Positions

Overview

  • After receiving a BS in Mathematics from Tennessee Wesleyan College and an MS in Mathematics from Tennessee Technological University, I attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for my PhD in Biostatistics. My doctoral research proposed the marginalized zero-inflated Poisson model, focusing on providing marginal inference for count data with excess zeroes.

    I joined the UAB Department of Biostatistics in July 2016. My research interests include categorical data analysis, selection bias in cohort studies, and more generally, the application of novel statistical methods to public health research. I have collaborated across many disciplines, most recently in stroke and diabetes epidemiology, psychology, and injury prevention.

    I am the lead methodological statistician for the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, a cohort of over 30,000 black and white US adults over 45 at enrollment targeting better understanding of the excess burden of stroke among black Americans. I am also the Deputy Director of the Statistical and Data Coordinating Center for a PCORI-funded group-randomized controlled trial assessing the effect of post-stroke coordinated care.
  • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2023 Comparison of Intimate Partner Violence and Correlates at Urgent Care Clinics and an Emergency Department in a Rural PopulationInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.  20. 2023
    2023 Risk Factors for Incident CKD in Black and White Americans: The REGARDS Study.American Journal of Kidney Diseases2023
    2023 D-dimer and the risk of hypertension: The REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke Cohort Study.Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis.  7:100016. 2023
    2023 Longitudinal associations of anticholinergic medications on cognition and possible mitigating role of physical activityJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2023
    2022 Epigenome-wide DNA methylation profiling of conditioned pain modulation in individuals with non-specific chronic low back painClinical Epigenetics.  14. 2022
    2022 Persistence of Depressive Symptoms and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease With and Without Diabetes: Results from the REGARDS StudyJournal of General Internal Medicine.  37:4080-4087. 2022
    2022 Differences in the Association of Select Dietary Measures With Risk of Incident Type 2 DiabetesDiabetes reviews (Alexandria, Va.).  45:2602-2610. 2022
    2022 Spike-and-slab least absolute shrinkage and selection operator generalized additive models and scalable algorithms for high-dimensional data analysisStatistics in Medicine.  41:3899-3914. 2022
    2022 Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) is Associated with Movement-Evoked Pain Severity in Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain: Sociodemographic Differences.Pain Forum.  23:1437-1447. 2022
    2022 Evaluation of associations between estimates of particulate matter exposure and new onset type 2 diabetes in the REGARDS cohortJournal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.  32:563-570. 2022
    2022 Trends in diagnosed hypertension prevalence by geographic region for older adults with and without diagnosed diabetes, 2005–2017Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications.  36. 2022
    2022 C-reactive Protein and Racial Differences in Type 2 Diabetes Incidence: The REGARDS StudyJournal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.  107:E2523-E2531. 2022
    2022 Comparing Global and Spatial Composite Measures of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Across US Counties 2022
    2022 Nucleosides Associated With Incident Ischemic Stroke in the REGARDS and JHS CohortsNeurology.  98:E2097-E2107. 2022
    2022 Neighborhood Socioeconomic Environment and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Associations and Mediation Through Food Environment Pathways in Three Independent Study SamplesDiabetes reviews (Alexandria, Va.).  45:798-810. 2022
    2022 How Selection Over Time Contributes to the Inconsistency of the Association Between Sex/Gender and Cognitive Decline Across Cognitive Aging CohortsAmerican Journal of Epidemiology.  191:441-452. 2022
    2022 Pro-neurotensin/Neuromedin N and Hypertension Risk: A Prospective StudyAmerican Journal of Hypertension.  35:281-288. 2022
    2022 The association between neighborhood social and economic environment and prevalent diabetes in urban and rural communities: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study 2022
    2022 Biomarkers as MEDiators of racial disparities in risk factors (BioMedioR): Rationale, study design, and statistical considerationsAnnals of Epidemiology.  66:13-19. 2022
    2022 Plasma Pro-Enkephalin A and Ischemic Stroke Risk: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke CohortJournal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases.  31. 2022
    2022 Racial Differences in 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D and Self-Reported Pain Severity in a Sample of Individuals Living with Non-Specific Chronic Low Back PainJournal of Pain Research.  15:3859-3867. 2022
    2022 The Area Deprivation Index Corresponds Effectively With Other Measures of Objective Socioeconomic Status in Adults With Chronic LowJournal of Nursing Measurement.  30:433-448. 2022
    2021 Correlates of a southern diet pattern in a national cohort study of blacks and whites: The REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study 2021
