Rhonda D. Szczesniak, PhD

Member, Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
UC Department of Environmental Health; UC Department of Mathematical Sciences

rhonda.szczesniak@cchmc.org

About

Biography

My research interests include predictive modeling, data management / coordination and medical monitoring, lung diseases and disorders, biomarker discovery and longitudinal data analysis. In my research lab, the goals of my team include designing and analyzing medical monitoring investigations as well as incorporating geo- and bio-markers for customized, enhanced prediction / early detection of swift disease progression.

Some of the most notable discoveries made at my lab include identifying pediatric phenotypes of rapid lung disease progression using the U.S. Cystic Fibrosis Registry and the geo- and bio-marker-informed prediction modeling of rapid lung disease progression.

I was led to my research interests by witnessing how certain things change over time and determining why things transform. This is why I pursued statistics in my graduate studies at the University of Kentucky.

As my career progressed, I received a recognition for biostatistical contributions to cystic fibrosis research in the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis in April 2019. I have also held reviewer positions on grant award panels, and I hold a membership in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry / Comparative Effectiveness Research Committee. My research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the LAM Foundation.

I have more than 15 years of experience in the biostatistics field, and I first started working at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 2007. Lastly, my research work has been published in a multitude of journals, including Statistical Methods in Medical Research, Statistics in Medicine, Journal of Religion and Health, Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, Journal of Diabetes Research, Annals of the American Thoracic Society, Chest, and American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Interests

Cystic fibrosis; blood pressure; glycemic control

Services and Specialties

Pulmonary Medicine

Interests

Functional data analysis; longitudinal data analysis; medical monitoring; prediction

Research Areas

Biostatistics and Epidemiology

Publications

EPS6.09 Association of within-individual variability of FEV1 and BMI with mortality in women with cystic fibrosis: preliminary results from the UK Registry. Palma, M; Szczesniak, R; Taylor-Robinson, D; Carr, SB; Muniz-Terrera, G; Wood, AM; Barrett, JK. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2024; 23:s52-s53.

Predicting weight gain in patients with cystic fibrosis on triple combination modulator. Stewart, KL; Szczesniak, R; Liou, TG. Pediatric Pulmonology. 2024; 59:1724-1730.

WS02.04 Elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor improved lung function and reduced exacerbations among individuals with rare, FDA-approved, CFTR variants in the United States. Cromwell, E; Ostrenga, J; Sanders, DB; Morgan, W; Castellani, C; Szczesniak, R; Burgel, P. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2024; 23:s4.

Evaluating precision medicine tools in cystic fibrosis for racial and ethnic fairness. Colegate, SP; Palipana, A; Gecili, E; Szczesniak, RD; Brokamp, C. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. 2024; 8:e94.

The impact of switching to race-neutral reference equations on FEV1 percent predicted among people with cystic fibrosis. Rosenfeld, M; Cromwell, EA; Schechter, MS; Ren, C; Flume, PA; Szczesniak, RD; Morgan, WJ; Jain, R. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2024; 23:443-449.

Airway inflammation accelerates pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibrosis. Liou, TG; Argel, N; Asfour, F; Brown, PS; Chatfield, BA; Cox, DR; Daines, CL; Durham, D; Francis, JA; Glover, B; Clancy, JP; Elborn, JS; Olivier, KN; Adler, FR. iScience. 2024; 27:108835.

Early Identification of Candidates for Epilepsy Surgery: A Multicenter, Machine Learning, Prospective Validation Study. Wissel, BD; Greiner, HM; Glauser, TA; Pestian, JP; Ficker, DM; Cavitt, JL; Estofan, L; Holland-Bouley, KD; Mangano, FT; Szczesniak, RD; Dexheimer, JW. Neurology. 2024; 102:e208048.

Bayesian two-stage modeling of longitudinal and time-to-event data with an integrated fractional Brownian motion covariance structure. Palipana, A; Song, S; Gupta, N; Szczesniak, R. Biometrics. 2024; 80.

Social-environmental phenotypes of rapid cystic fibrosis lung disease progression in adolescents and young adults living in the United States. Palipana, AK; Vancil, A; Gecili, E; Rasnick, E; Ehrlich, D; Pestian, T; Andrinopoulou, ER; Afonso, PM; Keogh, RH; Ni, Y; Dexheimer, JW; Clancy, JP; Ryan, P; Brokamp, C; Szczesniak, RD. Environmental Advances. 2023; 14.

Bayesian causal inference for observational studies with missingness in covariates and outcomes. Zang, H; Kim, HJ; Huang, B; Szczesniak, R. Biometrics. 2023; 79:3624-3636.