Expertise

Areas of Expertise:

  • Epidemiology
  • Cancer prevention and control
  • Health promotion and health behavior
  • Physician-patient communication
  • Vaccine hesitancy

HHS Signature Research Area(s):

  • Developmental Health and Wellness
  • Healthy Lifestyles and Vital Longevity

Department of Public Health Research Area(s):

  • Women’s Health
  • Prevention Science
  • Community-Engaged Research
  • Intervention and Implementation Science
  • Epidemiology and Biostatistics

The majority of Dr. Kasting’s work examines multilevel barriers to uptake of preventive health services. She explores this mainly through examining vaccine uptake and hesitancy (for both human papillomavirus [HPV] and COVID-19), and explores ways to increase hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening in primary care. Her vaccine-related research focuses on examining multilevel barriers to both HPV and COVID-19 vaccinations, including concerns about post-vaccination health behaviors (i.e., risk compensation), healthcare provider communication challenges, and broader systems-related issues surrounding healthcare provider recommendation. Her HCV-related work involves improving HCV screening among primary care patients. 

To date, my research has primarily been focused on infections in cancer, specifically, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine research and attitudinal determinants of vaccination decision-making. My formative research focused on examining several barriers to HPV vaccination, including concerns about the potential effects of HPV vaccination on a person’s subsequent sexual behaviors and on a woman’s decision to participate in cervical cancer screening. I have also examined healthcare provider communication challenges with regards to HPV vaccine recommendation. Furthermore, I have expanded my area of research to apply behavioral science and epidemiology to understanding the role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening and treatment in reversing trends in hepatocellular carcinoma. In the future, I plan to continue to expand my research in cancer prevention and control.


Keywords:

  • Women’s Health
  • Prevention Science
  • Community-engaged Research
  • Intervention and Implementation Science
  • Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Affiliations

IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Centers and Institutes, Indiana University School of Medicine

Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University

Center for HPV Research, Centers and Institutes, Indiana University School of Medicine

Assistant Professor, Department of Health and Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University
2019

Past Affiliations

Assistant Professor, Department of Health and Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University (past)

PhD Student, Epidemiology, Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Degrees
PhD, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Epidemiology, 2016
BS, Purdue University, Biology, 2010