    2021 Sleep and neighborhood socioeconomic status: a micro longitudinal study of chronic low-back pain and pain-free individualsJournal of Behavioral Medicine.  44:811-821. 2021
    2021 Study protocol: developing and evaluating an interactive web platform to teach children hunting, shooting and firearms safety: a randomized controlled trialBMC Public Health.  21. 2021
    2021 Temporal summation of mechanical pain prospectively predicts movement-evoked pain severity in adults with chronic low back painBMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.  22. 2021
    2021 Spike-and-Slab LASSO Generalized Additive Models and Scalable Algorithms for High-Dimensional Data Analysis 2021
    2021 Feasibility and Acceptability of Guided Imagery to Sequentially Address Multiple Health Behaviors During Pregnancy 2021
    2021 Pro-Neurotensin/Neuromedin N and Risk of Incident Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes Mellitus in the REGARDS CohortJournal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.  106:E3483-E3494. 2021
    2021 Sex and Race Differences in the Risk of Ischemic Stroke Associated With Fasting Blood Glucose in REGARDSNeurology.  97:E684-E694. 2021
    2021 C-Reactive Protein and Incident Hypertension in Black and White Americans in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Cohort StudyAmerican Journal of Hypertension.  34:698-706. 2021
    2021 Does the Association Between Hemoglobin A1c and Risk of Cardiovascular Events Vary by Residential Segregation? The REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) StudyDiabetes reviews (Alexandria, Va.).  44:1151-1158. 2021
    2021 N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide and longitudinal risk of hypertensionAmerican Journal of Hypertension.  34:476-483. 2021
    2021 Sex Differences in Factors Contributing to the Racial Disparity in Diabetes RiskAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine.  60:e169-e177. 2021
    2021 Evaluating disparities in child occupant protection using a proportion-eliminated approach to mediationTraffic Injury Prevention.  22:252-255. 2021
    2020 The diabetes location, environmental attributes, and disparities network: Protocol for nested case control and cohort studies, rationale, and baseline characteristicsJMIR Research Protocols.  9. 2020
    2020 Race, Social Status, and Depressive SymptomsClinical Journal of Pain.  36:658-666. 2020
    2020 Race, social status, and depressive symptoms: A moderated mediation analysis of chronic low back pain interference and severityEuropean Journal of Pain.  36:658-666. 2020
    2020 Variations in booster seat use by child characteristicsJournal of Safety Research.  74:89-95. 2020
    2020 Injuries on the youth soccer (football) field: Do additional referees reduce risk? randomized crossover trialJournal of Pediatric Psychology.  45:759-766. 2020
    2020 Quantifying enhanced risk from alcohol and other factors in polysubstance-related deathsForensic Science International.  313. 2020
    2020 Racial differences in sleep duration intersect with sex, socioeconomic status, and U.S. geographic region: The REGARDS studySleep Health.  6:442-450. 2020
    2020 Parenting stress and family resilience affect the association of adverse childhood experiences with children's mental health and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorderJournal of Affective Disorders.  272:104-109. 2020
    2020 Black–white differences in cardiovascular disease mortality: A prospective US study, 2003–2017American Journal of Public Health.  110:696-703. 2020
    2020 Correction: Association of baseline inflammatory biomarkers with cancer mortality in the REGARDS cohort.Oncotarget.  11:758. 2020
    2020 Erratum: Association of baseline inflammatory biomarkers with cancer mortality in the REGARDS cohort (Oncotarget (2019) 10 (4857-4867) DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.27108)Oncotarget.  11:758. 2020
    2020 Perceived injustice helps explain the association between chronic pain stigma and movement-evoked pain in adults with nonspecific chronic low back painPain Medicine.  21:3161-3171. 2020
    2020 The Diabetes Location, Environmental Attributes, and Disparities Network: Protocol for Nested Case Control and Cohort Studies, Rationale, and Baseline Characteristics (Preprint)JMIR Research Protocols2020
    2019 C-reactive protein and stroke risk in blacks and whites: The REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke cohortAmerican Heart Journal.  217:94-100. 2019
    2019 Average area under the curve: An alternative method for quantifying the dental caries experience in longitudinal studiesCommunity Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology.  47:441-447. 2019
    2019 Does the association of diabetes with stroke risk differ by age, race, and sex? Results from the reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke (REGARDS) studyDiabetes reviews (Alexandria, Va.).  42:1966-1972. 2019
    2019 Oblique random survival forestsAnnals of Applied Statistics.  13:1847-1883. 2019
    2019 Association of baseline inflammatory biomarkers with cancer mortality in the REGARDS cohortOncotarget.  10:4857-4867. 2019
    2019 An investigation of selection bias in estimating racial disparity in stroke risk factorsAmerican Journal of Epidemiology.  188:587-597. 2019
