Candyce Kroenke, MPH, ScD

People

Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
2000 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612

(510) 891-5969 (phone)
candyce.h.kroenke@kp.org
Kaiser Permanente Researcher Profiles

Candyce Kroenke, MPH, ScD, is a research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research (DOR). Social determinants including social networks, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status have been reliably related to differences in cancer survival. Dr. Kroenke’s research focuses on understanding these relationships as well as the behavioral, biological, and treatment-related factors underlying associations. Dr. Kroenke’s work further considers the influence of lifestyle and behavioral factors on cancer survivorship.

She is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) of a study funded by the National Cancer Institute examining the influence of social networks on breast cancer treatment and prognosis. She is also PI of the Investigating Network Support In Gaps in Health and Treatment in Breast Cancer (INSIGHT-BC) study, funded by the American Cancer Society, which examines the role of social networks in racial disparities in breast cancer treatment and survival. She is additionally co-Investigator on several grants evaluating the role of body composition in colorectal and breast cancer prognosis. Dr. Kroenke received her doctorate in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health and her master’s and undergraduate degrees in Epidemiology and Sociology from the University of Minnesota. Prior to her work at the Division of Research, she was an instructor at the Harvard Medical School and a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at the University of California, San Francisco/Berkeley site.

Current Position(s):

Research Scientist II, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California

Section Affiliations:

Primary Research Interests:

Social roles and relationships, lifestyle and obesity, and breast cancer survival
Psychosocial and lifestyle factors and differences in breast cancer survival by race
Body composition and cancer outcomes
Biological mechanisms of aging and chronic disease development across the lifecourse

Studies

Social Networks and Disparities in Health Behaviors and Breast Cancer Outcomes in Immigrant Women

The goal of the study is to examine the role of neighborhood- and individual-level social networks in immigrant and racial/ethnic disparities in health behaviors and breast cancer outcomes.
Investigator: Kroenke, Candyce
Funder: National Cancer Institute

Race Disparities in Social Networks, and Breast Cancer Treatment, Prognosis

The goal of this research is to determine, through the use of mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, how the social environment influences women's breast cancer treatment, decisions about treatment, and subsequent survival, and how these relationships may help to explain racial disparities in breast cancer survival. This research may have implications for possible social interventions in breast cancer survivors.
Investigator: Kroenke, Candyce
Funder: American Cancer Society

Social Networks, Breast Cancer Treatment and Survival

The goal of this study is to develop skills in quantitative and qualitative methodologies to evaluate the potential for leveraging social relationships in breast cancer patients with small or large social networks to improve breast cancer outcomes. Specific aims include: 1) Characterize the social network size, levels of social support, and personality of newly diagnosed and long-term BC patients and use information to recruit women for and conduct focus groups with women about their social relationships and how these support or hinder their ability to manage their breast cancer. 2) Use quantitative data science methods/health informatics/social network analysis to understand whether and how naturally occurring networks, online networks, and clinical support networks predict BC outcomes. 3) Use intervention mapping (IM) to design a context-sensitive BC social intervention based on qualitative and quantitative data based on results from Aims 1 and 2 and pre-test the intervention.
Investigator: Kroenke, Candyce
Funder: National Cancer Institute

Highlighted Publications

Post-diagnosis social networks and breast cancer mortality in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project

Author(s): Kroenke CH; Michael YL; Poole EM; Kwan ML; Nechuta S; Leas E; Caan BJ; Pierce J; Shu XO; Zheng Y; Chen WY

Cancer. 2016 Dec 12.

Current Position(s):

Section Affiliations:

Primary Research Interests:

Studies

Social Networks and Disparities in Health Behaviors and Breast Cancer Outcomes in Immigrant Women

Race Disparities in Social Networks, and Breast Cancer Treatment, Prognosis

Social Networks, Breast Cancer Treatment and Survival

Highlighted Publications

Post-diagnosis social networks and breast cancer mortality in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project

Analysis of Body Mass Index and Mortality in Patients With Colorectal Cancer Using Causal Diagrams

Post-diagnosis social networks, and lifestyle and treatment factors in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project

Race and breast cancer survival by intrinsic subtype based on PAM50 gene expression

Social networks, social support mechanisms, and quality of life after breast cancer diagnosis

Social networks, social support, and burden in relationships, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Life After Breast Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) Study

Social networks, social support and burden in relationships, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis

Social networks, social support, and survival after breast cancer diagnosis

Weight, weight gain, and survival after breast cancer diagnosis.

Publications

Post-cancer diagnosis dietary inflammatory potential is associated with survival among women diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the Women's Health Initiative

The association of medical and demographic characteristics with sarcopenia and low muscle radiodensity in patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer

Changes in physical and mental health are associated with cardiovascular disease incidence in postmenopausal women

Association of Body Fat and Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women With Normal Body Mass Index: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial and Observational Study

Prediagnostic circulating markers of inflammation and risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma: a study within the National Cancer Institute Cohort Consortium

A conceptual model of social networks and mechanisms of cancer mortality, and potential strategies to improve survival

Stratified probabilistic bias analysis for BMI-related exposure misclassification in postmenopausal women

Muscle radiodensity and mortality in patients with colorectal cancer

Antidepressant Use and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in The Women's Health Initiative

The deterioration of muscle mass and radiodensity is prognostic of poor survival in stage I-III colorectal cancer: a population-based cohort study (C-SCANS)

The Obesity Paradox in Cancer: How Important Is Muscle?

