Project Investigator Biography

Kathryn Coe, Ph.D. Director of Shared Service for Special Populations, Arizona Cancer Center Assistant Professor, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health 1515 North Campbell Avenue P.O. Box 245024 Tucson, AZ 85724-5024 phone: (520) 626-6965 fax: (520) 626-0197 email: kcoe@azcc.arizona.edu

Dr. Kathryn Coe is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona College of Public Health and Director of the Special Populations Shared Service and American Indian Oncology Programs of the Arizona Cancer Center. Dr. Coe has over 30 years of experience conducting health research among African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and American Indians using a community-based participatory methodology. She has served as Principal Investigator for numerous research grants and is currently PI of the Southwest American Indian Cancer Network project housed at the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona.

Her research experience has included a study of the impact of cancer-associated shame on compliance with medical recommendations among members of the Pascua Yaqui tribe; workplace experiences of long-term Fond du Lac Chippewa cancer survivors; and cervical and breast cancer-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of Hispanic women living in a large southwestern city. Dr. Coe has also conducted two studies related to cardiovascular disease in African American women - one involving knowledge of risk factors of women living in inner cities and another involving body image of women living in the Bootheel of Missouri. She has worked with promotora programs since 1991 and is fluent in Spanish.

Dr. Coe served as President of the Arizona Women's Cancer Network for 3 years, served on the Sister Studies' Minority Advisory Committee, and is emeritus faculty on the Board of Directors of Bosom Buddies, a breast cancer support group. She has published a book and numerous articles on culture and its role in health promotion. Dr. Coe earned her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology and evolutionary biology at Arizona State University.