Sarah E. Piombo, PhD MPH

I’m a postdoctoral reseach fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. My research focuses on using social network analysis across the cancer continuum to understand how social networks impact health outcomes and can be leveraged in interventions.

· Social Network Analysis

I believe that many public health issues can benefit from taking a network level approach to gain insight on the social dynamics that impact health behaviors and outcomes.I use social network analysis to understand the individual and structural factors that give rise to public health issues. I use network analytic techniques to determine pathways for interventions with the objective of optimizing intervention outcomes by leveraging the preexisting network structure.

· I've analyzed network influence on a variety of health behaviors and outcomes including cigarette use, e-cigarettes/vaping, marijuana use, BMI, physical activity, social support among cancer patients, physician referral patterns, and women's health. In addition to my academic work, I have applied these methods to other settings including team dynamics in corporate organizations and inter-organization collaboration networks.

Ph.D. Preventive Medicince (Health Behavior Research)

2019 - 2024 · Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

MPH, emphasis in Biostatistics & Epidemiology

2016 - 2018 · University of Southern California

B.S. in Public Health Science and Psychology

2012 - 2016 · Santa Clara University

Journal Articles

Piombo SE, Vega Yon GG, & Valente TW. 2025. The Impact of Social Norms on Diffusion Dynamics: A Simulation of E-Cigarette Use Behavior. Health Education & Behavior.

Piombo SE, de la Haye K, & Valente TW. 2025. Network dynamics of social influence on e-cigarette use among an ethnically diverse adolescent cohort. Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Piombo SE, Barrington-Trimis J, & Valente TW. 2023. Impact of social networks and norms on e-cigarette use among adolescents in Southern California: a prospective cohort study. BMJ Public Health.

Valente TW, Piombo SE, Edwards KM, Waterman EA, & Banyard VL. 2023. Influences on Adolescent E-cigarette Use. Substance Use and Misuse.

Piombo SE,* Stal J,* Kysh L, Kagramanov D, Freyer DR, Turner BJ, Hempel S, & Miller KA. 2022. The integration of primary care and childhood cancer survivorship care: A scoping review. J. of Cancer Survivorship.

Piombo SE, Miller KA, Freyer DR, Milam J, Ritt-Olson A, In GK, Valente TW. 2022. Social Networks of Oncology Clinicians as a Means for Increasing Survivorship Clinic Referral. Communications Medicine.

Piombo SE, Huh J, Valente TW. 2022. Adolescent Body Mass Index and Exposure to Peers with Overweight and Obesity: A Structural Equation Model Approach to Longitudinal Network Data. Childhood Obesity.

Piombo SE, Miller KA, Alderete K., Egan A, Golingay S, Valente TW. 2020. Evaluation of a Nurse-Delivered Pre-Chemotherapy Educational Intervention to Increase Knowledge and Reduce Anxiety Among Ethnically Diverse Patients. Journal of Cancer Education.

I’m well versed in social network methodology and have experience analyzing both sociometric and egocentric network data. I regularly use exponential random graph models (ERGMs), stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOM/RSIENA), and multilevel modeling techniques.