Selected publications, by topic

Geographic mobility and HIV: My migration and HIV work is mostly empirical; I design and implement surveys and analyze survey data with standard statistics, and am beginning to use qualitative methods as well (Journal of Urban Health, 2020). Two papers help unify and ground research in migration and HIV: an AIDS & Behavior (2014) paper on the conceptual framework and research methods for studying migration and HIV, and a comment in The Lancet HIV (2016) on the importance of geographical mobility and contextual factors on global HIV disparities. I have also published on innovative ways to measure short-term mobility and sexual network characteristics (Demographic Research, 2014). My empirical work on migration and HIV uses a network perspective, to shift the focus from individual risk behaviors for acquiring HIV to behaviors that may aid the transmission of HIV. I found that mobile individuals are more likely to have concurrent partnerships (e.g. overlapping partnerships in time) (PLoS ONE, 2013), and explained how mobile individuals could connect sexual networks across space (i.e. bridging) in a recent Social Science & Medicine article (2017).

  • Cassels S, Cerezo A, Reid SC, Rivera DB, Loustalot C, Meltzer D. (2023). “Geographic Mobility and its Impact on Sexual Health and Ongoing HIV Transmission among Migrant Latinx Men Who have Sex with Men.” Social Science & Medicine 320: 115635

  • Reid S, Wang V, Assaf R, Kaloper S, Gorbach PM, Shoptaw S, Murray AT, Cassels S. (2023). “Implementation and Validation of Location-Based Survey to Assess Geographic Network and Hotspots of Sex and Drug Use in Los Angeles County." JMIR Formative Research 7:e45188

  • Cassels S, Meltzer D, Loustalot C, Ragsdale A, Shoptaw S, Gorbach PM. (2020). “Geographic mobility, place attachment, and the changing geography of sex among African American and Latinx MSM who use substances in Los Angeles.” Journal of Urban Health 97(5):609-622

  • Cassels S, Mwenda KM, Biney AAE, Jenness SM. (2021). “Is it the timing? Short-term mobility and coital frequency in Agbogbloshie, Ghana.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 50(2):589-600. (PMCID: PMC7889649)

  • Cassels S. (2020) “Time, population mobility, and HIV transmission.” The Lancet HIV: 7(3): e151-e152. (PMCID: PMC7167507)

  • Camlin C, Cassels S, Seeley J. (2018) “Editorial: Bringing population mobility into focus to achieve HIV prevention goals.” JIAS: Journal of the International AIDS Society 21(S4):e25136. (PMCID: PMC6053544)

  • Cassels S, Camlin C, Seeley. (2018) “One Step Ahead: timing and sexual networks in population mobility and HIV prevention and care.” JIAS: Journal of the International AIDS Society 21(S4):e25140. (PMCID: PMC6053478)

  • Cassels S, Jenness SM, Biney AAE, Dodoo FN. (2017) “Geographic mobility and potential bridging for sexually transmitted infections in Agbogbloshie, Ghana.” Social Science & Medicine 184: 27-39. (PMCID: PMC5525941)

  • Cassels S, Camlin CS. (2016) “Geographical mobility and heterogeneity of the HIV epidemic.” The Lancet HIV 3(8): e339-e341.

  • Cassels S, Jenness SM, Biney AAE, Ampofo WK, Dodoo FN. (2014) “Migration, sexual networks, and HIV in Agbogbloshie, Ghana.” Demographic Research 31: 861-888. (PMCID: PMC4214381)

  • Cassels S, Jenness SM, Khanna A. (2014) “Conceptual Framework and Research Methods for Migration and HIV Transmission Dynamics.” AIDS & Behavior 18(12): 2302-2313. (PMCID: PMC4029933)

  • Cassels S, Manhart L, Jenness S, and Morris M. (2013) “Short-term mobility and increased partnership concurrency among men in Zimbabwe.” PLoS ONE 8(6): e66342.

 

Epidemic models of HIV: The second main area of my research is constructing and simulating mathematical models of HIV transmission dynamics. My niche is incorporating network structure and detailed behavior in these models so that they represent complex social and behavioral determinants. These models typically answer two types of questions: which determinants of HIV transmission are the most important in ongoing transmission, and what impact could an intervention have on the system? My current modeling project examines rapid HIV self-testing strategies on HIV incidence among men who have sex with men.

