Department of Epidemiology Faculty

Thomas Tucker, MPH,Ph.D.
Associate Professor
859-219-0773 ext. 225
tct@kcr.uky.edu    

Curriculum Vitae

Thomas C. Tucker is the Chair of the Epidemiology Department in the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky and he is the Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control at the Markey Cancer Center.  In addition, he is the Director of the Kentucky Cancer Registry.  Dr. Tucker is the past President of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.  He has also served as a member of the National Coordinating Council for Cancer Surveillance in the U.S. and the Canadian Council of Cancer Registries.  Professor Tucker chaired the committee which established certification standards for population-based cancer surveillance programs in North America.  He is actively engaged in population-based cancer research at the state, national and international levels.  He is the Principle Investigator for the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program in Kentucky; and the Principal Investigator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Program of Cancer Registries in Kentucky.  Professor Tucker is an active contributor to the cancer control literature.  His articles appear in publications such as:  The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Archives of Internal Medicine, Oncology, Primary Care and Cancer, The Journal of Rural Health and The Journal of Registry Management.  He received the American Association of Community Cancer Center’s Award for outstanding contributions, the University of Kentucky’s O’Donnell Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Graduate Student, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registry’s highest honor, the Calum Muir Award for lifetime contributions to the science of cancer surveillance. Dr. Tucker's research includes examination of variations in the patterns of care for stage III colorectal cancer in Kentucky, an exploration of human growth factors as they relate to colon cancer, studies of factor related to the high cervical cancer incidence and mortality in Appalachian Kentucky, and exploration of methods for estimating the completeness of case ascertainment in population-based cancer registries.

Research Interests

Dr. Tucker's research includes examination of variations in the patterns of care for stage III colorectal cancer in Kentucky, an exploration of human growth factors as they relate to colon cancer, studies of factor related to the high cervical cancer incidence and mortality in Appalachian Kentucky, and exploration of methods for estimating the completeness of case ascertainment in population-based cancer registries.