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Naomi O. Riches, MSPH, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Obstetrics & Gynecology

Academic Office Information

naomi.riches@hsc.utah.edu

Naomi Riches is a Research Assistant Professor in the University of Utah Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her previous research has focused on the environmental risk factors for and qualitative experience of stillbirth, placenta accreta spectrum disorder, type 2 diabetes, and COVID-19. Dr. Riches received her Doctorate in Occupational and Environmental Health and completed a Postdoctoral fellowship in Biomedical Informatics. She is an active member of the Center of Excellence in Exposure Health Informatics (CEEHI), the Utah Stillbirth Center of Excellence (USCOE), and serves as the Research Workstream co-lead for SAWG-USA. Research interests include Stillbirth, Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorder, Shared Decision Making, Environmental Health, and Social Determinants of Health.

Education History

Undergraduate University of Utah
 BA
Graduate Training University of Utah School of Medicine
 MSPH
Doctoral Training University of Utah School of Medicine
 PhD

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Riches NO, Gouripeddi R, Payan-Medina A, Facelli JC (2022). K-means cluster analysis of cooperative effects of CO, NO2, O3, PM2.5, PM10, and SO2 on incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the US. Environ Res, 212(Pt B), 113259.
  2. Madlock-Brown C, Wilkens K, Weiskopf N, Cesare N, Bhattacharyya S, Riches NO, Espinoza J, Dorr D, Goetz K, Phuong J, Sule A, Kharrazi H, Liu F, Lemon C, Adams WG (2022). Clinical, social, and policy factors in COVID-19 cases and deaths: methodological considerations for feature selection and modeling in county-level analyses. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 747.
  3. Phuong J, Riches NO, Madlock-Brown C, Duran D, Calzoni L, Espinoza JC, Datta G, Kavuluru R, Weiskopf NG, Ward-Caviness CK, Lin AY (2022). Social Determinants of Health Factors for Gene-Environment COVID-19 Research: Challenges and Opportunities. Adv Genet (Hoboken), 3(2), 2100056.
  4. Riches NO, Johnson EP, Frost CJ, Goldenberg AJ, Rothwell E (2020). The limited use of US residual newborn screening dried bloodspots for health disparity research. Genet Med, 22(10), 1723-1726.
  5. Rothwell E, Johnson E, Wong B, Goldenberg A, Tarini BA, Riches N, Stark LA, Pries C, Langbo C, Langen E, Botkin J (2020). Comparison of Video, App, and Standard Consent Processes on Decision-Making for Biospecimen Research: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics, 15(4), 252-260.
  6. Rothwell E, Lamb B, Johnson E, Gurtcheff S, Riches N, Fagan M, Sabatello M, Johnstone E (2020). Patient perspectives and experiences with in vitro fertilization and genetic testing options. Ther Adv Reprod Health, 14, 2633494119899942.
  7. Rothwell E, Johnson E, Riches N, Botkin JR (2019). Secondary research uses of residual newborn screening dried bloodspots: a scoping review. Genet Med, 21(7), 1469-1475.
  8. Lamb B, Johnson E, Francis L, Fagan M, Riches N, Canada I, Wilson A, Mathiesen A, Sabatello M, Gurtcheff S, Johnstone E, Rothwell E (2018). Pre-implantation genetic testing: decisional factors to accept or decline among in vitro fertilization patients. J Assist Reprod Genet, 35(9), 1605-1612.
  9. Rothwell E, Goldenberg A, Johnson E, Riches N, Tarini B, Botkin JR (2017). An Assessment of a Shortened Consent Form for the Storage and Research Use of Residual Newborn Screening Blood Spots. J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics, 12(5), 335-342.
  10. Riches NO, Alder S, White GL, Druding R, Bond MG, De Michele M (2010). Standardized ultrasound protocol, trained sonographers and digital system for carotid atherosclerosis screening. J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown), 11(9), 683-8.
