About

Karen Edwards is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington, where she also serves as the Director of Epidemiology. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Washington and an MS in Nutritional Science from California State University, Chico. Her primary research interest is in genetic epidemiology and public health genetics, with a focus on diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. She works on using family-based approaches and sequencing to identify genetic influences with pleiotropic effects on these conditions. Additionally, she is interested in interactions between environmental factors, such as diet, and genetic susceptibility to complex diseases. Her research encompasses a broad range of topics including cardiovascular disease, melanoma, and Parkinson's disease.

Research topics

• Biology
• Computer Science
• Genetics
• Immunology
• History
• Art
• Data science
• Medicine
• Computational biology

Selected publications

• Providing tailored support to neurodivergent nursing students during their placements

  Nursing Standard · 2026-01-05

  article

  The term neurodivergence encompasses conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, developmental language disorder, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dyslexia and Tourette syndrome. In recent years, there has been an increase in the reported numbers of neurodivergent nursing students. The Equality Act 2010 promotes inclusivity by placing a duty on organisations, including education providers, to make reasonable adjustments aimed at removing or reducing the disadvantages faced by people with disabilities. However, there are several barriers to making reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent students in placement settings. This article explores how to provide personalised support to neurodivergent students that is tailored to their needs and enables them to thrive during placements. It discusses the role of practice education facilitators, practice supervisors and practice assessors in promoting inclusion for these students, and describes a proposed flexible package of support developed by one of the authors in collaboration with a neurodivergent student.

  PublisherDOI

• Paradise from behind the Iron Curtain: Reading, Translating and Staging Milton in Communist HungaryMiklósPéti. London: <scp>UCL</scp> P, 2022. ix + 286pp. <scp>ISBN</scp> 13: 9781787358556. £20.00 (paper).

