University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Logo University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health

Wendy Nembhard, Ph.D., MPH, FACE

Professor and Chair of Epidemiology
Location: RAHN 6223
Phone: 501-526-6682
Email: wnnembhard@uams.edu
 

Director, Arkansas Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention
Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, College of Medicine
Investigator, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute
Investigator, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

Education

2000 – Ph.D. in Epidemiology, University of Texas at Houston, School of Public Health, Texas
1997 – M.P.H. in International and Family Health, University of Texas at Houston, School of Public Health, Texas
1994 – B.A. in Biology/Pre-Medicine, Wesleyan College, Georgia

Research Interests

Birth defects, stillbirths, infant mortality, preterm birth and low birthweight; racial/ethnic disparities in perinatal outcomes; pediatric cancer, long-term outcomes in children and adults with birth defects, and fetal origins of adult chronic diseases

Courses Taught

  • EPID 5112 Epidemiology Methods I
  • EPID 5322 Epidemiology Methods II
  • EPID 6121 Principles and Practice of Public Health Surveillance

Recent Publications

  1. Downing KF, Klewer SE, Nembhard WN, Goudie A, Oster ME, Farr SL. Healthcare and Socioeconomic Outcomes Among Young Adults with Congenital Heart Defects and Functional Cognitive Disabilities, CH STRONG 2016 to 2019. Am J Cardiol. 2023 Aug 15;201:229-231. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2023.05.074. Epub 2023 Jun 28.
  2. Wong EC, Lupo PJ, Desrosiers TA, Nichols HB, Smith SM, Poole CP, Canfield MA, Shumate C, Plon S, Chambers T, Schraw J, Nembhard WN, Yazdy MM, Nestoridi E, Janitz A, Olshan AF (2023) Associations between birth defects with neural crest cell origins and pediatric embryonal tumors. Cancer. 2023 Jul 11. doi: 10.1002/cncr.34952. Online ahead of print.
  3. Patel JR, Amick BC, Vyas KS, Bircan E+, Boothe D+ and Nembhard WN. (2023) Gender Disparities in Symptomatology and Outcomes of COVID-19 among Adults in Arkansas. Prev Med Reports 2023 Jun 23;35:102290. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102290. eCollection 2023 Oct.
  4. Bascom JT, Stephens SB, Lupo PJ, Canfield MA, Kirby RS, Nestoridi E, Salemi JL, Mai CT, Nembhard WN, Forestieri NE, Romitti PA, St Louis AM, and Agopian AJ Scientific impact of the National Birth Defects Prevention Network multistate collaborative publications. Birth Defects Res. 2023 Jul 26. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2225. Online ahead of print.
  5. Judge A, Kramer MR, Downing KF, Andrews JG, Oster ME, Benavides A, Nembhard WN, Farr SL. (2023) Neighborhood social deprivation and healthcare utilization, disability, and comorbidities among young adults with congenital heart defects: Congenital Heart Survey to Recognize Outcomes, Needs, and Well-Being 2016-2019. Am Heart J 2023 Aug 14. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2239. Online ahead of print.
  6. Blue EE, White JJ, Dush MK, Gordon WW, Wyatt BH, White P, Marvin CT, Helle E, Ojala T, Priest JR, Jenkins MM, Almli LM, Reefhuis J, Pangilinan F, Brody LC, McBride KL, Garg V, Shaw GM, Romitti PA, Nembhard WN, Browne ML, Werler MM, Kay DM, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, University of Washington Center for Mendelian Genomics, Mital S, Nickerson DA, Chong JX, Nascone-Yoder NM, Bamshad MJ. Rare variants in CAPN2 increase risk for isolated hypoplastic left heart HGG Adv. 2023 Aug 12;4(4):100232. doi: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2023.100232. eCollection 2023 Oct 12.
  7. Pruitt Evans S, Ailes EC, Kramer MR, Reefhuis J, Insaf TZ, Yazdy MM, Carmichael SL, Romitti PA, Feldkamp ML, Neo DT, Nembhard WN, Shaw GM, Palmi E, Gilboa SM, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. (2023) Neighborhood Deprivation and Neural Tube Defects. Epidemiology. 2023 Nov 1;34(6):774-785. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001655. Epub 2023 Sep 26.
  8. Krajewski AK, Patel A, Gray CL, Messer LC, Keeler CY, Langlois PH, Reefhuis J, Gilboa SM, Werler MM, Shaw GM, Carmichael SL, Nembhard WN, Insaf TZ, Feldkamp ML, Conway KM, Lobdell DT, Desrosiers TA, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. (2023) Is gastroschisis associated with county-level residential environmental quality during pregnancy? 2023 Sep 29. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2250. Online ahead of print.
  9. Barry MC, Pathak EB, Swanson J, Cen R, Menard J, Salemi JL, and Nembhard WN. Epidemiology of COVID-19 in Infants in the United States: Incidence, Severity, Fatality and Variants of Concern. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2023 Dec 20. doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000004201. Online ahead of print.
  10. Patel J, Politis MD, Howley MM, Browne ML, Bolin EH, Ailes EC, Johnson CY, Magann E, Nembhard WN, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Fever and Antibiotic Use in Maternal Urinary Tract Infections during Pregnancy and Risk of Congenital Heart Defects: Findings from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Birth Defects Res. 2023 Dec 13. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2281. Online ahead of print.
  11. Stallings EB, Isenburg JL, Rutkowski RE, Kirby RS, Nembhard WN, Sandidge T, Villavicencio S, Nguyen HH, McMahon D, Nestoridi E, Pabst LJ for the National Birth Defects Prevention Network. (2024) National population-based estimates for major birth defects, 2016–2020 Birth Def Res 2024 Jan;116(1):e2301. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.2301.

