Julia Cen Chen-Sankey, Ph.D., M.P.P.
Division of Intramural Research
Email: Julia.Chen-Sankey@nih.gov
Phone: 301-827-0343
Dr. Julia Chen-Sankey is a post-doctoral fellow at the Intramural Program of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). Her research broadly involves investigating the influence of flavored tobacco use and tobacco marketing among youth and young adults as well as cigar use disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations. She is especially interested in studying the intersection of tobacco use, tobacco policy, and health equity. Her first-authored papers and commentaries were featured in prominent media outlets, including CNN and Baltimore Sun.
Dr. Chen-Sankey is a recipient of the NCI/FDA Pathway to Independence Award in Tobacco Regulatory Science (K99/R00). For this award, she will examine the influence of tobacco marketing features on young adults’ neurocognitive reactions and intentions of using tobacco. Dr. Chen-Sankey is also a recipient of the NIMHD William G. Coleman Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Innovation Award, for which she investigated the social, physical, and contextual environmental risk factors of cigar and blunt smoking among Black young adults. Dr. Chen-Sankey also received the NIH OBSSR Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors Early Stage Investigator Award, NIH OITE Summer Research Mentor Award, Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco (SRNT) Health Disparities Travel Scholarship, and SRNT Early Investigator Travel Award.
Dr. Chen-Sankey received her Master of Public Policy degree in 2012 from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Ph.D. degree in Behavioral and Community Health in 2018 from the University of Maryland School of Public Health. She previously worked as a research analyst at the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she produced multiple health disparities reports informing state and local policymaking for improving minority health. She was also a freelance Mandarin interpreter assisting immigrants and refugees navigating social and healthcare systems in the U.S.
Selected Publications
- Chen-Sankey, JC., Mead, EL., Le, D., Rose, S., Quisenberry, A., Delnevo, C., Choi, K. (2020). Cigar Smoking Patterns and Disparities by Product Type and Race/Ethnicity—A Nationally Representative Study Among U.S. Adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 60(1):87−94.
- Chen-Sankey, JC., Unger, J., Bansal-Travers, M., Niederdeppe, J., Bernat E., Choi, K. (2019). The Association Between Marketing Exposure and Subsequent E-cigarette Experimentation Among Youth and Young Adult Never Tobacco Users. Pediatrics.144(5). pii: e20191119.
- Chen-Sankey, JC., Choi, K. Kirchner T., Butler J., Feldman R., Mead, EL. (2019). Flavored Cigar Smoking Among African American Young Adult Dual Users: An Ecological Momentary Assessment. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 196: 79–85.
- Chen, JC., Green KM., Arria, AM., Borzekowski, DLG. (2018). Prospective Predictors of Flavored E-cigarette Use: A One-Year Longitudinal Study of Young Adults in the U.S. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 191: 279-285.
