Staff & Leadership

Gayane Yenokyan, PhD

Gayane Yenokyan, PhD - Photo

Biography

Assistant Scientist
Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Johns Hopkins University

Research interests

I am an Associate Scientist in the Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Biostatistics Center (JHBC). The center provides the biostatistical and information science expertise to a wide range of researchers in the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHMI) and other organizations. As the center’s leader, I direct the day-to-day operations of the center, including interactions to develop the clinician-scientist collaborations, ensuring that the highest quality and timely biostatistical service is provided. I am responsible for interfacing with the entire Biostatistics faculty to optimize the use and development of optimal statistical design and execution of our mutual projects. At the center, I oversee the work of masters-level faculty and staff, and also mentor graduate students. 


Trained as an epidemiologist and biostatistician, I have been practicing statistical consulting for more than ten years. My research interests and methodological expertise include observational case-based designs, design and analysis of clinical trials and prospective observational studies (including randomization, matching, sampling and development of statistical analysis plans), and longitudinal modeling of patient-reported outcomes. Over the years, I have collaborated with public health researchers and clinical investigators in fields of neurology, cardiology, psychiatry, dermatology and many others. 

 

Methods of Expertise

In my early years as a public health researcher I have used epidemiologic methods to investigate the role of risk factors in disease. I used the case-crossover design to assess the role of precipitating factors in recurrent attacks of Familiar Mediterranean Fever (FMF). My early published work also includes the collaboration with the Sleep Heart Health Study (SHHS), a prospective multi-site cohort study designed to investigate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and other sleep-disordered breathing metrics as risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease. I served as the primary data analyst on two key publications that demonstrated the association OSA and incidence of heart disease and heart failure as well as incidence of ischemic stroke using time-to-event analysis. Both publications have been influential in the field as evidenced by more than 1,000 citations in the past ten years.

Recently, I have joined the JHU-Tufts Trial Innovation Center (TIC) as the lead biostatistician providing trial design and execution leadership for supporting NIH/NCATS-funded Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network (ERN) program. My experience in clinical trial design and statistical analysis includes design and implementation of covariate-adaptive randomization to ensure balance on important baseline covariates between treatment arms, design of pilot and feasibility trials, cluster- and individual-level randomized as well as crossover trial designs. I have served as a primary biostatistician and co-investigator in clinical trials testing the role of a behavioral intervention to promote better end-of-life decisions, psychotherapy for mood and behavior dysregulation, a nurse education program for prevention of thromboembolism, and a behavioral economic microenterprise intervention with integrated text messages for HIV prevention by reducing sexual risk behaviors, increasing employment and uptake of HIV preventive behaviors in economically-vulnerable African-American young adults. 

Services Available to CFAR Investigators

Design of observational studies, control of confounding, sample size calculation, matching, design and analysis of clinical trials, meta-analysis

Sample Papers

Observational Studies

  1. Gottlieb DJ, Yenokyan G, Newman AB, O’Connor GT, Punjabi NM, Quan SF, Redline S, Resnick HE, Tong EK, Diener-West M, Shahar E. A Prospective Study of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Heart Failure: The Sleep Heart Health Study. Circulation 2010;122(4):352-360. PMC3117288
  2. Redline S, Yenokyan G, Gottlieb DJ, Shahar E, O’Connor GT, Resnick HE, Diener-West M, Sanders MH, Wolf PA, Geraghty EM, Ali T, Lebowitz M, Punjabi NM. Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea and incident stroke: The Sleep Heart Health Study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2010;182(2):269-277. PMC2913239
  3. Yenokyan G, Armenian HK. Triggers for Attacks in Familial Mediterranean Fever: Application of the Case-Crossover Design. Am J Epidemiol 2012;175(10):1054-1061. PMID22234484
  4. Decker MR, Wood SN, Ndinda E, Yenokyan G, Sinclair J, Maksud N, Ross B, Omondi B, Ndirangu M. Sexual violence among adolescent girls and young women in Malawi: a cluster-randomized controlled implementation trial of empowerment self-defense training. BMC Public Health 2018;18(1):1341. PMC6278011
  5. Nersesian PV, Han HR, Yenokyan G, Blumenthal RS, Nolan MT, Hladek MD, Szanton SL. Loneliness in middle age and biomarkers of systemic inflammation: Findings from Midlife in the United States. Soc Sci Med 2018; 209:174-181. PMC6013269

 

Clinical Trials

  1. Mayo-Wilson LJ, Glass NE, Ssewamala FM, Linnemayr S, Coleman J, Timbo F, Johnson MW, Davoust M, Labrique A, Yenokyan G, Dodge B, Latkin C. Microenterprise intervention to reduce sexual risk behaviors and increase employment and HIV preventive practices in economically-vulnerable African-American young adults (EMERGE): protocol for a feasibility randomized clinical trial. Trials 2019;20(1):439. PMC6637550
  2. Haut ER, Aboagye JK, Shaffer DL, Wang J, Hobson DB, Yenokyan G, Sugar EA, Kraus PS, Farrow NE, Canner JK, Owodunni OP, Florecki KL, Webster KLW, Holzmueller CG, Pronovost PJ, Streiff MB, Lau BD. Effect of Real-Time Patient-Centered Education Bundle on Venous Thromboembolism Prevention in Hospitalized Patients. JAMA Netw Open 2018;(7):e184741. PMC6324387
  3. Hanley DF, Lane K, McBee N, Ziai W, Tuhrim S, Lees KR, Dawson J, Gandhi D, Ullman N, Mould WA, Mayo SW, Mendelow AD, Gregson B, Butcher K, Vespa P, Wright DW, Kase CS, Carhuapoma JR, Keyl PM, Diener-West M, Muschelli J, Betz JF, Thompson CB, Sugar EA, Yenokyan G, Janis S, John S, Harnof S, Lopez GA, Aldrich EF, Harrigan MR, Ansari S, Jallo J, Caron JL, LeDoux D, Adeoye O, Zuccarello M, Adams HP, Rosenblum M, Thompson RE, Awad IA, CLEAR III Investigators. Thrombolytic removal of intraventricular haemorrhage in treating severe stroke: Results of the CLEAR III trial, a randomised, controlled trial. Lancet 2017;389(10069):603-611. PMC6108339
  4. Sulmasy DP, Hughes MT, Yenokyan G, Kub J, Terry PB, Astrow AB, Johnson JA, Ho G, Nolan MT. The Trial of Ascertaining Individual Preferences for Loved Ones' Role in End-of-Life Decisions (TAILORED) Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Improve Surrogate Decision Making. J Pain Symptom Manage 2017;54(4):455-465. PMC5632104
  5. Uprety P, Chadwick EG, Rainwater-Lovett K, Ziemniak C, Luzuriaga K, Capparelli EV, Yenokyan G, Persaud D. Cell-Associated HIV-1 DNA and RNA Decay Dynamics during Early Combination Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV-1 Infected Infants. Clin Infect Dis 2015;61(12):1862-1870. PMC4657533

 

Links

JHBC web-site: http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-biostatistics-center/