  11. Boregowda S, Handy RG, Sleeth D, Riches NO (2017). Using Thermodynamic Degradation Approach to Quantify Human Stress Response. Journal of Thermodynamics, 1-5.
  12. Thorsen ML, Handy RG, Sleeth DK, Thiese MS, Riches NO (2017). A comparison study between previous and current shoreline concentrations of heavy metals at the Great Salt Lake using portable X-ray fluorescence analysis. Hum Ecol Risk Assess, 1-14.
  13. Riches NO, Workalemahu T, Johnson EP, Silver RM, Lopez S, Page J, Sartori B, Rothwell (2023). Creating a postmortem examination decision aid: Suggestions from bereaved parents of a stillborn. Patient education and counseling, 112, 107746.
  14. Riches NO, Johnson EP, Subramaniam A, Vora NL, Hardisty E, LaRiviere K, Rothwell (2023). Understanding the experiences and perspectives of prenatal screening among a diverse cohort. Prenatal diagnosis, 43(5), 605-612.
  15. Rothwell E, Riches NO, Johnson E, Kaphingst KA, Kehoe K, Jenkins SM, Palmquist R, Torr C, Frost CJ, Wong B, Bonkowsky J (2023). Evaluating visual imagery for participant understanding of research concepts in genomics research. Journal of community genetics, 14(1), 51-62.
  16. Johnson AR, Riches NO, VanBuren JM, Corona AE, Jacobsen K, Yang S, Shah MI, Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) PediDOSE Study Investigator (2025). Measuring the efficacy of community consultation in a pediatric exception from informed consent trial. Academic emergency medicine, 32(5), 506-515.
  17. Riches NO, Workalemahu T, Johnson EP, Lopez S, Blue N, Page J, Silver RM, Rothwell (2025). Factors Contributing to Uptake of Stillbirth Evaluations: A Qualitative Analysis. BJOG, 132(5), 606-613.
  18. Johnson EP, Riches NO, Aljardali MW, Nussbaum P, Dean-Olmsted E, Rothwell (2024). Informal Prenatal Genetic Screening Education: What can you learn from Google and YouTube?. Genetics in medicine open, 2,
  19. Riches NO, Gouripeddi R, Silver RM, Facelli J (2025). Air pollution mixtures and stillbirth: k-means cluster analysis. Hygiene and environmental health advances, 16,
  20. Gibbins KJ, Vora NL, Subramaniam A, Page JM, Riches NO, Rothwell (2024). Addressing Barriers to Autopsy and Genetic Testing in Stillbirth Workup. O&G open, 1(3), 25.
  21. Riches, NO, Johnson, EJ, Subramaniam, A, Vora, NL, Kaphingst, KA, Junge, J, Valle, M, Rothwell E (2026). The Meaning of Screening: Exploring user experience of an aneuploidy screening educational game. Journal of genetic counseling, 35(1), e70183.
  22. Johnson, E.P., Riches, N.O., Arceneaux, S., Murdock, E., Quade, C., Cohen, S.R. and Jensen, R.E (2026). The Patient, the Provider, and the TikTok Creator: Qualitative Analysis of the Content and Quality of Videos on Prenatal Genetic Screening. Journal of midwifery & women's health,

Review

  1. Mistry S, Riches NO, Gouripeddi R, Facelli J (2023). Environmental exposures in machine learning and data mining approaches to diabetes etiology: A scoping review. Artificial intelligence in medicine, 135, 102461.
  2. Phuong J, Riches NO, Calzoni L, Datta G, Duran D, Lin AY, Singh RP, Solomonides AE, Whysel NY, Kavuluru (2022). Toward informatics-enabled preparedness for natural hazards to minimize health impacts of climate change. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 29(12), 2161-2167.

Letter

  1. Riches N (2025). Author Reply. BJOG, 132(7), 1016-1017.

Other

  1. Madlock-Brown C, Wilkens K, Weiskopf N, Cesare N, Bhattacharyya S, Riches NO, Espinoza J, Dorr D, Goetz K, Phuong J, Sule A, Kharrazi H, Liu F, Lemon C, Adams W (2022). Correction: Clinical, social, and policy factors in COVID-19 cases and deaths: methodological considerations for feature selection and modeling in county-level analyses. BMC public health, 22(1), 1250.