Heather Marie Gardiner

Heather Marie Gardiner

  • College of Public Health

    Social and Behavioral Sciences

    Director, Health Disparities Research Lab

    Professor

Office Location

Ritter Annex (RA 954)

Phone

215-204-8330

Biography

Heather Gardiner is a professor of social and behavioral sciences in Temple University’s College of Public Health. Dr. Gardiner directs the Health Disparities Research Lab and the Office of Community Engaged Research and Practice, which leads growth of the college’s interdisciplinary community engagement activities. She is a mixed-methodologist with advanced training and experience with both qualitative and quantitative research designs and methodologies, including the development and implementation of protocols for in-depth and focus group interviews, inductive and deductive qualitative coding schemas and processes, structured and semi-structured surveys, and advanced statistical methods (e.g., structural equation modeling, multivariable analyses). Her program of research lies at the intersection of interpersonal health communication and organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Across these areas of research, her primary goals have been to improve the organ and tissue donation process in the United States, reduce transplant inequities, and increase access to transplantation for marginalized communities. She has a strong record of externally funded research to increase access to transplants for underserved minority populations, for which community engagement remains a core component. Dr. Gardiner has served as principal or co-investigator on over 20 externally funded grants, representing over $15 million in funding. For these projects, she has developed scripts for simulated patient-provider encounters; casted and trained actors; designed curricula for web-based educational/training programs; and led the implementation and evaluation of those programs. She has served as primary instructor for 12 communication and public health courses, delivering guest lectures and workshops on various topics and over 100 invited or peer-reviewed oral and poster presentations, and (co)authoring 50 scientific manuscripts. She has also supervised or advised over 40 undergraduate and graduate students; mentored postdoctoral scholars, junior faculty and medical residents; and currently supervises a staff of seven.

Very early in her career, she realized the importance of ensuring the research process and resulting products are relevant and of value to the intended recipients—the stakeholders. Over the last 15 years, she has developed a deep passion for community engagement and community-engaged research. She has engaged relevant stakeholders (patients, lay community members, leadership from faith-, health- and community-based organizations) at various levels of participation—from advising capacities to authentic partners in the research enterprise.

Education

  • PhD, Communication, State University of New York at Buffalo
  • MPH, Social and Behavioral Health, Virginia Commonwealth University
  • MA, Communication, State University of New York at Buffalo
  • BA, English, State University of New York at Buffalo

Curriculum Vitae 

Labs: Health Disparities Research Lab

Selected Publications

  • Paulus, K., Bass, S.B., Cabey, W., Singley, K., Luck, C., Hoadley, A., Kerstetter, M., Rotaru, A., Knight, E., Murali, S., Verma, S., Wilson-Shabazz, I., & Gardiner, H. (2024). Using cluster analysis to explore COVID-19 vaccine booster hesitancy by levels of medical mistrust in fully vaccinated US adults. Ann Med, 56(1), p. 2401122. England. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2024.2401122

  • Crabbe, D.L., Richardson, B.T., Hausman, A., & Gardiner, H. (2023). COVID-19: An opportunity to engage African Americans and women in research on cardiovascular disease. J Natl Med Assoc, 115(5), pp. 482-487. United States. doi: 10.1016/j.jnma.2023.07.007

  • Gardiner, H., Siminoff, L., Gordon, E.J., Alolod, G., Richardson, B., Schupler, M., Benitez, A., Hernandez, I., Guinansaca, N., Ramos, L., Bergeron, C.D., Pappaterra, L., Norden, R., & Daly, T. (2023). Direct and Indirect Effects of a Web-Based Educational and Communication Skills Intervention "Promotoras de Donación" to Increase Donor Designation in Latinx Communities: Evaluation Study. J Med Internet Res, 25, p. e37140. Canada. doi: 10.2196/37140

  • Alolod, G.P., Gardiner, H.M., Blunt, R., Yucel, R.M., & Siminoff, L.A. (2023). Organ Donation Willingness Among Asian Americans: Results from a National Study. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities, 10(3), pp. 1478-1491. Switzerland. doi: 10.1007/s40615-022-01333-3

  • Gillespie, A., Daw, J., Brown, R., Cappiello, J., Lee, B.E., Fink, E.L., Gardiner, H.M., Reese, P.P., Gadegbeku, C.A., & Obradovic, Z. (2023). Dialysis Patients' Social Networks and Living Donation Offers. Kidney Med, 5(6), p. 100640. United States. doi: 10.1016/j.xkme.2023.100640

  • Nonterah, C.W., Utsey, S.O., Gupta, G., Wilkins, S., & Gardiner, H.M. (2023). A Nominal Group Technique Study of Patients Who Identify as Black or African American and Access to Renal Transplantation. Prog Transplant, 33(2), pp. 141-149. United States. doi: 10.1177/15269248231164164

