Contact Information

Biography

Dr. Linkov is a multidisciplinary researcher with research interests in molecular epidemiology, cancer, prevention, health systems research, global health, scientific communications, and research productivity. In the area of molecular epidemiology, her work focused on the use of biological tumor markers to detect malignancies at early stages and on the link between obesity, biobehavioral factors, and cancer. Dr. Linkov's longitudinal investigations have made significant contributions to the emerging view that intentional weight loss may play a significant role in the prevention of malignancies and normalization of aging associated biomarkers, especially through inflammatory pathways.

Dr. Linkov has been also focusing on the development of improved patient-centered approaches for translating scientific knowledge about disease prevention into clinical practice. With the support of Beckwith Foundation, she developed several projects focusing on health services research, which involved patient stakeholders. These efforts resulted in several important publications in the area of hysterectomy pathways and the impact of healthcare algorithms on the quality of care.

Dr. Linkov's interest in science education lead her to be one of the core developers of the Supercourse of Science project at the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. This effort focused on expanding teaching efforts in the developing countries in four key areas, including Global Health, Agriculture, Environmental Science, and Engineering. Because of her concern about low scientific productivity in the developing world, she became the founding editor in chief of the Central Asian Journal of Global Health (cajgh.pitt.edu), the journal envisioned to provide publishing opportunities to scientists in the developing world.

Dr. Linkov's research career has been extremely productive with over 100 original research publications and reviews. She has been a recipient of multiple grants and awards, including a Mentored Research Award from the American Cancer Society, Phi Beta Psi Sorority Foundation Department of Defense, Scaife Foundation, CDC, Hillman Foundation, USAID, Government of Kazakhstan, and NATO.

Education

  • Ph.D., Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 2005
  • MPH, Behavioral and Community Health Science, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 2001
  • B.S. Psychology, University of Pittsburgh

Research Interests or Expertise

  • Global health
  • Cancer epidemiology, cancer biomarkers
  • Women's health
  • Health services research
  • Scientific productivity