    2019 Associations between cardiovascular disease, cancer, and very low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the REasons for Geographical and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) studyCardioscience.  115:204-212. 2019
    2019 Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality in Adults Aged ≥60 Years According to Recommendations by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and American College of Physicians/American Academy of Family PhysiciansHypertension.  73:327-334. 2019
    2018 Associations between very low concentrations of low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, and health outcomes in the Reasons for Geographical and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) studyEuropean Heart Journal.  39:3641-3653. 2018
    2018 Association of Clinical and Social Factors with Excess Hypertension Risk in Black Compared with White US AdultsJournal of the American Medical Association.  320:1338-1348. 2018
    2018 Comparison of carotid plaque burden among healthy middle-aged men living in the US, Japan, and South KoreaInternational Journal of Cardiology.  266:245-249. 2018
    2018 Can Adolescent Drivers’ Motor Vehicle Crash Risk Be Reduced by Pre-Licensure Intervention?Journal of Adolescent Health.  62:341-348. 2018
    2018 Pre-diagnostic biomarkers of metabolic dysregulation and cancer mortalityOncotarget.  9:16099-16109. 2018
    2018 “Trending” statistical methodsResearch and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis.  2:186-187. 2018
    2017 Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome in West Virginia Substate Regions, 2007-2013Journal of Rural Health.  33:92-101. 2017
    2017 Contributors to the Excess Stroke Mortality in Rural Areas in the United StatesStroke.  48:1773-1778. 2017
    2017 Self-Reported Stroke Risk StratificationStroke.  48:1737-1743. 2017
    2017 Matching the Statistical Model to the Research Question for Dental Caries Indices with Many Zero CountsCaries Research.  51:198-208. 2017
    2017 Two-part and related regression models for longitudinal dataAnnual Review of Statistics and Its Application.  4:283-315. 2017
    2017 Comparison of biological screening and diagnostic indicators to detect in utero opiate and cocaine exposure among mother-infant dyadsTherapeutic Drug Monitoring.  39:640-647. 2017
    2016 Characterization of drug and alcohol use among senior drivers fatally injured in U.S. motor vehicle collisions, 2008–2012Traffic Injury Prevention.  17:788-795. 2016
    2016 Additive Effects of Cointoxicants in Single-Opioid Induced Deaths 2016
    2016 Brief Report: The association of graduated driver licensing with nondriver transport-related injuries among adolescentsEpidemiology.  27:620-623. 2016
    2016 Center Variation in the Delivery of Indicated Late Preterm BirthsAmerican Journal of Perinatology.  33:1008-1016. 2016
    2016 Association of graduated driver licensing with driver, non-driver, and total fatalities among adolescentsAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine.  51:63-70. 2016
    2016 Marginalized zero-inflated negative binomial regression with application to dental cariesStatistics in Medicine.  35:1722-1735. 2016
    2016 Medication use and the risk of motor vehicle collision in West Virginia drivers 65 years of age and older: A case-crossover studyBMC Research Notes.  9. 2016
    2016 The effect of education on oral health students' attitudes in Australia and New ZealandEuropean Journal of Dentistry.  10:491-495. 2016
    2015 A marginalized zero-inflated Poisson regression model with random effects 2015
    2015 Parent and Metabolite Opioid Drug Concentrations in Unintentional Deaths Involving Opioid and Benzodiazepine CombinationsJournal of Forensic Sciences.  60:950-956. 2015
    2015 Characterization of Diphenhydramine-Related Accidental Overdose Deaths 2015
    2015 Blood Levels of the Heavy Metal, Lead, and Caries in Children Aged 24-72 Months: NHANES IIICaries Research.  49:26-33. 2015
    2014 A marginalized zero-inflated Poisson regression model with overall exposure effectsStatistics in Medicine.  33:5151-5165. 2014
    2014 Dental hygiene students' perceptions of older adultsJournal of Dental Education.  78:1623-1628. 2014
    2014 Influence of powder composition and morphology on penetration of gray and white proroot mineral trioxide aggregate and calcium hydroxide into dentin tubulesJournal of Oral Science.  56:287-293. 2014
    2013 Urinary follicle-stimulating hormone as a measure of natural fertility in a community cohortReproductive Sciences.  20:549-556. 2013
    2013 Cervical mucus monitoring prevalence and associated fecundability in women trying to conceiveFertility and Sterility.  100. 2013
    2012 In replyObstetrics and Gynecology.  120:1209-1210. 2012
    2012 Review and recommendations for zero-inflated count regression modeling of dental caries indices in epidemiological studiesCaries Research.  46:413-423. 2012
    2012 Statistical analysis of dental caries: Different methods for different outcomesCaries Research.  46:424. 2012
    2012 Effect of vaginal lubricants on natural fertilityObstetrics and Gynecology.  120:44-51. 2012
    2011 Midgestation maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1/placental growth factor ratio as predictors of severe preeclampsiaHypertension.  58:1120-1125. 2011
    2011 Cryotherapy and topical minocycline as adjunctive measures to control pain after third molar surgery: An exploratory studyJournal of oral surgery, anesthesia, and hospital dental service.  69. 2011