  • Zisman-Ilani, Y., Khaikin, S., Savoy, M.L., Paranjape, A., Rubin, D.J., Jacob, R., Wieringa, T.H., Suarez, J., Liu, J., Gardiner, H., Bass, S.B., Montori, V.M., & Siminoff, L.A. (2023). Disparities in Shared Decision-Making Research and Practice: The Case for Black American Patients. Ann Fam Med, 21(2), pp. 112-118. United States. doi: 10.1370/afm.2943

  • Siminoff, L.A., Alolod, G.P., Davis, E.E., McGregor, H.R., Litsas, D.C., Sarwer, D.B., Mulvania, P.A., Hasz, R.D., & Gardiner, H.M. (2022). Evaluation of an eLearning System to Train Health Professionals to Communicate about Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation with Donor Families. Prog Transplant, 32(3), pp. 233-240. United States. doi: 10.1177/15269248221107040

  • Siminoff, L.A., Chansiri, K., Alolod, G., & Gardiner, H.M. (2022). Culturally Tailored and Community-Based Social Media Intervention to Promote Organ Donation Awareness among Asian Americans: "Heart of Gold." J Health Commun, 27(7), pp. 450-459. United States. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2022.2119445

  • Bass, S.B., Hollin, I.L., Kelly, P.J., Alhajji, M., D’Avanzo, P., Maurer, L., Gillespie, A., Schatell, D., & Gardiner, H. (2022). Perceptions of Live Donor Kidney Transplantation Using Segmentation Analysis and Perceptual Mapping to Understand Differences by Self-Reported Health Status in People on Dialysis. Frontiers in Communication, 6, p. 785186. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.785186

  • Sarwer, D.B., Siminoff, L.A., Gardiner, H.M., & Spitzer, J.C. (2022). The psychosocial burden of visible disfigurement following traumatic injury. Front Psychol, 13, p. 979574. Switzerland. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.979574

  • Gardiner, H.M., Davis, E.E., Alolod, G.P., Sarwer, D.B., & Siminoff, L.A. (2022). A mixed-methods examination of public attitudes toward vascularized composite allograft donation and transplantation. SAGE Open Med, 10, p. 20503121221125379. England. doi: 10.1177/20503121221125379

  • Gordon, E.J., Gardiner, H., Siminoff, L.A., Kelly, P.J., Agu, C., Urbanski, M., Alolod, G.P., Benitez, A., Hernandez, I., Guinansaca, N., Winther, L.R., Bergeron, C.D., Kim, R., Montalvo, A., & Gonzalez, T. (2021). Donor Designation Among Mature Latinas and Lay Health Educators (Promotoras): A Mixed-Methods Study. Health Educ Behav, 48(6), pp. 805-817. United States. doi: 10.1177/1090198120976351

  • Crabbe, D.L., Hausman, A., Richardson, B., Castillo, E., Confair, A., Islam, S., Tajeu, G., Johnson, K., & Gardiner, H. (2021). Building Capacity for a Patient-Centered Research Agenda on Racial and Sex-Specific Cardiovascular Disease Disparities in COVID-19. CIRCULATION, 144. Retrieved from http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/

  • Crabbe, D.L., Hausman, A., Richardson, B., Castillo, E., Confair, A., Islam, S., Tajeu, G., Johnson, K., & Gardiner, H. (2021). Abstract 11896: Building Capacity for a Patient-Centered Research Agenda on Racial and Sex-Specific Cardiovascular Disease Disparities in COVID-19. Circulation, 144(Suppl_1). doi: 10.1161/circ.144.suppl_1.11896

  • Siminoff, L.A., Mash, D., Wilson-Genderson, M., Gardiner, H.M., Mosavel, M., & Barker, L. (2021). Making a family decision to donate the brain for genomic research: lessons from the genotype-tissue expression project (GTEx). Cell Tissue Bank, 22(3), pp. 431-441. Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/s10561-020-09890-9

  • Zisman-Ilani, Y., Siminoff, L.A., Savoy, M.L., Paranjape, A., Liu, J., Jacob, R.A., Gardiner, H.M., Bass, S.B., Montori, V.M., & Rubin, D.J. (2021). Unmet Communication Needs and Barriers of Black and African Americans with Type 2 Diabetes. DIABETES, 70. doi: 10.2337/db21-519-P

  • Siminoff, L.A., Alolod, G.P., Gardiner, H.M., Hasz, R.D., Mulvania, P.A., & Wilson-Genderson, M. (2021). A Comparison of the Content and Quality of Organ Donation Discussions with African American Families Who Authorize and Refuse Donation. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities, 8(2), pp. 485-493. Switzerland. doi: 10.1007/s40615-020-00806-7

