Sara Tamers

Research Fellow

Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Sara L. Tamers, PhD MPH is a 3rd year post-doctoral research scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), in the National Cancer Institute Harvard Education program in Cancer Prevention and Control. Her research addresses the impact of the socio-environmental context on lifestyle factors that influence cancer risk. Dr. Tamers is particularly interested in interpersonal influences on obesogenic behaviors, and in cross-country comparisons of stressful life events on health behaviors. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Health Services (Cancer Prevention and Control) at the University of Washington-Seattle in 2010, while she was a Bio-behavioral Cancer Prevention and Control Fellow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Dr. Tamers received a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in Montreal, Québec, Canada in 2002 and a Master of Public Health from California State University-Northridge in 2005. Prior to arriving at HSPH and DFCI, she was a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Fellow in tobacco control at l’Institut National de Prévention et d’Éducation pour la Santé in Paris, France, and a two-time Cancer Research Training Award Fellow at the NIH’s National Cancer Institute.

Current projects:

• With researchers at the Paris-based Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Dr. Tamers is examining alcohol and smoking trajectories with changes in stressful life events using the French GAZEL cohort. The GAZEL cohort consists of 20,625 employees of the French national gas and electricity company who were recruited in 1989 to complete annual mailed self-administered health questionnaires.
• Dr. Tamers is assessing the impact of risk perceptions on physical activity and BMI in the Health in Common Study. The Health in Common study (PI: Dr. Glorian Sorensen) was a NCI-funded four-year research study that examined cancer risks among ethnic/racial minority, low-income housing residents in Cambridge, Chelsea, and Somerville, Massachusetts.
• Dr. Tamers is also involved in the planning of health promotion and disease prevention programs at the worksite. In the Department of Medical Oncology, at the Center for Community-Based Research at DFCI, she participates in multi-disciplinary research teams to develop and test work-based health promotion interventions. Projects include a study to prevent musculoskeletal injuries and increase healthy practices among patient care workers in Massachusetts’ hospitals. Another study aims to prevent musculoskeletal injuries, increase physical activity, and reduce tobacco consumption among construction workers, in the greater Boston area.

Peer-reviewed publications:

Sorensen, G., Allen, J., Adamkiewicz, G., Yang, M., Tamers, S., Stoddard, A. (2013). Intention to Quit Smoking and Concerns about Household Environmental Risks: Findings from the Health in Common Study in Low-Income Housing. Cancer Causes and Control (e-pub)

Tamers, S., Okechukwu, C., Allen, J., Yang, Stoddard, A., Tucker-Seeley, R., Sorensen, G. (2013). Are social relationships a healthy influence on obesogenic behaviors among racially/ethnically diverse and socio-economically disadvantaged residents? Prev Med 56(1):70-4.This article was highlighted: 1) as a press release by SBM to 70+ academic and non-academic sources, 2) as a press release by the Harvard School of Public Health and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (spotlighted in the DFCI “Inside the Institute” May 1, 2012 issue), and 3) on MDLinx http://www.mdlinx.com/nurse-practitioner/news-article.cfm/4421177

Okechukwu C., El Ayadi, A., Tamers, S., Sabbath, E., & Berkman, L. (2011). Household food insufficiency, financial strain, work-family strain, and depressive symptoms in the working class: Results from the Work Family and Health study. American Journal of Public Health, 102(1):126-33. This article was highlighted: 1) in the news release for the Jan 2012 issue of AM J Public Health, and 2) as a press release on the Harvard School of Public Health website.

Tamers, S., Beresford, S.A.A., Cheadle, A., Yingye, Z., Bishop, S., Thompson, B.  (2011). The association between worksite social support, diet, physical activity, and body mass index. Preventive Medicine, 53(1-2):53-6.

Tamers, S., Beresford, S.A.A., Thompson, B., Yingye, Z., Cheadle, A. (2011). Exploring the role of co-worker social support on health care utilization and sickness absence. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 53(7):751-7.

Tamers, S., Agurs-Collins, T., Dodd, K., Nebeling, L. (2009). U.S. and France adult fruit and vegetable consumption patterns: an international comparison. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 63(1):11-7.

Manuscripts under review:

Tamers, S., Okechukwu, C., Bohl, A., Guéguen, A., Goldberg, M., Zins, M. The impact of stressful life events on excessive alcohol consumption in the French population: findings from the GAZEL cohort study. (PLOS One)

Tamers, S., Allen, J., Yang, M., Stoddard, A., Harley, A., Sorensen, G. Do risk perceptions motivate behavior change? Exploring the relationship between physical activity and body mass index among low-income housing residents (Preventive Medicine)

Allen, J., Eicher-Caspi, C., Yang, M., Stoddard, A., Tamers, S., Tucker-Seeley, R., Sorensen, G. Pathways between acculturation, health behaviors and social contextual factors among residents of low-income housing. (American Journal of Public Health)

Sabbath, E., Okechukwu, C., Hurtado, D., Tamers, S., Nelson, C., Wagner, G., Sorensen, G.  Occupational injury among hospital patient-care workers: What is the association with non-physical workplace violence? (American Journal of Industrial Medicine)