impact of metabolic dysregulation, highly prevalent due to the epidemiologic transition, on hormone-receptor negative breast cancer subtypes and associated epigenetic mechanisms. In addition, Dr. Akinyemiju leads an R01 study designed to characterize racial differences across multiple healthcare access dimensions among US ovarian cancer patients, and evaluate the impact of differential healthcare on quality of initial and supportive treatment, and quality of life. A parallel line of research focuses on identifying lifestyle intervention strategies to improve metabolic health among breast cancer patients as a mortality prevention strategy. Dr. Akinyemiju is also passionate about promoting inclusion and diversity in research, teaching and service, and serves as the Vice-Chair for Inclusion and Diversity at the Duke University Department of Population Health Sciences and as Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement at the Duke Cancer Institute.
Positions:
Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences
Population Health Sciences
School of Medicine
Associate Research Professor of Global Health
Duke Global Health Institute
Institutes and Provost's Academic Units
Instructor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Obstetrics and Gynecology
School of Medicine
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
Duke Cancer Institute
School of Medicine
Education:
Ph.D. 2012
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Grants:
Metabolic Syndrome and Epigenetic Markers of Breast Cancer in Nigerian Women
Administered By
Duke Global Health Institute
Awarded By
National Institutes of Health
Role
Principal Investigator
Start Date
End Date
Metabolic Syndrome and Epigenetic Markers of Breast Cancer in Nigerian Women
Administered By
Duke Global Health Institute
Awarded By
National Institutes of Health
Role
Principal Investigator
Start Date
End Date
Metabolic Syndrome and Epigenetic Markers of Breast Cancer in Nigerian Women
Administered By
Duke Global Health Institute
Awarded By
National Institutes of Health
Role
Principal Investigator
Start Date
End Date
Sociome: Integrating Social Determinants of Health and Multi-Omic Data to Predict Cancer Prognosis
Administered By
Population Health Sciences
Awarded By
Carnegie Mellon University
Role
Principal Investigator
Start Date
End Date
Publications:
Association between peripheral blood cytopenia and cancer mortality: A race-specific risk factor for cancer death.
BACKGROUND: Cytopenia is associated with cancer through mechanisms including clonal hematopoiesis and chronic inflammation. Cytopenia is more prevalent in Black people but its relationship with racial disparities in cancer mortality is unknown. METHODS: Cytopenia was defined in 19,028 Black and White participants recruited between 2003 and 2007 for the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke cohort, based on age-, sex-, and race-adjusted ranges for blood counts. Cancer death was ascertained from Social Security Death and National Death Indexes. Multivariable Cox models estimated the risk of cancer mortality associated with cytopenia, adjusting for demographics (model1), anemia and cancer risk factors (model2), and socioeconomics (model3). Racial differences in the cytopenia-cancer death association were tested by cross-product interaction terms. RESULTS: Cytopenia was identified in 383 (2%) participants, 250 (65%) White, and 113 (35%) Black people. With median follow-up 11.3 years, 1,224 (6.4%) cancer deaths occurred. Cytopenia was associated with increased risk of cancer mortality in model1 (HR = 1.57, 95%CI 1.15-2.24), model2 (HR = 1.67, 95%CI 1.22-2.30), and model3 (HR = 1.59, 95%CI 1.17-2.17). Participants with cytopenia had twofold increased cumulative incidence of cancer death (13% vs. 6.5%, p < 0.01). Race by cytopenia interaction terms showed higher HR for cancer death in Black compared to White participants: 2.01 versus 1.41 (pinteraction = 0.016, model1), 2.12 versus 1.45 (pinteraction = 0.009, model2), and 1.82 versus 1.44 (pinteraction = 0.04, model3). CONCLUSION: In this large, observational biracial prospective study, cytopenia was a risk factor for cancer death, with stronger association in Black than White people. Though race impacted the association of cytopenia with cancer mortality, cytopenia was not a mediator of the racial disparity in cancer mortality.
Authors
Adrianzen-Herrera, DA; Koh, I; Gangaraju, R; Akinyemiju, T; Zakai, NA
MLA Citation
Adrianzen-Herrera, Diego A., et al. “Association between peripheral blood cytopenia and cancer mortality: A race-specific risk factor for cancer death.” Cancer Med, Dec. 2022. Pubmed, doi:10.1002/cam4.5570.
URI
https://scholars.duke.edu/individual/pub1560598
PMID
36583503
Source
pubmed
Published In
Cancer Medicine
Published Date
DOI
10.1002/cam4.5570
Racial and ethnic inequities of palliative care use among advanced Non-Small cell lung cancer patients in the US.
BACKGROUND: With early intervention, palliative care (PC) can improve quality of life and increase survival among advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (aNCSLC) patients. However, PC is often offered late in the cancer treatment course and is underused. We characterized racial/ethnic inequities and the role of healthcare access in PC use among patients with aNSCLC. METHODS: We used data from the 2004-2016 National Cancer Database, including adults aged 18-90 years with aNSCLC (stage 3 or 4 at diagnosis; n = 803,618). Based on the NCCN guidelines, PC includes non-curative surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, pain management, or any combination of non-curative care. We examined PC use by sociodemographic and health care-level characteristics. To evaluate the independent associations of race/ethnicity and health care access characteristics with PC, we estimated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Covariate adjustment sets varied by exposure determined using directed acyclic graphs. RESULTS: Our population was 55% male and 77% non-Hispanic/Latinx (NH)-White, with a mean age of 68 years. Overall, 19% of patients with aNSCLC used PC. Compared to NH-White patients, NH-Black (aOR:0.91,95% CI:0.89-0.93) and Hispanic/Latinx (aOR:0.80,95% CI:0.77-0.83) patients were less likely to use PC, whereas Indigenous (AI/AN) (aOR:1.18,95% CI:1.06-1.31) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (aOR:2.08,95% CI:1.83-2.36) patients were more likely. Overall, compared to the privately-insured, uninsured (aOR:1.19,95% CI:1.11-1.28) and Medicaid-insured patients (aOR:1.19,95% CI:1.14-1.25) were more likely to use PC. CONCLUSION: PC is underutilized among NH-Black and Hispanic/Latinx patients with aNSCLC. Insurance type may play a role in PC use among patients with aNSCLC.
