A photo of Jessica A. Kahn.

Jessica A. Kahn, MD, MPH


  • Director and Rauh Chair, Division of Adolescent and Transition Medicine
  • Associate Chair, Academic Affairs and Career Development
  • Co-Director, Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training
  • Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

About

Biography

As an adolescent medicine physician, I specialize in primary care and consultative care for adolescents, specifically addressing common conditions including:

  • Sexual and reproductive health issues
  • Eating disorders
  • Mental health disorders
  • Chronic physical illnesses

In our clinical practice, we focus on reducing health disparities and improving equitable health outcomes for adolescents and young adults.

My research interests focus on generating the data needed to maximize the public health impact of technologies to prevent human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers. I want to help decrease disability and deaths due to cervical cancer and other conditions caused by HPV. This includes reducing racial and ethnic disparities in these diseases.

My current research program investigates primary and secondary prevention of HPV-related diseases using technologies such as Pap tests, HPV DNA testing and HPV vaccines. Our studies have:

  • Assessed the acceptability and accuracy of HPV DNA self- and clinician-led testing in adolescents
  • Evaluated the epidemiology and risk factors for HPV in adolescent patients
  • Examined the impact of HPV vaccination on sexual attitudes and behaviors
  • Gauged the epidemiological impact of HPV vaccine introduction in various communities
  • Characterized the attitudes about HPV vaccination among adolescents, parents and clinicians
  • Evaluated the immunogenicity and safety of HPV vaccines in HIV-positive young people

My colleagues and I hope to maximize the uptake of primary prevention strategies such as vaccines and characterize the impact of HPV vaccine introduction in communities. Ideally, my research efforts will guide public health efforts, vaccination guidelines, and cervical cancer screening programs.

I am honored to have received the Huffman-Capraro Young Investigator Award from the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. I also received the New Investigator Award from the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM).

I am currently the immediate past-president of SAHM and have served on national and international committees and advisory groups focused on vaccines and other adolescent health issues. My roles have included:

  • Membership on a leadership group for the U01-funded Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS interventions
  • Primary investigator for an industry-supported grant program through SAHM that funded 10 United States projects designed to improve adolescent vaccination
  • Facilitator of a global HPV vaccine community of practice funded by the World Health Organization (WHO)

The National Institutes of Health, WHO and foundations such as the American Cancer Society have provided grants for my research. To date, I have published more than 175 articles and am a contributing author for several medical textbooks.

In addition to my clinical and research work, I am a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent and Transition Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center within the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. I serve as the director of the Office of Academic Affairs and Career Development, as well as the co-director for the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST).

BArch: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 1986.

MD: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 1992.

MPH: Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 1999.

Residency: Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 1995; Chief Resident, Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 1996.

Fellowship: Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 1999.

Certification: American Board of Pediatrics, 1995; American Board of Pediatrics, subspecialist in Adolescent Medicine, 1999.

Interests

Primary care; sexual and reproductive health; eating disorders; mental health disorders

 

Services and Specialties

Adolescent Medicine

Interests

Interdisciplinary clinical and epidemiologic studies related to prevention of cervical cancer and other diseases caused by human papillomavirus (HPV)

Research Areas

Adolescent Medicine

Additional Languages

Spanish

Insurance Information

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Publications

Selected

Population-level impact and herd effects following the introduction of human papillomavirus vaccination programmes: updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Drolet, M; Bénard, É; Pérez, N; Brisson, M; HPV Vaccination Impact Study Group, . The Lancet. 2019; 394:497-509.

Selected

Evidence for cross-protection but not type-replacement over the 11 years after human papillomavirus vaccine introduction. Covert, C; Ding, L; Brown, D; Franco, EL; Bernstein, DI; Kahn, JA. Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. 2019; 15:1962-1969.

Selected

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Effectiveness and Herd Protection in Young Women. Spinner, C; Ding, L; Bernstein, DI; Brown, DR; Franco, EL; Covert, C; Kahn, JA. Pediatrics. 2019; 143.

Selected

Faculty Members' Self-Awareness, Leadership Confidence, and Leadership Skills Improve after an Evidence-Based Leadership Training Program. Hackworth, J; Steel, S; Cooksey, E; DePalma, M; Kahn, JA. Journal of Pediatrics. 2018; 199:4-6.e2.

Selected

Epidemiology of Any and Vaccine-Type Anogenital Human Papillomavirus Among 13-26-Year-Old Young Men After HPV Vaccine Introduction. Chandler, E; Ding, L; Gorbach, P; Franco, EL; Brown, DA; Widdice, LE; Bernstein, DI; Kahn, JA. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2018; 63:43-49.

Selected

HIV-Infected Young Men Demonstrate Appropriate Risk Perceptions and Beliefs about Safer Sexual Behaviors after Human Papillomavirus Vaccination. Kahn, JA; Lee, J; Belzer, M; Palefsky, JM; Consortium, AI D S M; HIV, AM T N. AIDS and Behavior. 2018; 22:1826-1834.

Selected

Non-Vaccine-Type Human Papillomavirus Prevalence After Vaccine Introduction: No Evidence for Type Replacement but Evidence for Cross-Protection. Saccucci, M; Franco, EL; Ding, L; Bernstein, DI; Brown, D; Kahn, JA. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2018; 45:260-265.

Selected
Selected

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine-Related Risk Perceptions Do Not Predict Sexual Initiation Among Young Women Over 30 Months Following Vaccination. Mullins, TL K; Rosenthal, SL; Zimet, GD; Ding, L; Morrow, C; Huang, B; Kahn, JA. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2018; 62:164-169.

Selected

Substantial Decline in Vaccine-Type Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Among Vaccinated Young Women During the First 8 Years After HPV Vaccine Introduction in a Community. Kahn, JA; Widdice, LE; Ding, L; Huang, B; Brown, DR; Franco, EL; Bernstein, DI. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2016; 63:1281-1287.

From the Blog

Jessica Kahn to Direct Adolescent and Transition Medicine
Community Health

Jessica Kahn to Direct Adolescent and Transition Medicine

Jessica A. Kahn, MD, MPH7/1/2019

Preventing Infection: An Update on the HPV Vaccine
Blog Research and DiscoveriesResearch and Discoveries

Preventing Infection: An Update on the HPV Vaccine

By Jessica Kahn, MD, MPH11/23/2016

5 Things Parents Should Know About HPV Vaccines
Blog Safety and Prevention

5 Things Parents Should Know About HPV Vaccines

By Jessica Kahn, MD, MPH2/18/2014

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4.6
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