    Investigator On

  • Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID Research (C4R)  awarded by Columbia University
  • Comparative Effectiveness Randomized Trial to Improve Stroke Care Delivery: C3FIT: Coordinated, Collaborative, Comprehensive, Family-based, Integrated, and Technology-enabled Care  awarded by VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
  • Diet Interventions, by Race, Evaluated as Complementary Treatments for Pain (DIRECTPain)  awarded by National Institute of Nursing Research/NIH/DHHS
  • Educational Trajectories & Health: When People Finish School and How It Matters  awarded by UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (MERCED)
  • Etiology of Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke  awarded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH/DHHS
  • Prioritizing County-Level Social Determinants that Contribute to the Greater Burden of Diabetes and Hypertension in the US  awarded by National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promo./CDC/DHHS
  • Private Grant  awarded by AMGEN, INC.^
  • Promoting Transportation Safety in Adolescence  awarded by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development/NIH/DHHS
  • RESTORE ( Addressing Social Determinants to Prevent Hypertension) Network  awarded by NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
  • Racial and Socioeconomic Differences in Chronic Low Back Pain  awarded by NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES/NIH/DHHS
  • Sex, Hormones and Identity Affect Nociceptive Expression (SHINE)  awarded by National Institute of Nursing Research/NIH/DHHS
  • ShootSafe: An Interactive Web Platform to Teach Children Hunting, Shooting and Firearms Safety  awarded by CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/DHHS
  • VCID and Stroke in Bi-Racial National Cohort  awarded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH/DHHS
  • Education And Training

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Biostatistics, University of North Carolina System : Chapel Hill 2013
  • Full Name

  • D. Leann Long