Associations of pre-existing co-morbidities with skeletal muscle mass and radiodensity in patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer

Personal and clinical social support and adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy among hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients in an integrated health care system

The Importance of Body Composition in Explaining the Overweight Paradox in Cancer-Counterpoint

The Plausibility of the Obesity Paradox in Cancer-Response-Reply to Point

Association of Muscle and Adiposity Measured by Computed Tomography With Survival in Patients With Nonmetastatic Breast Cancer

Social relationships, inflammation markers, and breast cancer incidence in the Women's Health Initiative

Associations between ACE-Inhibitors, Angiotensin Receptor Blockers, and Lean Body Mass in Community Dwelling Older Women

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Life and Longevity After Cancer (LILAC) Study: Description and Baseline Characteristics of Participants

Association between post-cancer diagnosis dietary inflammatory potential and mortality among invasive breast cancer survivors in the Women's Health Initiative

Understanding the relation between socioeconomic position and inflammation in post-menopausal women: Education, income and occupational prestige

Muscle mass at the time of diagnosis of nonmetastatic colon cancer and early discontinuation of chemotherapy, delays, and dose reductions on adjuvant FOLFOX: The C-SCANS study

Methodological considerations for disentangling a risk factor's influence on disease incidence versus postdiagnosis survival: The example of obesity and breast and colorectal cancer mortality in the Women's Health Initiative

Association of Systemic Inflammation and Sarcopenia With Survival in Nonmetastatic Colorectal Cancer: Results From the C SCANS Study

Optimism, Pessimism, Cynical Hostility, and Biomarkers of Metabolic Function in the Women's Health Initiative

Explaining the Obesity Paradox: The Association between Body Composition and Colorectal Cancer Survival (C-SCANS Study)

Prognostic significance of marital status in breast cancer survival: A population-based study

Impact of social and built environment factors on body size among breast cancer survivors; the Pathways Study

Metabolic Phenotype and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Normal-Weight Postmenopausal Women

Association of Weight Change after Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis and Outcomes in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Population

Post-diagnosis social networks and breast cancer mortality in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project

Re: High- and low-fat dairy intake, recurrence, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis. Response.

Development and Use of a Traditional Mexican Diet Score in Relation to Systemic Inflammation and Insulin Resistance among Women of Mexican Descent

Metabolic Dysfunction, Obesity, and Survival Among Patients With Early-Stage Colorectal Cancer

Post-diagnosis Weight Change and Survival Following a Diagnosis of Early Stage Breast Cancer

Exercise and Prognosis on the Basis of Clinicopathologic and Molecular Features in Early Stage Breast Cancer; The LACE and Pathways Studies

Psychosocial Clusters and their Associations with Well-Being and Health: An Empirical Strategy for Identifying Psychosocial Predictors Most Relevant to Racially/Ethnically Diverse Women's Health

Exercise and Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Women With Nonmetastatic Breast Cancer

Analysis of Body Mass Index and Mortality in Patients With Colorectal Cancer Using Causal Diagrams

Relationship of pre-diagnostic body mass index with survival after colorectal cancer: Stage-specific associations

Reproductive Risk Factors and Coronary Heart Disease in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study

Pre-diagnostic Sleep Duration and Sleep Quality in Relation to Subsequent Cancer Survival

Enhancing Breast Cancer Recurrence Algorithms Through Selective Use of Medical Record Data

Impact of Body Weight and Body Composition on Ovarian Cancer Prognosis

Post-diagnosis social networks, and lifestyle and treatment factors in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project

Representativeness of breast cancer cases in an integrated health care delivery system

Leukocyte Telomere Length and Risks of Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality in a Racially Diverse Population of Postmenopausal Women

Association of high obesity with PAM50 breast cancer intrinsic subtypes and gene expression

Caregiving Frequency and Physical Function: The Women's Health Initiative

Pre- to post-diagnosis weight change and associations with physical functional limitations in breast cancer survivors

Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among Postmenopausal Women with Prior Pregnancy Loss: The Women's Health Initiative

Associations of Stressful Life Events and Social Strain With Incident Cardiovascular Disease in the Women's Health Initiative

Intrinsic subtypes from the PAM50 gene expression assay in a population-based breast cancer survivor cohort; Prognostication of short and long term outcomes

Better postdiagnosis diet quality is associated with reduced risk of death among postmenopausal women with invasive breast cancer in the Women's Health Initiative

Race and breast cancer survival by intrinsic subtype based on PAM50 gene expression

Antidepressants and testicular cancer

Obesity and Late-Age Survival Without Major Disease or Disability in Older Women

Social networks, social support mechanisms, and quality of life after breast cancer diagnosis

High- and Low-Fat Dairy Intake, Recurrence, and Mortality After Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Racial Disparities in Posttraumatic Stress After Diagnosis of Localized Breast Cancer; The BQUAL Study

Accelerated Cell Aging in Female APOE-epsilon4 Carriers: Implications for Hormone Therapy Use

Social networks, social support, and burden in relationships, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Life After Breast Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) Study