A photo of Rhonda Szczesniak.

Rhonda D. Szczesniak, PhD

  • Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
  • UC Department of Environmental Health; UC Department of Mathematical Sciences

About

Biography

My research interests include predictive modeling, 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 biomarkers 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 Cystic Fibrosis Registry and the proteomics-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) and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

I have more than 12 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 Statistics in Medicine, Journal of Religion and Health, Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, Journal of Diabetes Research, Annals of the American Thoracic Society, and American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

PhD: Statistics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 2007.

MS: Statistics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 2005.

BS: Mathematics, Radford University, Radford, VA, 2003.

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

60: The real-world effectiveness of U.S. CF newborn screening. Rosenfeld, M; Ostrenga, J; Cromwell, E; Fink, A; Szczesniak, R; Magaret, A; Sanders, D. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20:s30-s30.

33: Hypertonic saline withdraw in CF patients while on ivacaftor: An analysis of the CF Foundation Patient Registry (CFFPR). Huang, B; Chen, C; McPhail, G; Hayes, D; Wang, Z; Clancy, J; Szczesniak, R. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20.

34: Predicting declines in lung function with the U.S. CF registry: Impact of initiating highly effective modulator therapy. Zhou, G; Wang, Z; Palipana, A; Andrinopoulou, E; Afonso, P; McPhail, G; Clancy, J; Gecili, E; Szczesniak, R. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20:s17-s18.

43: Monitoring and phenotyping rapid cystic fibrosis disease progression using community characteristics and environmental exposures. Palipana, A; Gecili, E; Brokamp, C; Rasnick, E; Vancil, A; Ehrlich, D; Pestian, T; Andrinopoulou, E; Afonso, P; Keogh, R; et al. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20.

57: Secular drift in predictive accuracy of pulmonary exacerbations: A registry study. Wang, Z; Zhou, G; Palipana, A; Gecili, E; Clancy, J; Szczesniak, R. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20.

567: Optimization of methods of interrogating large proteomic data sets for disease progression prediction in CF. Gecili, E; Cheng, Y; Siefert, M; Skala, E; Ziady, A; Szczesniak, R. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20.

167: Sweat metabolomics profiling of cystic fibrosis pulmonary exacerbations. Woodley, F; Gecili, E; Szczesniak, R; Shrestha, C; Nemastil, C; Kopp, B; Hayes, D. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20.

173: Separating wheat from chaff: Hypercubes to identify proteins predictive of rapid cystic fibrosis lung disease progression. Cheng, Y; Ziady, A; Siefert, M; Skala, E; Szczesniak, R; Gecili, E. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20:s85-s86.

578: Serum biomarkers identified by proteomics and measured by commercially available assays associated with lung function during clinically stable states. Szczesniak, R; Heltshe, S; Siefert, M; Gecili, E; Clancy, J; Sagel, S; Ziady, A. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. 2021; 20:s274-s276.

Elevated Anthropometric and Metabolic Indicators among Young Adult Offspring of Mothers with Pregestational Diabetes: Early Results from the Transgenerational Effect on Adult Morbidity Study (the TEAM Study). Bowers, K; Ehrlich, S; Dolan, LM; Gupta, R; Altaye, M; Ollberding, NJ; Szczesniak, R; Catalano, P; Smith, E; Khoury, JC. Journal of Diabetes Research. 2021; 2021.