School

About

  • Linkov F, Valappil B, McAfee J, Goughnour SL, Hildrew DM, McCall AA, Linkov I, Hirsch B, Syderman C. Development of an evidence-based decision pathway for vestibular schwannoma treatment options. Am J Otolaryngol. 2017 Jan-Feb; 38(1): 57-64. doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto 2016.09.019. PMID: 27780583
  • Adambekov S, Goughnour SL, Mansuria SM, Donnellan N, Elishaev E, Villanueva HJ, Edwards RP, Bovbjerg DH, Linkov F. Patient and provider factors associated with endometrial Pipelle sampling failure. Gynecol Oncol. 2017 Feb; 144(2): 324-328. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2016.11.041. PMID: 27912906
  • Linkov F, Goughnour SL, Edwards RP, Lokshin A, Ramanathan RC, Hamad GG, Bovbjerg DH. Endometrial cancer associated biomarkers in bariatric surgery candidates: Exploration of racial differences. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2017 May; 13(5): 862-868. doi: 10.1016/j.soard. 2017.01.024. PMID: 28256392
  • Linkov F, Sanei-Moghaddam A, Edwards RP, Lounder PJ, Ismail N, Goughnour SL, Kang C, Mansuria SM, Comerci JT. Implementation of hysterectomy pathway: Impact on complications. Womens Health Issues. 2017 Jul-Aug; 27(4): 493-498. doi: 10.1016/j.whi. 2017.02.004. PMID: 28347618
  • Freese KE, Althouse AD, Ramanathan R, Edwards RP, Bovbjerg DH, Linkov F. Presurgery weight loss goals, depressive symptoms, and weight loss among women undergoing bariatric surgery. Bariatr Surg Pract Patient Care. 2017 Jun; 12(2): 67-71. doi: 10.1089/ bari.2016.0038. PMID: 2866099
  • Linkov F, Goughnour SL, Ma T, Xu Z, Edwards RP, Lokshin AE, Ramanathan RC, Hamad GG, McCloskey C, Bovbjerg DH. Changes in inflammatory endometrial cancer risk biomarkers in individuals undergoing surgical weight loss. Gynecol Oncol. 2017 Oct;147(1):133-138 doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2017.07.144. PMID: 28797697
  • Sanei-Moghaddam A, Kang C, Edwards RP, Lounder PJ, Ismail N, Goughnour SL, Mansuria SM, Comerci JT, Linkov F. Racial and socioeconomic disparities in hysterectomy route for benign conditions. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2017 Aug. doi: 10.1007/s40615-017-0420-7. PMID: 28840507
  • Sanei-Moghaddam A, Goughnour S, Edwards R, Comerci J, Kelley J, Donnellan N, Linkov F, Mansuria S. Hysterectomy Pathway as the Global Engine of Practice Change: Implicatoins for Value in Care Cent Asian J Glob Health. 2017 Sep 25;6(1):299. doi: 10.5195/cajgh.2017.299. PMID:29138742
  • Yi Y, Bryce CL, Adambekov S, Edwards RP, Goughnour SL, Linkov F. Cost-effectiveness analysis of biopsy strategies for endometrial cancer diagnosis in women with postmenopausal bleeding: Pipelle sampling curette versus dilation & curettage Gynecol Oncol. 2018 Jul;150(1):112-118. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2018.04.565. Epub 2018 May 7. PMID: 29747864
  • Linkov F, Goughnour SL, Adambekov S, Lokshin A, Kelley JL, Sukumvanich P, Comerci JT, Marra K, Kokai L, Rubin JP, Vlad A, Philips BJ, Edwards RP. Inflammatory biomarker expression in adipose stem cells of women with endometrial cancer Biomarkers in Medicine 2018 Sep;12(9):945-952. doi: 10.2217/bmm-2017-0355. Epub 2018 Jul 25.
  • Petticord V, Simhan H, Goughnour S, Sakamoto S, Serra A, Zabielski M, Linkov F Quality Improvement in obstetric hemorrhage care: Improving access to hemorrhage carts and medications across a large multi-hospital network provisionally accepted at the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health. JMWH-17-321
  • Amin W, Linkov F, Landsittel D, Silverstein JC, Becich MJ Factors Influencing Malignant Mesothelioma Survival in the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank Cohort F1000Research 2018, 7:1184 2018 [revised 2019 Jan 1];7:1184. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.15512.3. eCollection 2018. PMID:30410729
  • Tseytlin E, Linkov F, Castine M, Legowski E, Jacobson RS Domain builder-The knowledge authoring system for SlideTutor ITS F1000 Research https://f1000research.com/articles/7-1721/v1
  • Linkov F, Donnellan N, Mansuria S, Comerci J, Edwards RP, Adambekov S Engaging stakeholders to produce sustainable change in surgical practice NEJM Catalyst December 12, 2018 https://catalyst.nejm.org/decision-support-clinical-pathway-surgery/
