Ray A. Yeager, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Medicine

502-852-9069 • E-mail

Education and Training

Ph.D.: University of Louisville, Public Health Sciences

Research Interests

Dr. Yeager is an interdisciplinary health geographer. His research program focuses on the complex and place-dependent interplay between environmental factors and human health. Dr. Yeager's research extends to studying the health effects of environmental exposures, equitable public health interventions, and the development of nature-based solutions to address climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

Collaborating with organizations including The Nature Conservancy, the Arbor Day Foundation, and the U.S. Forest Service, he works to translate scientific findings into effective policies and interventions. Dr. Yeager is dedicated to bridging research and practice, advocating for sustainable and health-promoting environmental policies to combat the interconnected local and global challenges of our time.

Integrated with his research program, Dr. Yeager oversees collection, storage, analysis, and interpretation of geospatial information at the Envirome Institute. This includes geographic data analysis methods of geocoded participant records, assessment of geophysical characteristics, characterization of environmental exposures, and development of visual representations of geographic information.

His expertise is integrated throughout the Envirome Institute, Center for Healthy Air Water and Soil, Superfund Research Center, and Center for Integrated Environmental Health Sciences. Dr. Yeager is also a member of the American Geophysical Union, National Institutes of Health Climate Change and Health Research Coordinating Center Community of Practice, and International Society of Environmental Epidemiology where he also serves on the policy committee of the North America Chapter.

Featured Publications

For a complete list of publications, go to Research Gate.

  • Yeager R, Keith RJ, Riggs DW, Fleischer D, Browning MHEM, Ossola A, Walker KL, Hart JL, Srivastava S, Rai SN, Smith T, Bhatnagar A. Intra-neighborhood associations between residential greenness and blood pressure. Sci Total Environ. 2024 Oct 10;946:173788. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173788. Epub 2024 Jun 18. PMID: 38901580.
  • Yoder JB, Andrade AK, DeFalco LA, Esque TC, Carlson CJ, Shryock DF, Yeager R, Smith CI. Reconstructing 120 years of climate change impacts on Joshua tree flowering. Ecol Lett. 2024 Aug;27(8):e14478. doi: 10.1111/ele.14478. PMID: 39092581.
  • Dong J, Browning MHEM, Reuben A, McAnirlin O, Yuan S, Stephens C, Maisonet M, Zhang K, Hart JE, James P, Yeager R. The paradox of high greenness and poor health in rural Central Appalachia. Environ Res. 2024 May 1;248:118400. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118400. Epub 2024 Feb 1. PMID: 38309568; PMCID: PMC11253236.
  • Riggs DW, DuPre NC, James P, Rai SN, Yeager R, Sears CG, Laden F, Bhatnagar A. Association of Ecoregion Distribution of Greenness With Cardiovascular Mortality: A Longitudinal Ecological Study in the United States. Circ Res. 2024 Apr 26;134(9):1221-1223. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.324427. Epub 2024 Apr 25. PMID: 38662855; PMCID: PMC11047167.
  • Bhatnagar A, Keith R, Yeager R, Riggs D, Sears C, Bucknum B, Smith T, Fleischer D, Chandler C, Walker KL, Hart JL, Srivastava S, Turner J, Rai S. The Green Heart Project: Objectives, Design, and Methods. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Dec 5:2023.12.05.23299461. doi: 10.1101/2023.12.05.23299461. PMID: 38105951; PMCID: PMC10723507.
  • Keith RJ, Holm RH, Amraotkar AR, Bezold MM, Brick JM, Bushau-Sprinkle AM, Hamorsky KT, Kitterman KT, Palmer KE, Smith T, Yeager R, Bhatnagar A. Stratified Simple Random Sampling Versus Volunteer Community-Wide Sampling for Estimates of COVID-19 Prevalence. Am J Public Health. 2023 Jul;113(7):768-777. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2023.307303. Epub 2023 May 18. PMID: 37200600; PMCID: PMC10262242.
  • Yeager R, Browning MHEM, Breyer E, Ossola A, Larson LR, Riggs DW, Rigolon A, Chandler C, Fleischer D, Keith R, Walker K, Hart JL, Smith T, Bhatnagar A. Greenness and equity: Complex connections between intra-neighborhood contexts and residential tree planting implementation. Environ Int. 2023 Jun;176:107955. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.107955. Epub 2023 May 12. PMID: 37196566; PMCID: PMC10367429.
  • Basner M, Smith MG, Jones CW, Ecker AJ, Howard K, Schneller V, Cordoza M, Kaizi-Lutu M, Park-Chavar S, Stahn AC, Dinges DF, Shou H, Mitchell JA, Bhatnagar A, Smith T, Smith AE, Stopforth CK, Yeager R, Keith RJ. Associations of bedroom PM2.5, CO2, temperature, humidity, and noise with sleep: An observational actigraphy study. Sleep Health. 2023 Jun;9(3):253-263. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2023.02.010. Epub 2023 Apr 18. PMID: 37076419; PMCID: PMC10293115.
  • Hart JL, Yeager RA, Riggs DW, Fleischer D, Owolabi U, Walker KL, Bhatnagar A, Keith RJ. The Relationship between Perceptions and Objective Measures of Greenness. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 6;19(23):16317. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192316317. PMID: 36498387; PMCID: PMC9736070.
  • Smith T, Holm RH, Yeager R, Moore JB 4th, Rouchka EC, Sokoloski KJ, Elliott EM, Talley D, Arora V, Moyer S, Bhatnagar A. Combining Community Wastewater Genomic Surveillance with State Clinical Surveillance: A Framework for SARS-CoV-2 Public Health Practice. Food Environ Virol. 2022 Dec;14(4):410-416. doi: 10.1007/s12560-022-09531-2. Epub 2022 Aug 18. PMID: 35982363; PMCID: PMC9387882.