  Milton Quarterly · 2025-05-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  It is difficult in a brief review to do justice to the richly detailed research, critical insights, and political subtlety that characterize Miklós Péti's Paradise from behind the Iron Curtain. A note of caution at the outset: this remarkable study of the reception of Milton's works in the years of state socialism in Hungary (1948-1989) cannot be skimmed. It requires serious concentration from readers, especially from those (like this reviewer) who are not overly familiar with the constantly shifting political and cultural policies in Hungary during the four decades under discussion. But readers’ concentration will be rewarded. For many western Miltonists, Péti's book may well open up hitherto unexplored intellectual territory, territory in which translation, both as subject and method, plays a central and dazzling role. Rather than taking a chronological approach to his subject, Péti divides his book into chapters that focus on different genres of Milton's works. This treatment allows a clearer exposition of how selectively Milton's works were read in communist Hungary. After an Introduction supplying critical and historical contexts for what follows, Chapter 1 examines Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained; Chapter 2, Samson Agonistes; Chapter 3, Milton's prose; and Chapter 4, the shorter poems. An Appendix provides, on facing pages, Hungarian and English texts of the theatrical production of Paradise Lost staged in 1970 by Károly Kazimir. Given that what mattered during the years of communist control was the “political currency of any work by any writer,” native or foreign, Milton posed a clear problem for those who wanted to introduce his works to Hungarian readers. Yes, the man who was acknowledged to be one of England's greatest writers was a social revolutionary—he “actively participated in the English Civil War (or the English Revolution)”—but he was also a deeply religious Christian (2). The variety of strategies that Hungarian interpreters employed to handle this dilemma is the core subject of Péti's monograph. Unsurprisingly, the term “ambivalence” recurs throughout the volume. After providing a summary of the epic's reception in eighteenth- and nineteenth- century Hungary, Péti devotes much of his initial chapter to the two important translations of Paradise Lost published in the post-war period: Lőrinc Szabó's partial translation undertaken in the late 1940s and 50s, and István Jánosy's complete translation of 1969 (now the standard version). The chapter ends with a discussion of Kazimir's theatrical staging of the poem, which used Jánosy's translation. Péti's comparison of the two Hungarian translations measures, among other things, shades of difference in their political alignments under the broad umbrella of state socialism. Indeed, sensitivity to the political implications of word choices in Hungarian translations of Milton's work is one of the outstanding features of Péti's book. Before I give an example, let me describe his method. After quoting a passage from Milton's work, Péti provides the Hungarian translation, and then translates the Hungarian back into English. So, discussing Paradise Lost 1.263 (“Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven”), he comments of Jánosy's translation (Inkább Pokolban úr, mint asolga Égben) [“rather a Lord in Hell than a servant in Heaven”]: “Jánosy's phrasing duly reproduces the classical (Odyssean) allusion implicit in the original, but by translating the Miltonic verb ‘reign’ with the noun úr (lord), he also evokes, perhaps ironically, the Old Testament, and in the contrast of úr (lord) and szolga (servant) the communist vocabulary of the class struggle” (49). In contrast to the repeated efforts of translators and commentators to mould Paradise Lost to fit the prevailing ideology, the main strategy for dealing with Paradise Regained after the mid-twentieth century was to ignore it. As Péti observes, “The brief epic … came to be collateral damage in the post-war effort to make Milton … an author palatable to communist tastes” (27). Little, apparently, could be done with an epic about “personal, internal redemption” having as its central character an “intellectual” who despises the people, “a confused rabble” (25). In what may be regarded as a redressing of the neglect of Paradise Regained in the communist era, Péti himself translated Paradise Regained into Hungarian in 2019. As Péti's second chapter argues, the Hungarian reception of Samson Agonistes was altered, more than any other work by Milton, after 1948. Before the war, the verse drama was dismissed “as a largely autobiographical piece, a bitter dark tragedy” (74). After the war, it “became Milton's second most important work,” even “his crowning achievement,” made available to Hungarian readers in two translations (in 1955 and 1975), two radio plays (in 1954 and 1970), and several critical essays and reflections (74). Reinforced by the rise of Anglo-American socialist thought (epitomized by the work of Christopher Hill), it was easy “to incorporate [Samson Agonistes] into the revolutionary aesthetic of the communist era—whether it was the hardline dictatorship of the early days or the softer version of state socialism in later decades” (74). In the translation of 1955, by Tihamér Dybas, the phrase “rousing motions” (l.1382) is translated as “spiriting emotions,” which leaves “ample room,” Péti notes, “for both religious and secular interpretations” (77). Such interpretive ambiguity disappeared with the publication of György Jánosházy's “easily digestible” translation in 1975. It “trade[d] the original's poetic and allusive richness for clarity and intelligibility” (83), remarks Péti. Milton's verse drama became “the revolutionary masterpiece,” heralding, in the hero's smashing of luxury and decadence, the historic triumph of the people (87). Samson's service to God became his service to the people. In terms of the writing that was translated or otherwise brought to public attention, Milton's prose, as Chapter 3 demonstrates, had a significantly poorer showing than his other works. The four decades of Hungarian communism could “not provide a comprehensive context in which [the prose works] could be fully appreciated” (117). Indeed, Péti states, Milton's pamphlets and letters are still almost unknown in Hungary. In the period of communist control, they were known primarily through anthologized excerpts, which were interpreted for readers in strict Marxist-Leninist terms by the influential scholar Tibor Lutter. Having examined not only Lutter's articles and monograph on Milton but also the typed synopsis of his course on seventeenth-century literature taught at Eötvös Loránd University in 1951 or 1952, Péti comments: “the overall impression to the modern reader is that of a thinly veiled political manifesto skimming the surface of some aspects of Milton's works” (101). Lutter's partisanship is so exaggerated, Péti notes, that it makes one wonder about the “actual level of commitment to what he professes” (102)—for, reporting on a Cambridge conference in the later 1950s, Lutter praised “the ‘sober, quiet, scholarly realism’ … of old-school (‘bourgeois’) British scholars like E. M. W. Tillyard against the ‘nervous impatience’ … of the New Critics” (103). What remains with a reader after the discussion of Lutter's treatment of Milton's prose is an increased appreciation for Péti's fair-mindedness and the thoroughness of his scholarship. In 1958, a slim volume of some of Milton's shorter poems (those “on the safe side”) was published in a dual language edition (124). Many of the poems had been translated between 1908 and 1941 by Árpád Tóth. His translations, although still regarded as inimitable, make Milton's poems “sound like symbolist poems,” notes Péti (125). The gradually increasing number of Milton's shorter poems made available to the Hungarian public, as well as their various new translators, is the subject of the first section of Chapter 4. The last three sections concern the place of Sonnet 23 in what Péti calls the “patriarchal traditions” that have governed the reception of Milton in Hungary. In particular, Péti discusses the poet Ágnes Nemes Nagy's reaction to those traditions in her translation of the sonnet, published in the 1958 volume. Here Péti's method of translating the translation comes into its own. The wife in Nemes Nagy's version is active. In Milton's sonnet, she “is brought”; in Nemes Nagy's version, she “came.” Milton's “But O as to embrace me she enclin'd / I waked, she fled …” becomes in Nemes Nagy's version, “She was leaning over me; alas, I started up / she flew away …” (134). Because she is leaning over the speaker, Péti comments, “we must imagine [the speaker] lying down,” for the Hungarian rámhajolt unlike Milton's “enclin'd” does not have any mental implications. Behind Sonnet 23, vivid in our imaginations, are the active male protagonists of Milton's classical sources (Hercules and Orpheus). Nemes Nagy's version, in contrast, “trades these ancient [patriarchal] tropes for the similarly powerful image of an incapacitated speaker who is dreaming that he is lying down.” This shadowy female dream figure moves confidently; the male speaker is passive and immobile. In the final section of the chapter, Péti examines two of Nemes Nagy's later poems, which return allusively to Sonnet 23. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, she endows “‘the pale and faint’ female character of Milton's original” with “a voice and a personal history,” Nemes Nagy's own (141). This “Central European woman writer from the twentieth century writing under communist dictatorship” thus makes herself “Milton's unlikely but equal partner” (141). Throughout Paradise from behind the Iron Curtain, Miklós Péti pays generous tribute to the scholars who labored under adverse political conditions to bring Milton's works to Hungarian readers. He treats with scrupulous fairness and generosity those whom he calls “the foremost scholars of their day.” There can be no doubt that Miklos Péti is the foremost Hungarian Milton scholar of his day.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 3027 Identifying and coding patients appropriate for the Gold Standard Framework on discharge from an inpatient gastroenterology ward

