Blake BuchalterPhD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health
Associate Scientist · O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center · Center for Clinical and Translational Science · Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education
I’m a geospatial epidemiologist. My research pairs classical epidemiology with geographic information science to study patterns of chronic disease and the geospatial factors that shape disease burden, population level etiology, and health outcomes.
Much of my work quantifies population health in small areas, linking granular patient and geospatial data to localize the study of chronic disease and inform where community interventions, funding, and policy should go. Right now I’m focused on geospatial studies of cancer, especially the rapidly unfolding epidemic of early onset cancers, alongside neighborhood spatial modeling of disease and spatial approaches to describing access to care. My work appears in journals including Gastroenterology, the American Journal of Public Health, Neurology, the Lancet Regional Health Americas, and the American Journal of Transplantation.
Research focus
- 01Geospatial epidemiology of cancer, with an emphasis on the early onset cancer epidemic
- 02Neighborhood spatial modeling of chronic disease
- 03Spatial access to health services and cancer care
- 04Cancer disparities across colorectal, breast, lung, and prostate
- 05Chronic kidney disease and transplantation
Selected publications
Peer reviewed, most recent first · author shown in bold
Buchalter RB, Brown NI, Bhargava M, et al. Neighborhood geographic disparities in colorectal, prostate, breast, and lung cancer risk in Alabama. Journal of Cancer Survivorship. 2026. doi ↗
Buchalter RB, Rose J, Dalton JE, Gunsalus PR, Khorana AA, Schmit SL. Spatial access to cancer care providers in NCI designated cancer center catchment areas. JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics. 2026;10:e2500166. doi ↗
Buchalter RB, Gunsalus PR, Blazel MM, Kenyhercz MW, Dalton JE. Disparities in multimodal spatial access to primary and specialty care in U.S. neighborhoods: a cross sectional and temporal analysis of health services. PLOS One. 2025;20(9):e0330427. doi ↗
Boakye K, Iyanda A, Buchalter RB. A spatial approach to uncovering the socioenvironmental injustice of noise pollution. Local Environment. 2025.
Snider‑Hoy NG, Buchalter RB, Hastert TA, et al. Social and environmental burden is associated with increased colorectal cancer mortality in metropolitan Detroit. Cancer Research Communications. 2025;5(4).
Schmit SL, Loroña NC, Sobieski D, … Buchalter RB, et al. Building research infrastructure to advance precision medicine in colorectal cancer. JNCI Cancer Spectrum. 2025;pkaf027.
Wilkerson AD, Gentle C, Sajankila N, … Buchalter RB, et al. Association between geospatial disparities in food security with weight loss and nutritional outcomes of metabolic surgery. Surgical Endoscopy. 2024. doi ↗
Buchalter RB, Stern MC, Mendez JS, et al. Identification of priorities for colorectal cancer screening interventions among US Hispanic/Latino populations. American Journal of Public Health. 2024;114(S6):S515. doi ↗
Buchalter RB, Mohan S, Schold JD. Geospatial modeling methods in epidemiological kidney research: an overview and practical example. Kidney International Reports. 2024. doi ↗
McGinley MP, Harvey T, Lopez R, Ontaneda D, Buchalter RB. Geographic disparities in access to neurologists and multiple sclerosis care in the United States. Neurology. 2024;102(2):e207916. doi ↗
Bilen Y, Schold JD, Arrigain S, Buchalter RB, Huml AM. Relationship of social deprivation among living kidney donor and recipient pairs. Transplantation Direct. 2024;10(1):e1559. doi ↗