Specializing In:
- Cancer surveillance science
- Indigenous public health
- Cancer prevention and control
- Population health research
Research Interests:
- Improving cancer outcomes in Indigenous communities
- Co-developing culturally grounded, data-driven interventions
- Indigenous-centered cancer surveillance and epidemiology
- Addressing cancer disparities through community partnerships
Biography
I am an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and grew up in Red Valley, Arizona. I am a first-generation college graduate and earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from Fort Lewis College, where I conducted inorganic chemistry research. I completed my PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine and my MPH at Johns Hopkins University, followed by postdoctoral training in the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program at the National Cancer Institute.
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Indigenous Cancer Health. Motivated by family and community, my research focuses on cancer surveillance science, partnering with communities to co-develop data-driven interventions, and improving cancer outcomes in Indigenous communities.
Positions
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Assistant Professor of Oncology
- Navajo Nation
- Department of Indigenous Cancer Health
Background
Education and Training
- 2023 - MPH - Concentration Epidemiology and Biostatistics - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
- 2022 - PhD - Cellular and Molecular Medicine - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Fellowship
- 2022-2026 Cancer Prevention Fellowship - Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD
Honors & Awards
- 2025 -Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program Award of Merit, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute – Rockville, MD
- 2024 - NCI Director’s Award for Leading Diversity – NCI Champions (Individual Award), National Cancer Institute – Rockville, MD
- 2024 - NCI Sallie Rosen Kaplan Postdoctoral Fellowship for Women Scientists, National Cancer Institute – Rockville, MD
- 2022 - Edward A. Bouchet Honor Society, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine – Baltimore, MD
- 2018-2021 - Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, NASEM
Publications
- Nash, S.H., Adcock, R., Wang, C., Herbert-DeRouen, M.C., Joe, N.S., Pete, D., Kratzer, T.B., Wiggins, C.L., Liu, L., McDowell, B.D. Area-Level Sociodemographic Differences Between Indian Health Service Purchased/Referred and Non-Purchased/Referred Care Delivery Areas. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2026, 23(5), 622.
- McGee-Avila, J.K., Haas, C.B., Shing, J.Z., Lawrence, W.R., Joe, N.S., Pfeiffer, R.M., Luo, Q., Hsieh, M.C., Cherala, S., Pawlish, K.S., Monterosso A., Cohen, S., Hayes, J., Callaway, B.S., Drezner, K., Engels, E.A., Shiels, M.S. Hepatocellular Carcinoma Survival in People with and without HIV in the United States, 2001-2019. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2026.
- Yazzie, D., Pete, D., Briscoe, C., Jim, M.A., Meisner, A., Wiggins, C., Doyle, D., Yee, G., Goldtooth-Begay, C., Sanderson, P.R., Keene, C.N., Smith, M., Sehn, H., Damon, S., Kettering, C., Emerson, M., Curley, C., Bea, J., Yazzie, S., Joe, N., Doherty, J., de Heer, D. Cancer Incidence, stage of diagnosis and trends across the Navajo Nation, 2014-2018. Cancer.
- Yu, M., Joe, N., Sherman, R., Johnson, C., Negoita, S., Scoppa, S., Gibson., Cronin, K. The impact of the 1997 OMB Standards on assessing race-specific cancer rates of incidence and mortality in the United States. Cancer. 2025, 131(15).
- Joe, N.S., Godet, I., Milki, N., Ul Ain, N., Oza, H., Riggins, G.J., and Gilkes, D.M. Mebendazole prevents distant organ metastases in part by decreasing ITGß4 expression and cancer stemness. Breast Cancer Research 2022, 24(98).