Authors
Islam, JY; Braithwaite, D; Zhang, D; Guo, Y; Tailor, TD; Akinyemiju, T
MLA Citation
Islam, Jessica Y., et al. “Racial and ethnic inequities of palliative care use among advanced Non-Small cell lung cancer patients in the US.” Cancer Med, Dec. 2022. Pubmed, doi:10.1002/cam4.5538.
URI
https://scholars.duke.edu/individual/pub1559931
PMID
36533434
Source
pubmed
Published In
Cancer Medicine
Published Date
DOI
10.1002/cam4.5538
Development and Psychometric Evaluation of Healthcare Access Measures among Women with Ovarian Cancer.
Several proposed theoretical frameworks have defined the complex nature of healthcare access (HCA) [...].
Authors
Akinyemiju, T; Joshi, A; Deveaux, A; Wilson, LE; Chen, D; Meernik, C; Bevel, M; Gathings, J; Fish, L; Barrett, N; Worthy, V; Boyce, X; Martin, K; Robinson, C; Pisu, M; Liang, M; Potosky, A; Huang, B; Ward, K; Schymura, MJ; Berchuck, A; Reeve, BB
MLA Citation
Akinyemiju, Tomi, et al. “Development and Psychometric Evaluation of Healthcare Access Measures among Women with Ovarian Cancer.” Cancers (Basel), vol. 14, no. 24, Dec. 2022. Pubmed, doi:10.3390/cancers14246266.
URI
https://scholars.duke.edu/individual/pub1560504
PMID
36551751
Source
pubmed
Published In
Cancers
Volume
14
Published Date
DOI
10.3390/cancers14246266
Race, Affordability and Utilization of Supportive Care in Ovarian Cancer Patients.
OBJECTIVE: Lack of access to supportive care (SC) among cancer patients have been well documented. However, the role of affordability in this disparity among ovarian cancer (OC) patients remain poorly understood. METHODS: Patients with OC between 2008 and 2015 were identified from the SEER-Medicare dataset. Racial disparities in utilization of SC medications within the six months of OC diagnosis among patients with Medicare Part D coverage was examined. Multivariable log-binomial regression models were used to examine the associations of race, affordability and SC medications after adjusting for clinical covariates among all patients and separately among patients with advanced-stage disease. RESULTS: The study cohort included 3697 patients: 86% non-Hispanic White (NHW), 6% non-Hispanic Black (NHB), and 8% Hispanic. In adjusted models, NHB and Hispanic patients were less likely to receive antidepressants compared to NHW patients (NHB: aOR 0.46; 95% CI 0.33-0.63 and Hispanic: aOR 0.79; 95% CI 0.63-0.99). This association persisted for NHB patients with advanced-stage disease (aOR 0.42; 95% CI 0.28-0.62). Patients dual enrolled in Medicaid were more likely to receive antidepressants (overall: aOR 1.34; 95% CI 1.17-1.53 and advanced-stage: aOR 1.29; 95% CI 1.10-1.52). However, patients residing in areas with higher vs. lower proportions of lower educated adults (overall: aOR 0.82; 95% CI 0.70-0.97 and advanced-stage: aOR 0.82; 95% CI 0.68-0.99) were less likely to receive antidepressants. CONCLUSION: Black OC patients and those living in lower educated areas were less likely to receive antidepressants as SC. Given the importance of post-primary treatment quality of life for cancer patients, interventions are needed to enhance equitable access to SC.
Authors
Anyanwu, MC; Ohamadike, O; Wilson, LE; Meernik, C; Huang, B; Pisu, M; Liang, M; Previs, RA; Joshi, A; Ward, KC; Tucker, T; Schymura, MJ; Berchuck, A; Akinyemiju, T
MLA Citation
Anyanwu, Mercy C., et al. “Race, Affordability and Utilization of Supportive Care in Ovarian Cancer Patients.” J Pain Symptom Manage, vol. 64, no. 6, Dec. 2022, pp. 537–45. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2022.08.021.
URI
https://scholars.duke.edu/individual/pub1535157
PMID
36058401
Source
pubmed
Published In
J Pain Symptom Manage
Volume
64
Published Date
Start Page
537
End Page
545
DOI
10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2022.08.021
Probe how race and gender intersect in author attribution.
Authors
Sereti, I; Akinyemiju, T; Gianella, S
MLA Citation
Sereti, Irini, et al. “Probe how race and gender intersect in author attribution.” Nature, vol. 611, no. 7934, Nov. 2022, p. 33. Epmc, doi:10.1038/d41586-022-03516-8.
URI
https://scholars.duke.edu/individual/pub1555201
PMID
36319760
Source
epmc
Published In
Nature
Volume
611
Published Date
Start Page
33
DOI
10.1038/d41586-022-03516-8
Research Areas:
Cancer
Epidemiology
Epigenetics
Global health
Health Disparities
Molecular Epidemiology
Social Determinants of Health
Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences
Contact:
215 Morris St Ste 210, PO Box 104023, Durham, NC 27701