  • Gillespie, A., Fink, E.L., Gardiner, H.M., Gadegbeku, C.A., Reese, P.P., & Obradovic, Z. (2021). Does Whom Patients Sit Next to during Hemodialysis Affect Whether They Request a Living Donation? Kidney360, 2(3), pp. 507-518. United States. doi: 10.34067/KID.0006682020

  • Gillespie, A., Gardiner, H.M., Fink, E.L., Reese, P.P., Gadegbeku, C.A., & Obradovic, Z. (2020). Does Sex, Race, and the Size of a Kidney Transplant Candidate's Social Network Affect the Number of Living Donor Requests? A Multicenter Social Network Analysis of Patients on the Kidney Transplant Waitlist. Transplantation, 104(12), pp. 2632-2641. United States. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000003167

  • Siminoff, L.A., Alolod, G.P., Davis, E.E., Sarwer, D.B., & Gardiner, H.M. (2020). Vascularized composite allotransplantation: Knowledge and attitudes of a national sample of organ procurement organization professionals. Clin Transplant, 34(11), p. e14071. Denmark. doi: 10.1111/ctr.14071

  • Macvean, E., Yuen, E.Y.n., Tooley, G., Gardiner, H.M., & Knight, T. (2020). Attitudes of intensive care and emergency physicians in Australia with regard to the organ donation process: A qualitative analysis. J Health Psychol, 25(10-11), pp. 1601-1611. England. doi: 10.1177/1359105318765619

  • Siminoff, L.A., Gardiner, H.M., Alolod, G.P., & Wilson-Genderson, M. (2020). Using Online Communication Skills Training to Increase Organ Donation Authorization. Prog Transplant, 30(3), pp. 212-219. United States. doi: 10.1177/1526924820933846

  • Nonterah, C.W. & Gardiner, H.M. (2020). Pre-transplant evaluation completion for Black/African American renal patients: Two theoretical frameworks. Patient Educ Couns, 103(5), pp. 988-998. Ireland. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2019.11.005

  • Urbanski, M., Inaganti, S., Agu, C., Sarwer, D., & Gardiner, H. (2020). Body Mass Index as a Patient Selection Criterion for Kidney Transplant. CommonHealth, 1(1), pp. 1-11. doi: 10.15367/ch.v1i1.302

  • Gardiner, H.M., Alolod, G., Daly, T., Norden, R., Siminoff, L., Gordon, E., Guinansaca, N., Winther, L., Benitez, A., Hernandez, I., Bergeron, C., Kelly, P., & Pappaterra, L. (2020). Promotoras De DonacioN: An E-Learning Module on Organ Donation. AMERICAN JOURNAL of TRANSPLANTATION, 20, pp. 541-541. Retrieved from http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/

  • Gillespie, A., Gardiner, H.M., Fink, E.L., Reese, P.P., Gadegbeku, C.A., & Obradovic, Z. (2020). Does Sex, Race, and the Size of a Kidney Transplant Candidate's Social Network Affect the Number of Living Donor Requests? A Multi-Center Social Network Analysis of Patients on the Kidney Transplant Waitlist. Transplantation. United States. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000003167

  • Siminoff, L.A., Bolt, S., Gardiner, H.M., & Alolod, G.P. (2020). Family First: Asian Americans' Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Deceased Organ Donation. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities, 7(1), pp. 72-83. Switzerland. doi: 10.1007/s40615-019-00635-3

  • Alolod, G.P., Gardiner, H., Agu, C., Turner, J.L., Kelly, P.J., Siminoff, L.A., Gordon, E.J., Norden, R., Daly, T.A., Benitez, A., Hernandez, I., Guinansaca, N., Winther, L.R., Bergeron, C.D., Montalvo, A., & Gonzalez, T. (2020). A Culturally Targeted eLearning Module on Organ Donation (Promotoras de Donación): Design and Development. J Med Internet Res, 22(1), p. e15793. Canada. doi: 10.2196/15793

  • Tewksbury, C., Wu, J., Allison, K.C., Gardiner, H., Dumon, K.R., Williams, N.N., & Sarwer, D.B. (2019). Prebariatric surgery care and postoperative outcomes: increased number of visits associated with smaller weight losses over first 2 postoperative years. Surg Obes Relat Dis, 15(9), pp. 1548-1553. United States. doi: 10.1016/j.soard.2019.06.015

  • Mosavel, M., Barker, K.L., Gardiner, H.M., & Siminoff, L.A. (2019). Responsiveness and adaptability in community engaged biobanking research: experiences from a Hispanic community. J Community Genet, 10(3), pp. 395-406. Germany. doi: 10.1007/s12687-018-0397-x