Headshot of Dr. Allison Plaxco

Dr. Allison Plaxco

Visiting Assistant Professor of Data Science
  • Profile

    Dr. Plaxco is a biostatistician with expertise in epidemiology, applied data analysis, and novel clustering methods. Her recent areas of research include community-level vaccine effectiveness of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, county- and sub-county level economic impact of COVID-19 death, epidemiology of sickle cell disease, and novel clustering approaches for grouped-vaiable data applications. She earned her PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and her MPH in Biostatistics from the University of Memphis, as well as a BS in Economics from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

  • Publications
    Journal Articles

    Plaxco AP, Kmet J, Nolan VG, Taylor M, Smeltzer MP. Real-world association between mRNA vaccination and infection from the Omicron strain of SARS-CoV-2: A population-level analysis. AJPM Focus. 2022:100010. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.focus.2022.100010.

    Smeltzer MP, Reeves S, Cooper WO, Attell BK, Strouse JJ, Takemoto C, Kanter J, Latta K, Plaxco A, Davis RL, Hatch D, Reyes C, Dombkowski K, Snyder A, Paulukonis S, Singh A, Kayle M. Common data model for sickle cell disease surveillance: considerations and implications. JAMIA Open. 2023;6(2):ooad036. Published 2023 May 27. doi:10.1093/jamiaopen/ooad036 

    Plaxco AP, Kmet J, Nolan VG, Taylor M, Smeltzer MP. Association between mRNA vaccination and infection from SARS-CoV-2 during the Delta and Omicron BA.1 waves: A population-level analysis. AJPM Focus. 2023;2(4). doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.focus.2023.100150

    Plaxco AP, Hankins JS, Davis RL, Dudley J, Young AJ, Mukhopadyay A, Carroll YM, Aguinaga M, Takemoto CM, Nolan VG, Ray MA, Wiese A, Amosun TA, Cooper WO, Smeltzer MP. Descriptive epidemiology of sickle cell disease in Tennessee: Population-based estimates from 2008 to 2019. Front. Hematol. 2023;2. doi: 10.3389/frhem.2023.1277548 

    Kayle M, Blewer AL, Pan W, Rothman JA, Polick CS, Rivenbank J, Fisher E, Reyes C, Strouse JJ, Weeks S, Desai JR, Snyder AB, Zhou M, Sutaria A, Valle J, Horiuchi SS, Sontag MK, Miller JI, Singh A, Dasgupta M, Jason IA, Galadanci N, Miles A, Reeves SL, Latta K, Hurden I, Cromartie SJ, Plaxco AP, Mukhopadhyay A, Smeltzer MP, Hulihan M. Birth Prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease and County-Level Social Vulnerability - Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, 11 States, 2016-2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2024;73(12):248-254. Published 2024 Mar 28. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7312a1 

    Reeves SL, Plegue M, Patel PN, Paulukonis ST, Horiuchi SS, Zhou M, Attell BK, Pace BS, Snyder AB, Plaxco AP, Mukhopadhyay A, Smeltzer MP, Ellimootil CS, Hulihan M. Assessing Patterns of Telehealth Use Among People with Sickle Cell Disease Enrolled in Medicaid During the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Telemed J E Health. Published online April 11, 2024. doi:10.1089/tmj.2023.0422 

    Book Chapters
    Plaxco AP, Kmet J, Li L, Rice R, Subramanya C, Sweat D, Haushalter A, Taylor M, Tang L, Smith J, Mori M, Armstrong GT, Nyindodo LA, Jain M, Johnson KC, Thomas F. The Use of Geographic Information Systems to Shape COVID Policies Regarding Masking and Distancing with a Partially Vaccinated Population. In: Ozdenerol E, editor. The Role of GIS in Covid-19 Management and Control. Boca Raton, FL: Routledge/CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group; 2023. ISBN 9781032129754. URL: https://www.routledge.com/The-Role-of-GIS-in-Covid-19-Management-and-Control/Ozdenerol/p/book/9781032129754