  • Adambekov S, Linkov F Comment on: Bariatric surgery improved the employment rate in people with obesity :2-year analysis Invited Editorial Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases Online December 12, 2018. pii: S1550-7289(18)31319-4. doi:
  • Linkov F, Silverstein JC, Davis M, Crocker B, Hao D, Schneider A, Schwenk M, Winters S, Zelnis J, Lee AV, Becich MJ. Integration of Cancer Registry Data into the Text Information Extraction System: Levereaging the Structured Data Import Tool J Pathol Inform. 2018 Dec 24;9:47. doi: 10.4103/jpi.jpi_38_18. eCollection 2018.30662793
    10.1016/j.soard.2018.12.010.
  • Lu N, Adambekov, S, Goughnour SL, Edwards RP, Hamad GG, Ramanathan RC, Gourash W, Bovbjerg DH, Linkov F Relationships between a history of abuse, changes in BMI, physical health, and self-reported depression in female bariatric surgery patients Bariatric Surgical Practice and Patient Care 2019 Sep 1; 14 (3):113-119. https://doi.org/10.1089/bari.2018.0051
  • Lei M, Linkov F. Comment on: "Barriers to bariatric surgery: factors influencing progression to bariatric surgery in the a U.S. metropolitan area". Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2019 Apr 4. pii: S1550-7289(19)30058-9. doi: 10.1016/j.soard.2019.02.013. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 31130405
  • Adambekov S, Yi Y, Fabio A, Miljkovic I, Edwards RP, Lopa S, Linkov F. Metabolic Syndrome in Endometrial Cancer Patients: Systemic Review Metab Syndr Relat Disord. 2019 Jun;17(5):241-249. doi: 10.1089/met.2018.0106. Epub 2019 Mar 30. PMID: 30932741
  • Lei M, Linkov F. Comment on: Preoperative functional health status as a predictor of short-term postoperative morbidity and mortality following bariatric surgery Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2019 May Volume 15, Issue 5, Page e17 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2019.03.023
  • Linkov F, Edwards RP, Adambekov S, Harris J, Mansuria SM. Implementing same-day discharge after hysterectomy within a large, multi-hospital healthcare system (1L) Obstetrics & Gynecology: May 2019 - Volume 133 - Issue - p 128S-129S doi: 10.1097/01.AOG/01.AOG.0000559235.11557.a7 May 4, 2019 (published abstract)
  • Adambekov S, Linkov F Comment on: Bariatric surgery improves the employment rate in people with obesity: 2-year analysis. Editoria comment Surg Obes Rlat Dis Volume 15 Issue 2, pE7-E8 February 2019
  • Linkov F, Adambekov S, Qi M, Harris John, Mansuria S, Edwards RP, Patient outcomes in a large hospital system during the implementation of a same day discharge for hysterectomies (160P) Obstetrics & Gynecology: May 2019 - Volume 133 - Issue - p S1-2 doi: 10.1097/01.AOG.0000559074.07831.65Linkov F, Khanijahani A, Swanson-Biearman B, Akinci F Remote Internship: Practical Approaches to Sustaining Student Internships Amid Public Health Epidemics Journal of Health Administration Education Vol 31, number 1, Spring 2021, pp. 363-376(14)
  • Linkov F, Akinci F Is Universal Health Coverage an Option? Journal of Health Care Finance VOL. 47 (SPECIAL FEATURE 2), WINTER 2021
  • Coyne JS, Singh SG, Hisenrath P, Linkov F Public Health Practices for Pandemic Management in the Biden Administration: A Five Point Plan VOL. 47 (SPECIAL FEATURE 2), WINTER 2021
  • Kaiyrlykyzy A, Linkov F, Foster F, Bapayeva G, Ukybassova T, Aimagambetova G, Kenbayeva K, Ibrayimov B, Lyasova A, Terzic M. Pipelle endometrial biopsy for abnormal uterine bleeding: do patient's pain and anxiety really ipact on sampling success rate? BMC Womens Health. 2021 Nov 12;21(1):393. doi: 10.1186/s12905-021-01526-8.PMID: 34772384
  • Tanko NM, Linkov F, Bapayeva G, Ukybassova T, Kaiyrlykyzy A, Aimagambetova G, Kenbayeva K, Ibrayimov B, Lyasova A, Terzic M.J Pipelle Endometrial Biopsy for Abnormal Unterine Bleeding in Daily Clinical Practice: Why the Approach to Patients Should Be Personalized Pers Med. 2021 Sep 28;11(10):970. doi: 10.3390/jpm11100970.
  • HADM 101 - Introduction to Healthcare Administration
  • HADM 508 - Health Services Research Methods and Statistics
  • HLTS 430/530 - Principles of Research
  • HADM 541 - Managerial Epidemiology
  • HADM 544 - Health Promotion
  • HADM 530 - Directed Study
  • HADM 560 - MHA Capstone Project