  • Hamilton DT, Katz DA, Luo W, Stekler JD, Rosenberg ES, Sullivan PS, Goodreau SM, Cassels S. (2021). “Effective strategies to promote HIV self-testing for men who have sex with men: evidence from a mathematical model.” Epidemics 37: 100518

  • Cassels S, Van Den Abbeele S. (2021). “A call for epidemic modeling to examine historical and structural drivers of racial disparities in infectious disease.” Social Science & Medicine 276:113833. (PMCID: PMC8168281)

  • Luo W, Katz DA, Hamilton DT, McKenney J, Jenness SM, Goodreau SM, Stekler JD, Rosenberg ES, Sullivan PS, Cassels S. (2018) “Development of an agent-based model to investigate the impact of HIV self-testing programs on men who have sex with men in Atlanta and Seattle.” JMIR Public Health and Surveillance 4(2):e58.   (PMCID: PMC6045793)

  • Katz DA, Cassels S, Stekler JD. (2014) “Replacing Clinic-based Tests with Home-use Tests May Increase HIV Prevalence among Seattle Men Who Have Sex with Men: Evidence from a Mathematical Model.” Sexually Transmitted Diseases 41(1): 2-9. (PMCID: PMC3955208)

  • Goodreau SM, Cassels S, Kasprzyk D, Montaño D, Greek A, and Morris M. (2012) “Concurrent partnerships, Acute Infection and HIV Epidemic Dynamics among Young Adults in Zimbabwe.” AIDS and Behavior 16(2): 312-322.

  • Cassels S and Goodreau SM. (2011) “Interaction of mathematical modeling and social and behavioral HIV/AIDS research.” Current Opinion of HIV/AIDS 6:119–123.

  • Cassels S, Menza TW, Goodreau SM, and Golden MR. (2009) “HIV serosorting as a harm reduction strategy: Evidence from Seattle, Washington.” AIDS 23(18): 2497-2506. (PMCID: PMC2886722)

  • Cassels S, Clark SJ, and Morris M. (2008) “Mathematical Models for HIV Transmission Dynamics: Tools for social and behavioral science research.” JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 47(Supplement 1): S34 – S39. (PMCID: PMC3387534)

 

Sexual behavior, sexual networks, and infectious disease epidemiology

  • Lee J, Cassels S. (2020) “Immigrant generational differences in social support and sexual risk behaviors among men who have sex with men in Seattle, Washington.” AIDS Education and Prevention 32(4): 282-295.

  • Cassels S, Jenness SM, Biney AAE. (2019) “Coital frequency and male concurrent partnerships during pregnancy and postpartum in Agbogbloshie, Ghana.” AIDS and Behavior: 23(6): 1508-1517 (PMCID: PMC6536330)

  • Jenness SM, Biney AAE, Ampofo WK, Dodoo FN, Cassels S. (2015) “Minimal Coital Dilution in Accra, Ghana.” JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 69(1): 85-91.

  • Pearson CR, Cassels S. (2014) “Place and sexual partnership transition among young American Indian and Alaska Native Women.” AIDS & Behavior. 18(8): 1443-1453.

  • Cassels S and Katz DA. (2013) “Seroadaptation among men who have sex with men: emerging research themes.” Current HIV/AIDS Reports 10(4): 305-313.

  • Cassels S, Pearson CR, Walters K, Simoni JM, and Morris M. (2010) “Sexual partner concurrency and sexual risk among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender American Indian/Alaska Natives.” Sexually Transmitted Diseases 37(4): 272-278. (PMCID: PMC3118268)

  • Cassels S and Singer B. (2010) “Population Decline Induced by Gonorrhea and Tuberculosis Transmission: Micronesia during the Japanese Occupation, 1919 – 1945.” Journal of Population Research 27(4): 293-313. (PMCID: PMC3109672)

 

Population, health, and environment

  • Tuholske C, Tane Z, López-Carr D, Roberts D, Cassels S. (2017) “Thirty Years of Land Use/Cover Change in the Caribbean: Assessing the Relationship between Urbanization and Mangrove Loss in Roatán, Honduras.” Applied Geography 88: 84-93.

  • de Sherbinin, A, Carr D, Cassels S, and Jiang L. (2007) “Population and Environment.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 32: 345 – 373. (PMCID: PMC2792934)

  • Cassels S. (2006). “Overweight in the Pacific: Links between Foreign Dependence, Global Food Trade, and Obesity in the Federated States of Micronesia.” Globalization and Health 2(10): 1-8. (PMCID: PMC1533815)

  • Cassels S, Curran SR, and Kramer R. (2005). “Do migrants degrade coastal environments? Migration, natural resource extraction and poverty in North Sulawesi, Indonesia.” Human Ecology 33(3): 329-363.

 

© Susan Cassels 2015 All right reserved.