Sandi Pruitt, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Dr. Pruitt conducts research at the interface of epidemiology, behavioral and social science, and health equity research. Her team links large geospatial, administrative, and clinical databases to better elucidate geographic, socioeconomic, and racial/ethnic inequities in cancer outcomes and to monitor the health of low-income populations. 

Building from discoveries in basic geospatial and multilevel science, her work is designed to guide policies and programs that optimize health for everyone, regardless of their Zip Code. For example, in 2019, Dr. Pruitt led a team of UT System and UT Southwestern investigators to document life expectancy inequities by geography, sex, and race/ethnicity across Texas: https://www.texashealthmaps.com/lfex As another example, the Community Assistance Research initiative (CARE; https://udallas.edu/care/), co-directed by Dr. Pruitt and Dr. Tammy Leonard (University of Dallas), has generated evidence showing how neighborhood-based food pantries can optimize health of food insecure populations in Dallas County. Dr. Pruitt is currently working on moving her research from observation to intervention. For example, she is working closely with her community academic partnership to design, implement, and evaluate pragmatic interventions in food pantries designed to improve health for low income Dallas residents.

Undergraduate

Evergreen State College (1998), Liberal Arts

Graduate School

University of Texas Health Sci (2003), Public Health

Graduate School

University of Texas Health Sci (2008), Public Health

• Administrative data research (Census, ACS, EHR, claims)
• Cancer outcomes and disparities
• Cancer prevention and screening
• Food insecurity and health
• Health disparities
• Multilevel modeling, geographic information systems
• Neighborhoods, geography, and health
• Pragmatic interventions in food pantry settings

Featured Publications

Nativity, ethnic enclave residence, and breast cancer survival among Latinas: Variations between California and Texas.

Shariff-Marco S, Gomez SL, Canchola AJ, Fullington H, Hughes AE, Zhu H, Pruitt SL, Cancer 2020 Jun 126 12 2849-2858

Property Values as a Measure of Neighborhoods: An Application of Hedonic Price Theory.

Leonard T, Powell-Wiley TM, Ayers C, Murdoch JC, Yin W, Pruitt SL Epidemiology 2016 Jul 27 4 518-24

Residential racial segregation and mortality among black, white, and Hispanic urban breast cancer patients in Texas, 1995 to 2009.

Pruitt SL, Lee SJ, Tiro JA, Xuan L, Ruiz JM, Inrig S Cancer 2015 Feb

Exposures at day labor corners: using existing georeferenced data to describe features of urban environments.

Fernández-Esquer ME, Hughes AE, Pruitt SL, Ann Epidemiol 2019 11 39 54-62

Who Is Food Insecure? Implications for Targeted Recruitment and Outreach, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005-2010.

Pruitt SL, Leonard T, Xuan L, Amory R, Higashi RT, Nguyen OK, Pezzia C, Swales S Prev Chronic Dis 2016 Oct 13 E143

The utility of EMR address histories for assessing neighborhood exposures.

Hughes AE, Pruitt SL Ann Epidemiol 2016 Aug

Multiple Comorbidities and Interest in Research Participation Among Clients of a Nonprofit Food Distribution Site.

Higashi RT, Craddock Lee SJ, Leonard T, Cuate EL, Cole J, Pruitt SL Clin Transl Sci 2015 Aug

Impact of prior cancer on eligibility for lung cancer clinical trials.

Gerber DE, Laccetti AL, Xuan L, Halm EA, Pruitt SL J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 2014 Nov 106 11

Neighborhood effects in a behavioral randomized controlled trial.

Pruitt SL, Leonard T, Murdoch J, Hughes A, McQueen A, Gupta S Health Place 2014 Nov 30 293-300

Geographic disparity, area poverty, and human papillomavirus vaccination.

Pruitt SL, Schootman M Am J Prev Med 2010 May 38 5 525-33

• CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research award for First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Members
  (2012)