  Age and Ageing · 2025-07-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Background A third of hospital inpatients may be in their last year of life and over the past 25 years there has been evidence to show the Gold standard Framework (GSF) reduces hospitalisation and allows more people to live and die in their preferred place of care. Teams undertaking GSF find admissions and lengths of stay are significantly reduced. Our inpatient ward did not have processes to identify those appropriate for the GSF. Aim To identify and code patients appropriate for the gold standard framework on the inpatient gastroenterology ward at Salford Royal. Methods Baseline data was collected, standards were set and data was collected from March 2024 to July 2024 by retrospectively reviewing documentation. Using the PDSA cycle format; the first intervention carried out was an education session. The second intervention was a poster and flow diagram. Other data collected was valuable such as whether the hospital palliative inpatient team had been involved, if advanced care planning discussions had been had and whether community palliative care were informed on discharge. Results Of the 36 patients admitted in the first 2-week period the 11 patients who had a GSF eligible diagnosis were not identified or coded. Following the first and second interventions made 21 further patients were identified as eligible for diagnosis on data collection but no GSF coding was carried out or documentation on the discharge letter. Conclusion The two interventions received positive feedback and engagement however it did not lead to patients being coded. The patients who were reviewed in the Specialist liver disease palliative care MDT (SILP) had referrals placed to the community palliative care team and advanced care planning initiated. Our recommendation was to consider implementing a bundle that suggests referral to the SILP and within the bundle asks for the GSF to be coded.

  PublisherDOI

• Use of Rapid Qualitative Analysis to Support Collaborative Synergy Within a Community Coalition for Health Equity in Detroit

  Health Equity · 2025-01-29 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Introduction: A community coalition is an effective strategy for addressing complex health challenges. A citywide coalition of community and academic experts was formed to address Detroit's persistent health disparities. To foster collaborative synergy, we explored hyperlocal perspectives on health equity by applying rapid qualitative analysis (RQA) as a time-efficient and rigorous approach. Methods: Twenty coalition members completed a key informant interview addressing five key areas: health equity meanings, Detroit's most pressing health problems, social ecological domains that influence health equity and outcomes, and strategies to achieve health equity. We used RQA to interpret interview data. Results: Participants were majority female, Black/African American, and over 60 years old. Participants defined health equity as equal access to opportunities for a healthy life and emphasized the importance of individual choice in pursuing those opportunities. As an indication of their awareness of social determinants of health, participants articulated connections between various social ecological factors and health outcomes. Discussion: This study highlights participants' recognition of both systemic factors and personal agency in achieving health equity, indicating their nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between social structures and individual health, which is crucial for community-driven multilevel health interventions. Furthermore, by fostering better communication and alignment, RQA is an efficient and effective method to enhance coalition synergy. Health Equity Implications: By facilitating a shared understanding of health equity and its determinants, RQA can help coalitions ensure inclusion and integration of diverse perspectives in intervention planning and delivery, particularly in urban settings facing similar challenges.