Selected  Publications

  1. Gilboa SM, Devine OJ, Kucik JE, Oster ME, Riehle-Colarusso T, Nembhard WN, Xu P, Correa A, Jenkins K, and Marelli AJ. (2016) Congenital Heart Defects in the United States – Estimating the Magnitude of the Affected Population in 2010 Circulation 2016 Jul 12;134 (2):101-9. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.019307. Epub 2016 Jul 5.
  2. Nembhard WN, Tang X, Hu Z, MacLeod S, Stowe Z, +Webber D and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. (2017) Maternal and infant genetic variants, maternal periconceptional use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and risk of congenital heart defects in offspring: population-based study. British Medical Journal BMJ. 2017 Mar 6;356:j832. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j832.
  3. Nembhard WN, Tang X, Li J, MacLeod S, +Levy J, Schaefer GB, Hobbs CA and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. (2018) Do Paternal Genetic Variants Increase Risk of Conotruncal Heart Defects in their Children? A Parent-Of-Origin Analysis Am J Med Gen 2018 Feb 5. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.38611.
  4. Lupo PJ, Schraw JM, Desrosiers TA, Nembhard WN, Langlois PH, Canfield MA, Copeland G, Meyer RE, Brown AB, Chambers TM, Danysh HE, Carozza SE, Sisoudiya SD, Hilsenbeck SG, Janitz AE, Oster M, Scheuerle AE, Schiffman JD, Luo C, Mian A, Mueller BA, Rasmussen SA, Scheurer ME and Plon SE (2018) Cancer Risk among Children and Adolescents with Birth Defects: A Population-Based Assessment in 10 Million Live Births JAMA Oncology Jun 20. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.1215.
  5. Bakker MK, Bergman JEH, Krikov S, Amar E, Cocchi G, Cragan J, de Walle HEK, Gatt M, Groisman B, Liu S, Nembhard WN, Pierini A, Rissmann A, Chidambarathanu S, Sipek A Jr, Szabova E, Tagliabue G, Tucker D, Mastroiacovo P, and Botto LD. (2019) Prenatal Diagnosis and Prevalence of Critical Congenital Heart Defects: an International Retrospective Cohort Study BMJ Open 2019;9:e028139. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-028139
  6. Nembhard WN,* Bergman JEH*, +Politis MD, Bermejo Sánchez E, Canfield MA, Contiero P, Cragan JD, Dastgiri S, de Walle HEK, Feldkamp M, Nance A, Groisman B, Gatt M, Hurtado Villa PM, Kallén K, Landau D, Lelong N, Lopez-Camelo JS, Martinez L, Morgan M, Mutchinick OM, Pierini A, Rissmann A, Šípek A, Szabova E, Wertelecki W, Zarante I, Bakker MK, Kancherla V, Mastroiacovo P for the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research (2020) A Multi-Country Study of Prevalence and Under Age 5 Mortality among Children Born with Omphalocele, 1974-2014. Birth Defects Res 2020 Oct 17. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.1822. Online ahead of print. *both authors contributed equally
  7. Patel J, +Bircan E,Tang X, Orloff M, Hobbs CA, Browne ML, Botto LD, Finnell RH, Jenkins MM, Olshan A, Romitti PA, Shaw GM, Werler M, Li J, Nembhard WN and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. (2021). Paternal Genetic Variants and Risk of Obstructive Heart Defects: A Parent-of-Origin Approach. PLoS Genetics. 2021 Mar 8;17(3):e1009413. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009413. eCollection 2021 Mar.
  8. Bolin EH, Gokun Y, Romitti PA, Tinker SC, Summers AD, Roberson PK, Hobbs CA, Malik S, Botto LD, Nembhard WN and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. (2021) Maternal Smoking and Congenital Heart Defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011. J Pediatrics 2022 Jan;240:79-86.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.09.005. Epub 2021 Sep 8.
  9. Rashkin SR, Cleves M, Shaw GM, Nembhard WN, Nestoridi E, Jenkins MM, Romitti PA, Lou XY, Browne ML, Mitchell LE, Olshan AF, Lomangino K, Bhattacharyya S, Witte JS, Hobbs CA and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. A genome-wide association study of obstructive heart defects among participants in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (2022) Am J Med Gen A. 2022 Apr 22. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.62759. Online ahead of print.
  10. Richard MA, Patel J, Benjamin RH, +Bircan E, Canon SJ, Marengo LK, Canfield MA, Agopian AJ, Lupo PJ, and Nembhard WN. Prevalence and Clustering of Congenital Heart Defects among Boys with Hypospadias (2022) JAMA Open Network 2022 Jul 1;5(7):e2224152. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.24152.
  11. Norton JC, Politis MD, Bimali M, Vyas KS, +Bircan E, Nembhard WN, Amick B, Koturbash I.  (2022) Analysis of COVID-19 Pandemic on Supplement Usage and its Combination with Self-Medication within the State of Arkansas. J Diet Suppl2022 Sep 30:1-28. doi: 10.1080/19390211.2022.2128500. Online ahead of print.