Louisa A. Stark

Louisa A. Stark, PhD

Languages spoken: Spanish, English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Human Genetics , Adjunct - Population Health Sciences

Lab

Dr. Louisa Stark is a Professor of Human Genetics and director of the Genetic Science Learning Center. Her research interests focus on science and health education for students and educators from the K-12 level through graduate and medical education as well as patients and members of the lay public. The Center's mission is "making science and health easy for everyone to understand," which is accomplished by developing educational materials and programs that translate complex concepts for those who are not expert in a field. Many of these materials are freely disseminated via the Center's Learn.Genetics and Teach.Genetics websites, which constitute the most highly-used online life science education resource in the world. The sites are annually used by over 16 million visitors who view over 60 million pages and come from virtually every country. Dr. Stark has received multiple awards for her work, including among others, the Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Education from the American Society of Human Genetics (2008), the first award of the Science Prize for Online Resources in Education from Science Magazine (2010), the Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology (2010), the Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education from the Genetics Society of America, and the MERLOT Award for Exemplary Online Learning Resources (2017).

Dr. Stark also co-directs the Collaboration and Engagement Team of the Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science. In this role, she facilitates collaborations between researchers and community organizations, particularly those serving diverse communities. She is a founding member of the Community Faces of Utah collaborative which includes leaders of the Best of Africa, Calvary Baptist Church, the Hispanic Health Care Task Force, the National Tongan American Society, and the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake along with staff of the Utah Department of Health, faculty and staff of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, and members of the Collaboration and Engagement Team.

Education History

Undergraduate Grand Valley State University
 BS
Doctoral Training University of Colorado at Boulder
 PhD
Graduate Training University of Colorado at Boulder
Professional Other Western Michigan University

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Simonsen SE, Digre KB, Ralls B, Mukundente V, Davis FA, Rickard S, Tavake-Pasi F, Napia EE, Aiono H, Chirpich M, Stark LA, Sunada G, Keen K, Johnston L, Frost CJ, Varner MW, Alder S (2015). A gender-based approach to developing a healthy lifestyle and healthy weight intervention for diverse Utah women. Evaluation and program planning, 51, 8-16. (Read full article)
  2. Lai D, Bodson J, Davis FA, Lee D, Tavake-Pasi F, Napia E, Villalta J, Mukundente V, Mooney R, Coulter H, Stark LA, Sanchez-Birkhead AC, Kepka (2017). Diverse Families' Experiences with HPV Vaccine Information Sources: A Community-Based Participatory Approach. Journal of community health, 42(2), 400-412. (Read full article)
  3. Botkin JR, Rothwell E, Anderson R, Stark L, Goldenberg A, Lewis M, Burbank M, Wong (2012). Public attitudes regarding the use of residual newborn screening specimens for research. Pediatrics, 129(2), 231-8. (Read full article)
  4. Rothwell E, Anderson R, Goldenberg A, Lewis MH, Stark L, Burbank M, Wong B, Botkin J (2012). Assessing public attitudes on the retention and use of residual newborn screening blood samples: a focus group study. Social science & medicine (1982), 74(8), 1305-9. (Read full article)
  5. Kepka D, Bodson J, Lai D, Sanchez-Birkhead AC, Davis FA, Lee D, Tavake-Pasi F, Napia E, Villalta J, Mukundente V, Mooney R, Coulter H, Stark L (2018). Diverse caregivers' HPV vaccine-related awareness and knowledge. Ethnicity & health, 26(6), 1-16. (Read full article)
  6. Botkin JR, Rothwell E, Anderson RA, Goldenberg A, Kuppermann M, Dolan SM, Rose NC, Stark (2014). What parents want to know about the storage and use of residual newborn bloodspots. American journal of medical genetics. Part A, 164A(11), 2739-44. (Read full article)
  7. Rothwell E, Anderson RA, Swoboda KJ, Stark L, Botkin J (2013). Public attitudes regarding a pilot study of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy. American journal of medical genetics. Part A, 161A(4), 679-86. (Read full article)
  8. Hawkins AJ, Stark L (2016). Bringing Climate Change into the Life Science Classroom: Essentials, Impacts on Life, and Addressing Misconceptions. CBE life sciences education, 15(2), (Read full article)
  9. Hawkins AJ, Stark L (2017). More Than Metaphor: Online Resources for Teaching Cancer Biology. CBE life sciences education, 16(3), (Read full article)
  10. Bass KM, Drits-Esser D, Stark L (2016). A Primer for Developing Measures of Science Content Knowledge for Small-Scale Research and Instructional Use. CBE life sciences education, 15(2), (Read full article)
  11. Hawkins AJ, Stark L (2015). Online Resources for Engaging Students in Bioethical Discussions. CBE life sciences education, 14(4), fe4. (Read full article)
  12. Barber NC, Stark L (2015). Online resources for understanding outbreaks ¿and infectious diseases. CBE life sciences education, 14(1), fe1. (Read full article)
  13. Barber NC, Stark L (2014). Engaging with molecular form to understand function. CBE life sciences education, 13(1), 21-4. (Read full article)
  14. Drits-Esser D, Bass KM, Stark L (2014). Using small-scale randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy of new curricular materials. CBE life sciences education, 13(4), 593-601. (Read full article)
  15. Rothwell E, Wong B, Rose NC, Anderson R, Fedor B, Stark LA, Botkin J (2014). A randomized controlled trial of an electronic informed consent process. Journal of empirical research on human research ethics, 9(5), 1-7. (Read full article)
  16. Lasalle B, Varner M, Botkin J, Jackson M, Stark L, Cessna M, Orthner C, Hulse N, Bernasconi A, Madsen R, Schultz D, Bradshaw R, Mitchell (2013). Biobanking informatics infrastructure to support clinical and translational research. AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science proceedings. AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science, 2013, 132-5. (Read full article)
  17. Botkin JR, Rothwell E, Anderson R, Stark LA, Mitchell (2015). Public attitudes regarding the use of electronic health information and residual clinical tissues for research. Journal of community genetics, 6(2), 183. (Read full article)
  18. Botkin JR, Rothwell E, Anderson R, Stark LA, Mitchell (2014). Public attitudes regarding the use of electronic health information and residual clinical tissues for research. Journal of community genetics, 5(3), 205-13. (Read full article)
  19. Botkin JR, Rothwell E, Anderson RA, Rose NC, Dolan SM, Kuppermann M, Stark LA, Goldenberg A, Wong (2016). Prenatal Education of Parents About Newborn Screening and Residual Dried Blood Spots: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA pediatrics, 170(6), 543-9. (Read full article)
  20. Kepka D, Bodson J, Lai D, Sanchez-Birkhead A, Villalta J, Mukundente V, Tavake-Pasi F, Davis FA, Lee D, Napia E, Mooney R, Coulter H, Stark L (2018). Factors Associated with Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Among Diverse Adolescents in a Region with Low Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Rates. Health equity, 2(1), 223-232. (Read full article)

Other

  1. Stark L (2015). Science Translator: An Interview with Louisa Stark. Genetics, 200(3), 679-80. (Read full article)