From addressing health disparities in the Marshallese community in Washington state to analyzing trends in adolescent substance-related hospital visits, students in the University of Washington Biostatistics department’s Master of Science Capstone program have applied their knowledge and skills to help address a wide range of pressing public health challenges.
This year capstone projects spanned a range of issues: Evaluating community health initiatives, assessing hospital utilization trends, optimizing chronic disease management, and improving data workflows for substance use surveillance. A common thread among these diverse topics: leveraging statistical analysis to inform and enhance healthcare interventions.
Through collaborations with the Community Health Association of Spokane, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Valley View Health Center, and public health efforts in Snohomish County, these students have applied their analytical skills to real-world problems, generating insights that can drive meaningful change.
“It is incredibly satisfying and rewarding to see students’ growth over their time in the Capstone project, and to see that they are ready to make valuable contributions in public health,” saidKathleen Kerr, MS Capstone program director and professor of biostatistics.
Read on to explore how their work is making an impact.
2025 MS Capstone Projects
Evaluating the efficacy of CHAS community interventions on improving health outcomes in the Eastern Washington Marshallese population
- Sponsors: Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS)
- Clients: Brooke Lively and Morgan Thomas
- Team members: Max Bi, Cindy Elder, Gabby Lopez
Eastern Washington state is home to a large Marshallese population. The Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS) provides healthcare to patients across Eastern Washington and has implemented multiple programs to improve health among the Marshallese community and reduce health disparities between the Marshallese community and other groups. The team partnered with CHAS to evaluate the impact of these recent initiatives on the health outcomes of their patients. The team examined the effect of ‘Know Our Health’, a Marshallese community-based health education program, on A1c and blood pressure of patients with Type II diabetes and hypertension, respectively. Additionally, the team analyzed A1c and blood pressure trends among all Marshallese and Non-Hispanic White patients with Type II diabetes and hypertension. Finally, the Marshallese community has disproportionately low primary care rates and high ER visit rates, so the project team evaluated the efficacy of Marshallese-speaking Community Health Workers (CHW) on these rates. CHAS hired Marshallese CHWs with the goal of improving visitation rates for preventative care and thus lowering ER visit rates. The team reported improved metrics in some areas and opportunities for continued growth to their partners.
Trends of Mental Health Comorbidities among Youth Presenting for a Substance-Related Visit to US Children’s Hospitals, 2016-2021
- Sponsor: Seattle Children’s Hospital
- Clients: Dwight Barry and Alexis Ball
- Team members: Alejandro Hernandez, Lingfei “Ellen” Jiang , Ruyue “Jasmine” Wang, Shizhao “Joshua” Yang
Adolescents in the United States have experienced rising substance use and a concurrent mental health crisis. Team members investigated the impact of these comorbidities on pediatric hospital visits, analyzing trends from 2016 to 2021. Using data from the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS), the team employed generalized linear mixed models to assess the trajectory of mental health comorbidities among substance-related hospital visits and conducted interrupted time-series analysis to examine the intervention of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team’s findings revealed a significant and growing burden of mental health comorbidities on hospital utilization, with a sustained increase in emergency department, intensive care unit, and inpatient visits. Patients with mental health comorbidities were expected to have longer hospital stays compared to those without. These results underscore the urgent need for integrated mental health care and early intervention strategies for adolescents to mitigate the increasing demand on pediatric hospitals.
A Retrospective Cohort Study of Combined Pharmacist and Primary Care Interventions for Type 2 Diabetes Management
- Sponsor: Valley View Health Center
- Client: Amir Piranfar
- Team members: Miaolei Bao, Yutong Jin, Yuhuan Li, Yingxuan Wu
This retrospective cohort study investigated the effectiveness of pharmacist-led and primary care combined interventions in managing type 2 diabetes at Valley View Health Center. The study compared diabetes control outcomes between two patient groups: those receiving both pharmacist-led and primary care interventions versus those receiving primary care alone. The team used Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) to evaluate longitudinal changes in A1C, systolic blood pressure, and weight and conducted Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression to compare time to achieving A1C <8%. The team found that pharmacist-led and primary care combined interventions provided some benefits in A1C reduction but were not superior for patients with initially high A1C levels. The primary care only group achieved better A1C control over time, suggesting that pharmacist involvement may not always enhance diabetes management outcomes, but they do have positive effects on helping patients to control the diabetes, especially at an early stage.
Comprehensive Analysis of Substance Use: A Standardized R Code Repository for Multi-Year BRFSS Data in Snohomish County (2011–2022)
- Sponsor: Snohomish County Health Department
- Team members: Yihan Chen, Obehi Winnifred Ikpea, and Zihang Yu
The project provided a comprehensive analysis of substance use in Snohomish County from 2011 to 2022 by developing a standardized R code repository to process and analyze BRFSS data. It focused on key indicators—tobacco, marijuana, and e-cigarettes—using reproducible workflows for data cleaning, aggregation, robust statistical analyses, and data visualization techniques. The methodology encompassed descriptive statistics, regression modeling with advanced survey weighting, and interactive visual representations of complex substance use patterns. The study found statistically significant associations between substance use and various factors: demographic characteristics such as age, Hispanic status, geographic location, and sex; socio-demographic factors like education, insurance status, and income; and healthcare engagement variables, notably having a personal doctor and recent health checkups. While the analysis faced challenges such as small sample sizes and missing data, these preliminary findings, supported by comprehensive visualizations, provided valuable insights into substance use trends and disparities, informing targeted public health interventions.
Interested in sponsoring a project?
We welcome new client sponsors every year. Learn more about project sponsorship including criteria, application process, and the types of specialization our students can offer you.
Learn more about the MS Capstone Program offered by the UW Department of Biostatistics.
