Administrative Title

MPH Program Director
Assistant Professor

Office Address

3939 Woodward Ave
Suite 313
Detroit, MI 48201

Biography

Dr. Rachel Mahas serves as the MPH Program Director and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences at Wayne State University School of Medicine. Her research primarily focuses on community outreach and engagement strategies that promote health equity in health-related behaviors, with a particular emphasis on the cancer continuum, from screening through survivorship.

Dr. Mahas has published research with data from the National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey, examining health information seeking behaviors and cancer beliefs associated with multivitamin/mineral use. She has also contributed to the body of knowledge on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake, publishing in the journal Family Practice on cervical cancer prevention in the United States and United Kingdom.

Dr. Mahas has extensive expertise in developing health education curricula. She has earned over 10 Quality Matters certificates and has led the creation of numerous courses in public health and nursing. Dr. Mahas was awarded the WSU Online Course Quality Fellowship by the Office of the Provost. Additionally, she is a site visitor for the Council on Education for Public Health.

Please see Dr. Mahas' CV. 

Education Training

Ph.D., Health Education, University of Toledo, School of Population Health, Toledo, OH
Cognate: Epidemiology

M.S., Basic Medical Sciences, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit, MI

M.P.H., Community Health, Georgia Southern University, Savannah, GA

B.S., Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Savannah, GA
with Honors

Interests

Cancer disparities, health behavior research, community outreach and engagement strategies, survey methodology, curriculum development and evaluation.

Publications

Selected:

Mahas, R., Neale, A.V.. Cervical cancer prevention in the United States and United Kingdom: where are we now and what's next?. Family Practice. 03/2022. PubMed PMID: 35348683. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmac018.

Knippen KL, Mahas R, Van Wasshenova E. Outcome Expectancies, Health Information Seeking, and Cancer Beliefs Associated with Multivitamin/Mineral Use in a National Sample, HINTS-FDA 2015. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 08/01/2020;120(8):1368-1376. PubMed PMID: 32061553. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2019.12.008.

Murray AB, Boardley D, Wasshenova EV, Mahas R, Kiviniemi MT, Tipton J, Geers AL. Affective determinants of physical activity in cancer survivors. Psychology & health. 05/01/2020;35(5):593-612. PubMed PMID: 31657226. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2019.1658761.

Mahas R, Sheu JJ, Singh S, Jordan T, Geers A. Racial/ethnic disparities, body weight, and psychosocial antecedents that predict women's failure to meet Pap test screening national recommendations. Translational Cancer Research. 2016;5(5):S983-S992. doi: 10.21037/tcr.2016.10.76.

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