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Dr. Whitney P. Witt is an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the School of
Medicine and Public Health at University of Wisconsin, Madison. She holds a
Ph.D. in health services research and a M.P.H. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health and a B.A. in women's studies and law from Hampshire
College. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in
the Pediatric Health Services Research Program (AHRQ, T32 HS00063), directed by
Dr. Donald A. Goldmann, Children's Hospital Boston. Prior to her current
position, Dr. Witt served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at
Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the Acting Director of the
Section on Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Buehler Center on Aging.
OVERARCHING
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Witt is
broadly interested in the social, behavioral, and psychological factors that
contribute to healthy aging across the lifespan. Specifically her research
focuses on the impact of acute, chronic and terminal illness on the family
system and aims to determine how familial relationships influence the health
behaviors, health and mental health status, and healthcare services use of
individuals over time. Moreover, the goal of her research is to understand the
physiological, behavioral, and social pathways by which health perceptions
affect the health and healthcare use of family caregivers and individuals living
with illness. Dr. Witt is building a research program to examine caregiver
mind-body interactions and how such interactions may help explain health
disparities within and between families. Together, this information will help
in constructing effective interventions for these families to improve patient
health outcomes, reduce health disparities, and address family burden.
She is the
Principal Investigator of a five-year career development grant from the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to examine the impact of
childhood chronic illness on the family. As part of this work she will assess
and compare the level of psychological stress, both self-reported and
biologically measured, between parents of children with chronic illness and
parents of children without chronic illness. Moreover, this study will examine
the feasibility, performance, and comparability of stress biomarkers and
perceived psychological stress among parental caregivers and how such measures
are related to child health outcomes.
Dr. Witt’s
research has also been supported by the American Cancer Society and the Lynn
Sage Cancer Research Foundation.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
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Population Association of America, Member, Spring
2006-present
-
Buehler Center on Aging, Development Subcommittee, Summer
2005-Fall 2006
-
Cells to Society: The Center on Social Disparities and
Health at the Institute for Policy Research, Executive Board Member, Spring
2005-Fall 2006
-
Institute for Policy Research, Faculty Associate, Winter
2005-Fall 2006
-
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Member, Fall
2004-Fall 2006
-
The Buehler Center on Aging, Affiliate, Fall
2004-present
-
Society of Pediatric Psychology, Member, Spring
2002-2003
-
Ambulatory Pediatric Association, Member, Fall
2001-present
-
U.S. DHHS, Health Resources and Services Administration
Women’s Health Research Committee, Fall 1997-Fall 1998
-
U.S. DHHS, Public Health Service, Office on Women’s
Health Women and HIV/AIDS Cooperative Planning Group, Member, Fall 1997-Fall
1998
-
AcademyHealth, Member Spring 1997-present
-
Maryland Public Health Association, Member Spring
1997-1998
-
Expert Planning Committee on Medicaid Managed Care and
Women with HIV/AIDS, Member, Fall 1996
-
American Public Health Association, Member Fall
1996-present
-
AIDS Legislative Committee, Steering Committee Member
Fall 1995-Spring 1996
-
Deaf AIDS Project, Legal Representative, Fall 1994-Spring
1995
-
GMHC Women's Caucus, Member, Fall 1994-Spring 1995
HONORS AND
AWARDS
-
2006 World Parkinson Congress Junior
Scholar Award
-
Awarded the
HPM Faculty of Health Services Research Student Conference Presentation Award,
1998-1999 and 2000-2001
-
Awarded the
National Research Service Award (NRSA), from the Agency for Health Care Policy
and Research Training Fellowship Program
-
Legal
Department Representative for the Deaf AIDS Project Agency Forum (appointed),
Gay Men's Health Crisis, Inc.
-
Legal
Department Representative to testify before the Council of the City of New
York (appointed), Gay Men's Health Crisis, Inc.