  PublisherDOI

• Longitudinal changes in lifestyle behaviours and cardiovascular health during the transition to fatherhood: the Dad Bod observational cohort study protocol

  BMJ Open · 2024-11-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: Despite the importance of the transition to fatherhood as a critical life stage among young adult men, much remains unknown about the factors predictive of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) and how CVH is impacted as young men face new roles and responsibilities associated with fatherhood. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: To address this gap, the Dad Bod Study is a prospective, longitudinal and observational study designed to examine how fatherhood affects young men's CVH. A total of 125, first-time prospective fathers (men, 19-39 years) will be enrolled and followed over 1.5 years. Metrics of the American Heart Association's 'Life's Essential 8' as well as demographic, social and psychosocial factors will be collected at four time points (baseline (during the pregnant partner's second trimester), 1-month post partum, 6 months post partum and 1 year post partum). The primary aims are to measure predictors of CVH among first-time fathers and describe longitudinal changes in CVH. A secondary aim is to identify the best practices for recruitment, retention and remote data collection in this population. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was approved by the University of California, Irvine Institutional Review Board (IRB #4907, approved 1 May 2024). Participants will provide written consent. Study data will be disseminated in manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed journals as well as in abstracts submitted to conferences and in the resulting posters and presentations. After study completion, anonymised data and material will be made publicly available.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Longitudinal Changes in Lifestyle Behaviors and Cardiovascular Health During the Transition to Fatherhood: The Dad Bod Study Rationale and Design

  medRxiv · 2024-09-27

  preprintOpen access

  Background: Despite the importance of the transition to fatherhood as a critical life stage among young adult men, much remains unknown about the factors predictive of ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) and how CVH is impacted as young men face new roles and responsibilities associated with fatherhood. Methods: To address this gap, the Dad Bod Study is a prospective, longitudinal and observational study designed to examine how fatherhood affects young men's CVH. A total of 125, first-time prospective fathers (men, 19-39 years) will be enrolled and followed over 1.5 years. Metrics of the American Heart Association's "Life's Essential 8" as well as demographic, social, and psychosocial factors will be collected at four time points ((baseline (during the pregnant partner's 2nd trimester) 1-month postpartum, 6-months postpartum, and 1-year postpartum). The primary aims are to measure predictors of CVH among first-time fathers and describe longitudinal changes in CVH. A secondary aim is to identify best practices for recruitment, retention, and remote data collection in this population. Summary: The Dad Bod Study offers a novel examination of CVH among first-time fathers, exploring how new paternal roles and responsibilities impact cardiovascular health. Findings may provide key insights into critical CVH behaviors and risk factors to monitor, preserve, and improve as young men transition to fatherhood.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Inclusive servicescapes: the imperative of universal design principles

  Journal of Services Marketing · 2024-10-08 · 14 citations

  article

  Purpose This study aims to explore the transformative potential of universal design (UD) principles in changing servicescapes to enhance consumer experiences and foster inclusive practices across various sectors. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from existing literature and research findings, this study offers a review of inclusive servicescapes and service practices through the lens of UD. The investigation spans multiple domains to highlight the impact of UD principles on inclusivity and societal welfare. Findings This research delves into the theoretical and practical contributions of UD principles, showcasing their application in diverse sectors to enhance citizenship experiences. This study presents valuable insights for businesses and service providers, emphasizing the significance of UD in improving societal well-being and fostering inclusivity. Research limitations/implications This study broadens the theoretical framework of UD, showcasing its versatility across various sectors and reinforcing its contribution to enhancing societal inclusion. By analyzing the interplay between UD principles and inclusive servicescape practices, this study highlights UD’s transformative impact on enriching citizenship experiences and fostering a deeper sense of belonging. Drawing from seminal works, this research not only adds to the understanding of UD’s role in promoting inclusivity but also strengthens the linkage between UD and inclusion theory, advancing the discourse on design's pivotal role in facilitating societal participation and crafting inclusive environments. Practical implications The findings of this study provide practical guidance for businesses and service providers to incorporate UD principles into servicescapes and service practices, enhancing consumer experiences. By referencing examples from education, retail and digital domains, this study offers insights for organizations seeking to create more inclusive and accessible environments. Social implications The societal implications of incorporating UD principles into marketplace practices are significant, promoting societal inclusivity and acceptance of diversity. By emphasizing the role of UD in fostering inclusive servicescapes, this study contributes to societal initiatives to ensure inclusivity and accessibility in the marketplace, ultimately enhancing the well-being of individuals with diverse abilities and promoting a more equitable society. Originality/value Building on existing literature, this study expands the understanding of UD and its potential impact on citizenship experiences. By anchoring the research on established perspectives and incorporating practical examples, this study offers original insights into the transformative power of UD in creating more inclusive and equitable societies.

