research Overview
I am an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, and an interdisciplinary health scientist with expertise in qualitative and participatory methods, chronic disease epidemiology, and health disparities research. I hold affiliate faculty appointments at the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
My research examines how environmental and structural conditions shape cancer risk, survivorship, and disparities — with a particular focus on advancing climate-responsive approaches to chronic disease management. I study the ways place-based exposures, including extreme weather events and neighborhood context, influence behavioral cancer risk and health outcomes in vulnerable populations.
Grounded in population health and health equity frameworks, my research program centers the identification of modifiable environmental drivers of cancer burden. By integrating environmental context into cancer science, my work advances models of risk and survivorship that reflect the realities of climate variability — and informs interventions at the clinical, community, and policy levels.
Select Editorials
Porta S., Bailey Z., Greer A., Ghartey D., Ashad-Bishop K.C., Strom E. (2020, December 11). Before eviction restrictions end, a race to find out what protections work best [Editorial]. South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Ashad-Bishop K. C., Gardiner J. C., Makins, K., & Twum, D. (2020, October 13). Cancer Doesn't See Color, but the Pipeline Does [Editorial]. Nature Research Cancer Community.
Ashad-Bishop K.C. and Metayer N. (2020, March 30). Has COVID-19 Laid the Groundwork for Permanent Social Change? [Editorial]. Florida Politics.
Select Manuscripts
Cruz, M., Mach, K. J., Turek-Hankins, L. L., Ashad-Bishop, K. C., Bailey, Z. D., Evans, S. D., Fanning, A., Fernandez-Burgos, M., Gilbert, J., Howard, B., Mahabir, M., Marturano, J., Murphy, L. N., Muse, N., Pérodin, J., & Clement, A. C. (2025). Where heat does not come in waves: a framework for understanding and managing chronic heat. Environmental Research: Climate, 4(2), 023002. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5295/adc827
Ashad-Bishop, K. C., Wiese, D., Baeker Bispo, J. A., Katana Ogongo, M., Islami, F., & Bandi, P. (2024). Social-Environmental Injustice and Cancer Screening Prevalence. JAMA Network Open, 7(9), e2433724. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.33724
Ashad-Bishop, K. C., Baeker Bispo, J. A., Nahodyl, L., Balise, R. R., Kobetz, E. K., & Bailey, Z. D. (2023). Hyperlocal disparities in breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening: An ecological study of social vulnerability in Miami-Dade county. Preventive Medicine Reports, 35, 102371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102371
Davis B.R., Jaso B.A., Heller A., Kohn-Wood L., Ashad-Bishop K.C. (2023). The Power of Community: The Role of CBOs in Mitigating COVID-19-Related Impacts to Well-Being Among South Florida's Minoritized Populations. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 14(2), 1–18. https://www.gjcpp.org/
Ashad-Bishop K.C., Cruz M., Bailey Z.D., Kobetz E.K. (2023). Intersectional Disparities in Climate Vulnerability and Cancer Risk. Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.34817