The Meng-Han Tsai Lab

Meng-Han Tsai, PhD

 

 

Meng-Han Tsai, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Cancer Prevention, Control, & Population Health Program

 

Research Summary  Research Interests Publications Research Team

Contact Us

The Tsai Lab

Health Sciences Campus

1410 Laney Walker Blvd., HS-1705

(706) 721-7706

metsai@augusta.edu

Research Summary

Dr. Tsai is an Assistant Professor of Cancer Epidemiology with a strong record of scholarship in cancer disparities, particularly in colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention and outcomes. Her research focuses on trends in CRC incidence and mortality, predictors of CRC survival, and the influence of social determinants of health on prevention, treatment outcomes, and survival rates. She has extensive experience in multilevel data analysis using large-scale datasets, including cancer registries, national surveys, and Medicare claims as well as medical records. Dr. Tsai鈥檚 long-term research goal is to increase awareness of cancer risk and improve access to care鈥攅specially for populations disproportionately affected by CRC.

Research Interests

Primary Areas of Interest:

Cancer epidemiology, social determinants of health, health disparities

Cancer Diseases of Interest:

Colorectal cancer

Other Diseases of Interest:

Women cancers (e.g., Breast and Cervical cancers)

Research Methodologies:

Secondary data analysis, including multilevel modeling and population-based datasets

 

Research Methodologies:

Funded projects as PI:

  1.  Sex and racial differences in health care delivery after cancer diagnosis for early-onset colorectal cancer, ROAR SCORE, 福利姬 (NIH U54), Jun 25-May 26.
  2. Pathways to Prevention: Exploring Social Determinants of Health in Early Onset Colorectal Cancer, National Cancer Institute (R21CA301113), Apr 25-Mar 27.
  3. Pathways to Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis at an Underserved Community in Georgia, Georgia Cancer Center, 福利姬, Jul 25-Jun 26.
  4. The Study of Colorectal Cancer Risk Perceptions and Outcomes among Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Survivors, Georgia Cancer Center, 福利姬, Apr 24-Jun 26.

Funded projects as Co-I:

  1. Impacting Cancer Health Disparities and Facilitating Cancer Health Equity in Breast, Multiple Myeloma, and Prostate Cancers in Underserved and Minority Population (The cancer- Community Awareness Access Research & Education (c-CARE II), Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Aug 23-Feb 26
  2. Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention Program (ASAPP); named changed to Partners in Prevention in 2021 (Burke, Jones, and Richmond County), State of Georgia, Oct 23-Sep 26

Other projects:

  1. The use and discussion of genetic testing in the context of cancer prevention
  2. The impact of social determinants of health on cancer screening utilization and cancer outcomes

Selected Publications

  1. Meng-Han T, Elinita P, Marlo V, Jie C. Cancer Causes Control. 2025 Jul;36(7):641-651. doi: 10.1007/s10552-025-01970-z. Epub 2025 Feb 13. PubMed PMID: 39939485.
  2. Pollard E, Vernon M, Jones S, Idun A, Guha A, Islam KMM, Tsai MH. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2025 May 5;. doi: 10.1007/s40615-025-02460-3. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 40325315.
  3. Tsai MH, Shahsavari D, Chen J, Moazzami B, Sridhar S. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2025 Apr 26;. doi: 10.1007/s40615-025-02450-5. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 40287583.
  4. Coughlin SS, Tsai M, Cortes J, Bevel M, Vernon M. The Influence of Poverty and Rurality on Colorectal Cancer Survival by Race/Ethnicity: An Analysis of SEER Data with a Census Tract-Level Measure of Persistent Poverty. Current Oncology. 2025 April; 32(5):248.
  5. Pollard E, Lee M, Lee AW, Gerend MA, Tsai MH. Womens Health Rep (New Rochelle). 2025;6(1):178-189. doi: 10.1089/whr.2024.0170. eCollection 2025. PubMed PMID: 40130031; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11931109.
  6. Santellano B, Agrawal R, Duchesne G, Sharara M, Agrawal G, Balas EA, Tsai MH, Nayak A, Cortes JE. Front Public Health. 2024;12:1477028. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1477028. eCollection 2024. PubMed PMID: 39628804; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11613319.
  7. Tsai MH, Wu YH, Lai SJ, Yang YC. PLoS One. 2024;19(10):e0312154. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312154. eCollection 2024. PubMed PMID: 39418262; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11486357.
  8. Tsai MH, Lee M, Coughlin SS, Eberth JM, Rogers CR. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2024 Oct 1;17(10):481-489. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-24-0121. PubMed PMID: 38993044; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11484770.
  9. Bevel M, Sheth A, Tsai M, Parham A, Andrzejak SE, Jones SR, Moore JX. Examining Racial Disparities in the Association Between Food Swamps and Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Mortality. JCO Oncology Advances. 2024 September; 1.
  10. Tsai MH, Pollard E, Coughlin SS, Vernon M, Rao SSC. Prev Med Rep. 2024 Sep;45:102825. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102825. eCollection 2024 Sep. PubMed PMID: 39070707; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11283133.
 

Research Team

photo of Elinita Pollard

Elinita Pollard

  • Research Assistant
photo of Dongyu Zhang

Dongyu Zhang

  • Medical Student
photo of Parmida Jamshidi

Parmida Jamshidi

  • Medical Student
photo of Tumi Adaramola

Tumi Adaramola

  • Undergraduate Student

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