  PublisherDOI

• Increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adolescents with high salivary levels of copper, manganese, and zinc

  European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · 2024-02-14 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  Exposure to toxic heavy metals has been associated with the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, fewer studies have examined the associations between abnormal levels of essential trace metals and ADHD, and none have done so using saliva. We investigated whether salivary metals were associated with ADHD in adolescents aged 12 from the Family Life Project (FLP) using a nested case-control study design that included 110 adolescents who met diagnostic criteria for inattentive (ADHD-I), hyperactive-impulsive (ADHD-H), or combined type ADHD (ADHD-C) (cases) and 173 children who did not (controls). We used inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometry to measure chromium, copper, manganese, and zinc in saliva samples. We employed logistic regression models to examine associations between quartile levels of individual metals and ADHD outcomes by subtype. Salivary copper levels were significantly associated with increased odds of any ADHD diagnosis (OR = 3.31, 95% CI: 1.08-10.12; p = 0.04) and with increased odds of ADHD-C diagnosis (OR = 8.44, 95% CI: 1.58-45.12; p = 0.01). Salivary zinc levels were significantly associated with increased odds of ADHD-C diagnosis (OR = 4.06, 95% CI: 1.21-13.69; p = 0.02). Salivary manganese levels were also significantly associated with increased odds of ADHD-C diagnosis (OR = 5.43, 95% CI: 1.08-27.27, p = 0.04). This is the first study using saliva to assess metal exposure and provide a potential link between salivary levels of copper, manganese, and zinc and ADHD diagnoses in adolescents. Public health interventions focused on metal exposures might reduce ADHD incidence in low-income, minority communities.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Heterogeneity in familial clustering of metabolic syndrome components in the multiethnic <scp>GENNID</scp> study

  Obesity · 2023-10-12 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVE: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined by clustering of cardiometabolic components, which may be present in different combinations. The authors evaluated clustering in individuals and extended families within and across ancestry groups. METHODS: The prevalence of different combinations of MetS components (high fasting glucose, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, and abdominal obesity) was estimated in 1651 individuals (340 families) self-reporting as European American (EA), Hispanic/Mexican American (MA), African American (AA), and Japanese American (JA). Odds ratios were estimated using logistic regression with generalized estimating equations comparing individual MetS components, number, and combinations of components for each ancestry group versus EA. RESULTS: Clustering of all five components (Combination #16) was more prevalent in EA (29.9%) and MA (25.2%) individuals than in AA (18.7%) and JA (15.5%) individuals. Compared with EA individuals, AA individuals were 64% and 66% less likely to have high triglycerides and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, whereas JA individuals were 85% and 56% less likely to have abdominal obesity and high blood pressure, respectively. Compared with EA individuals, the odds of having two, four, or five components were at least 77% lower in JA individuals, whereas the odds of having three, four, or five components were at least 3.79 times greater in MA individuals. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding heterogeneity in MetS clustering may identify factors important in reducing health disparities.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Cambridge Companion to Literature and Animals

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2023-10-26 · 1 citations

  book

  The Cambridge Companion to Literature and Animals surveys the role of animals across literary history and opens conversations on what literature can teach us about more-than-human life. Leading international scholars comprehensively explore how engaging with creatures of various kinds alters our understanding of what it means to write and read, and why this is important for thinking about a series of cultural, ethical, political, and scientific developments and controversies. The first part of the book offers historically rooted arguments about medieval metamorphosis, early modern fleshiness, eighteenth-century imperialism, Romantic sympathy, Victorian racial politics, modernist otherness and contemporary forms. The second part poses questions that cut across periods, concerning habitat and extinction, captivity and spectatorship, race and (post-)coloniality, sexuality and gender, religion and law, health and wealth. In doing so, this companion places animals at the centre of literary studies and literature at the heart of urgent debates in the growing field of animal studies.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Integrative Environmental Health Sciences Facility Core

  NIH · $34.7M · 1997–2027

• NIH Grant P50NS062684

  NIH · $30.6M · 2021

• NIH Grant R01CA149051

  NIH · $1.2M · 2017

• NIH Grant F32DK009645

  NIH · $25k

• NIH Grant R01HL113189

  NIH · $3.5M · 2020

Frequent coauthors

• Cyrus P. Zabetian

  University of Washington

  208 shared

• James B. Leverenz

  154 shared

• Ignacio Mata

  Cleveland Clinic

  148 shared

• Dora Yearout

  Seattle Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Research

  131 shared

• Thomas J. Montine

  130 shared

• John Q. Trojanowski

  University of Pennsylvania

  117 shared

• Jia Y. Wan

  University of California, Irvine

  117 shared

• Debby W. Tsuang

  University of Washington

  110 shared

Education

• PhD, Epidemiology

  University of Washington

  1996