Finding the neighborhoods where disease lives

Infectious Disease Fellow John “Jack” Flores, MD

The University of Chicago has afforded John “Jack” Flores, MD, not only intensive training for an academic research career, but an entire center devoted to his field of study—geographic information systems (GIS), or spatial analytics. “The University of Chicago’s Center for Spatial Data Science offers a plethora of resources and mentors in this field, which is why I wanted to do my fellowship here,” said Flores. 

He is in his second year of a four-year combined adult and pediatric infectious disease fellowship and will devote his final two years to research, funded by a T32 Primary Care Investigators Training in Chronic Disease and Health Disparities (PITCH) Fellowship sponsored by the University of Chicago’s Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy. The PITCH Fellowship is awarded to researchers who want to improve health outcomes and care delivery for patients with chronic diseases from underserved backgrounds. “Disenfranchised populations often have the highest rates of complications of infectious diseases, such as HIV and STIs,” said Flores, who plans to use spatial analytics methodology to create targeted STI interventions and screening to those living in neighborhoods with the greatest need. The fellowship will also allow Flores to pursue a master of science in public health sciences for clinical professionals at the University of Chicago.

One research project he recently completed involved mapping gonorrhea incidence among childbearing women in Chicago. Using de-identified data from the Chicago Department of Public Health, Flores looked for associations between women who tested positive for gonorrhea and adverse perinatal factors, such as low birth weight, preterm labor and infant mortality. He then mapped the neighborhoods that had high rates of gonorrhea and adverse birth outcomes. “In neighborhoods with high rates of these adverse outcomes, it’s important for providers to test pregnant women for gonorrhea and other STIs,” he said. 

For his primary research projects, under the guidance of infectious diseases researcher John Schneider, MD, MPH, Flores plans to use spatial analytic software to study the epidemiology of the rise of primary and congenital syphilis in the city. He will also analyze spatial associations behind a rise in methamphetamine use among high-risk, minority LBGTQIA adolescent and young adults.