PUBLICATIONS -
most relevant
Hung, S,
Pickard, S, Witt, WP, and Lambert, BL. Pain and Depression in Caregivers
Affected Their Perception of Pain in Stroke Patients. Journal of Clinical
Epidemiology. 2007 Sep; Volume 60, Issue 9, Pages 963-970.
Witt, WP,
Gibbs, J, Wang, J, Giobbie-Hurder, A, Edelman, P,
McCarthy, Jr., M, and Neumayer, L. The Impact of Inguinal Hernia Repair on
Family and Other Informal Caregivers. Archives of Surgery. 2006. Sep;
141(9):925-30.
Witt, WP,
Fortuna, L, Wu, E, Kahn, R, Winickoff, J, Pirraglia, PA, Ferris, TG, and
Kuhlthau, K. Children’s Use of Motor Vehicle Restraints:
Maternal Psychological Distress, Maternal Motor Vehicle Restraint Practices, and
Sociodemographics. Ambulatory Pediatrics.
2006. May-June 6(3): 145-151.
Witt, WP,
Kasper, JD, and Riley, AW. Mental Health Services Use Among School-Aged Children
with Disabilities: The Role of Socio-demographics, Functional Limitations,
Family Burdens and Care Coordination. Health Services Research. 2003;
38(6), Part 1: 1441-1466.
Witt, WP,
Riley, AW, Coiro, MJ. Childhood Functional Status, Family Stressors, and
Psychosocial Adjustment Among School-Aged Children with Disabilities in the U.S.
Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine. 2003; 157 (7): 687-695.
Wu, AW and
Witt, WP. The impact of HIV infection on health-related quality of life.
In: Badia, X and
Podzamczer, D, eds. Calidad de vida asociada a la salud e infeccion por el
VIH. Madrid, Spain; 2000.
Witt, WP,
Riley, AW, Kasper, JD. The Impact of Missing Linkage Data in Family Health
Research: Results from the 1994-1995 National Health Interview Survey Disability
Supplement. In: Altman, B.M., Barnartt, S.N., Hendershot, G. and Larson, S.,
eds. Research in Social Science and Disability, Using Survey Data to Study
Disability: Results from the National Health Interview Survey on Disability.
Elsevier Publishing, London, England; 2003; Volume 3, 73-86.
Lyons, J and
Witt, W. Understanding the impact of mental health research on policy in the
United States: Past, Present, and Future. In Choosing methods in mental
health research. Slade M, Priebe S, (eds), Hove: Routledge. 2006. 202-211.
TEACHING
EXPERIENCE
Current
Courses:
Principles of
Population Health Science
Course Director
University of Wisconsin, Madison
School of Medicine and Public Health
Department of Population Health Sciences
Secondary
Analysis of Large Survey Data Sets for Population Health Research
Co-Instructor
University of Wisconsin, Madison
School of Medicine and Public Health
Department of Population Health Sciences
Seminar on Grant
and Proposal Writing
Guest Lecturer
University of Wisconsin, Madison
School of Social Work
Past
Courses:
Introduction to
Health Services Research and Evaluation
Teacher's Assistant
Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health course
Finding and
Using Public Health Data,
Guest Lecturer
Boston University School of Public Health
Impact of
Chronic Illness on the Family: Theoretical Underpinnings
Independent Study Director
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Developmental
Disabilities and Chronic Illness Through the Life Cycle
Guest Lecturer
Center for Genetic Medicine, Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Advanced Methods
& Grant Writing in Health Outcomes Research
Guest Lecturer for presentation entitled “K-awards and Early Career awards and
Early Career Development: Development: Steps to Success”
Department of Pharmacy Practice & Center for Pharmacoeconomic Research,
College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago
Contact Information:
Whitney P. Witt, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Population Health Sciences
School of Medicine and Public Health
University of Wisconsin, Madison
610 Walnut Street, Office 503
Madison, WI 53726
Telephone: (608) 265-6290
Fax: (608) 263-2820
Email:
wwitt@wisc.edu
My Electronic Card
Updated 11/01/07 |