Biography
I am passionate about epidemiology because I find joy in using data to better understand and improve the world. I am an epidemiologist with experience in applied epidemiology, academic research, working with community members, and publishing peer-reviewed manuscripts. I chose this profession because I believe data can be transformed into real-world change.
My current interests are addressing health disparities, health policy, social determinants of health, chronic disease, life-course epidemiology, and epidemiological methods. I am interested in applying causal inference methods to real-world, local, and public health problems.
I grew up in Albuquerque New Mexico, which is an important part of who I am. Before becoming an epidemiologist, I was an Emergency Medical Technician for seven years, which was a pivotal experience that taught me why the work we do in public health is so important.
Areas of Specialty
Epidemiological Methods
Social Epidemiology
Applied Epidemiology
Chronic Disease
Graduate: MPH at The University of New Mexico
Doctoral: PhD in Epidemiology with a focus on Social Epidemiology at the University of Miami
Certifications
New Mexico EMT-I (Inactive)
Key Publications
Elfassy, T., Swift, S.L., Glymour, M.M., Calonico, S., Jacobs Jr, D.R., Mayeda, E.R., Kershaw, K.N., Kiefe, C. and Zeki Al Hazzouri, A., 2019. Associations of income volatility with incident cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in a US cohort: 1990 to 2015. Circulation, 139(7), pp.850-859.
Swift, S.L., Elfassy, T., Bailey, Z., Florez, H., Feaster, D.J., Calonico, S., Sidney, S., I. Kiefe, C.I., and Zeki Al Hazzouri, A. (2020) "Association of negative financial shocks during the Great Recession with depressive symptoms and substance use in the USA: the CARDIA study." J Epidemiol Community Health.
Swift, S. L., Bailey, Z., & Al Hazzouri, A. Z. (2019). Improving the Epidemiological Understanding of the Dynamic Relationship Between Life Course Financial Well-Being and Health. Current Epidemiology Reports, 1-6.
Swift, S.L., Glymour, M.M., Elfassy, T., Lewis, C., Kiefe, C.I., Sidney, S., Calonico, S., Feaster, D., Bailey, Z. and Al Hazzouri, A.Z., 2019. Racial discrimination in medical care settings and opioid pain reliever misuse in a US cohort: 1992 to 2015. PloS one, 14(12).
Swift, S. L., Sotres-Alvarez, D., Raij, L., Wassertheil-Smoller, S., Schneiderman, N., Llabre, M., ... & Elfassy, T. (2024). Associations between sodium, potassium, and blood pressure: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, a prospective cohort study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Gender
Male
Courses Taught
- Social Epidemiology (PH 524)
- Population Health Theory (PH 221)
- Introduction to Epidemiology and Biostatistics (PH 502)
- Introduction to Epidemiology and Biostatistics Lab (PH 538)
- Causal Inference Methods in Epidemiology (PH 621)