Bio
Dr. Ryan Suk (pronunciation: Rye-un Sook; pronouns: she/they) is a Health Economist and Decision Scientist by training and focuses on data-driven, community-engaged, and process-embedded research to advance cancer health equity and improve healthcare efficiency. Dr. Suk also serves as a Faculty Consultant for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) at the Winship Center for Cancer Health Equity Research of Winship Cancer Institute.
Dr. Suk's research focuses on HPV-associated cancer prevention and control, and she is dedicated to tailoring efforts for under-recognized/underserved populations (Project "A Second Chance"; 27-45 years for HPV vaccination and 66+ years for cervical cancer prevention). She is especially interested in integrating economic evaluation, community engagement, and business process models to optimize resources and their allocation by developing and streamlining various decision support or navigation tools to enhance HPV-associated cancer prevention and control. Dr. Suk is also deeply committed to understanding public discourse to better "validate concerns without validating misinformation" surrounding HPV-associated cancer prevention with empathy and clarity. Her research has been published in JAMA Health Forum, JAMA Network Open, JAMA Pediatrics, JNCI, LGBT Health, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and more.
She is also passionate about mentoring and teaching, with a special focus on enhancing knowledge in health economics and decision science among students across diverse disciplines, including nursing and other clinical fields.
Dr. Suk received a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (BBA) from Korea University (Seoul, Korea), an MS in Economics from the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah), and after completing her PhD coursework at the University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida), a PhD in Health Economics from The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) School of Public Health (Houston, Texas). Before joining Emory, they served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy and at UTHealth School of Public Health.
Outside the academic sphere, they enjoy backyard birding & squirreling, as well as weight training. Dr. Suk is a Seoul (Korea) native.
Areas of Interest
- Cancer Prevention
- Health Economics
- Cost Effective Analysis
- Health Services Research
- LGBTI Health
- Spatial Analysis/GIS
- Women’s Health
- HPV-Related Diseases
- Machine Learning
Affiliations
Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Emory University | Center for Data Science, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing (Primary appointment)
Assistant Professor, Emory University | Department of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health (Secondary appointment)
Faculty Consultant for HEOR, Winship Center for Cancer Health Equity Research at Winship Cancer Institute
Faculty, AI.Humanity, Emory University
Trustee, Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM)
Fellow, American Cancer Society HPV Roundtable Emerging Leaders Program
Member, HPV Cancer Free GA Workgroup, Georgia Cancer Control Consortium
Member, Cervical Cancer Elimination Workgroup, Cancer Alliance of Texas (CAT)