About Meredith Ray

Meredith Ray, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Environmental Health. Dr. Ray received her doctoral degree at the University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health in 2014 and her MPH at the University of Georgia, College of Public Health in 2009. Her general research interests are in Bayesian methods, fMRI brain imaging analysis, bioinformatics (epigenetics) and semi-parametric modeling. Her primary research focuses on methods for identifying significant regions of brain activation using fMRI meta-data and methods for identifying associations of DNA methylation with outcomes of interest.

Education

• PhD, Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
• MPH,Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
• BS, Mathematics, Piedmont College, Demorest, Georgia

Research Interests

• Bayesian methods
• Semi-parametric modeling
• fMRI brain imaging data analysis
• Bioinformatics

Selected Publications

1. Ray M, Bowman D, Csontos R, Van Arsdale RB, Zhang H. 2020. A matrix-variate dirichlet process to model earthquake hypocentre temporal patterns. Statistical Modelling. 2020 Aug 25:1471082X20939767.
2. Grov C, Guo Y, Westmoreland DA, D'Angelo AB, Mirzayi C, Dearolf M, Carneiro P, Ray M, Pantalone D, Carrico AW, Patel VV. Factors associated with PrEP‐era HIV seroconversion in a 4‐year US national cohort of n= 6059 sexual and gender minority individuals who have sex with men, 2017− 2022. Journal of the International AIDS Society. 2024 Jun;27(6):e26312. 
3. Smeltzer MP, Akinbobola OA, Ray MA, Fehnel C, Saulsberry A, Dortch KR, Pimenta K, Matthews AT, Osarogiagbon RU. Prevalence of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and Programmed Death Ligand 1 Testing in a Population-Based Lung Cancer Surgical Resection Cohort from 2018 to 2022. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 2024 Jun 18:OF1-9. 
4. Guo Y, Westmoreland DA, D’Angelo A, Mirzayi C, Dearolf M, Carneiro PB, Ray M, Pantalone DW, Carrico AW, Patel VV, Golub SA. PrEP Discontinuation In A US National Cohort Of Sexual And Gender Minority Populations, 2017–22: Study examines PrEP discontinuation among sexual and gender minority populations. Health Affairs. 2024 Mar 1;43(3):443-51. 
5. Guo Y, Westmoreland DA, D’Angelo AB, Mirzayi C, Dearolf M, Ray M, Carneiro PB, Pantalone DW, Carrico AW, Patel VV, Golub SA. PrEP Uptake and Methamphetamine Use Patterns in a 4-Year US National Prospective Cohort Study of Sexual and Gender Minority People, 2017–2022. AIDS and Behavior. 2024 Mar 4:1-9. 
6. Liao W, Ray M, Fehnel C, Goss J, Shepherd CJ, Patel A, Qureshi T, Caro F, Roma J, Derrick A, Matthews AT. Program-Based Lung Cancer Care: A Prospective Observational Tumor Registry Linkage Study. JTO Clinical and Research Reports. 2024 Feb 1;5(2):100629. 
7. Ray MA, Akinbobola O, Fehnel C, Saulsberry A, Dortch K, Wolf B, Valaulikar G, Patel HD, Ng T, Robbins T, Smeltzer MP. Surgeon quality and patient survival after resection for non–small-cell lung cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2023 Jul 10;41(20):3616-28. 
8. Akinbobola O, Ray MA, Fehnel C, Saulsberry A, Dortch K, Smeltzer M, Faris NR, Osarogiagbon RU. Institution-level evolution of lung cancer resection quality with implementation of a lymph node specimen collection kit. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 2023 Mar 15. 
9. Osarogiagbon RU, Ray MA, Fehnel C, Akinbobola O, Saulsberry A, Dortch K, Faris NR, Matthews AT, Smeltzer MP, Spencer D, Golembeski C. Two interventions on pathologic nodal staging in a population-based lung cancer resection cohort. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2023 Sep 5. 
10. Smeltzer MP, Ray MA, Faris NR, Meadows-Taylor MB, Rugless F, Berryman C, Jackson B, Fehnel C, Pacheco A, McHugh L, Robbins ET. Prospective comparative effectiveness trial of multidisciplinary lung cancer care within a community-based health care system. JCO oncology practice. 2023 Jan;19(1):e15-24. 

Software Packages

• Example for website.R (Download file)