Mona Saraiya, MD, MPH

Mona Saraiya, MD, MPH, joined CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer in the Division of Reproductive Health in 1995, and is currently a medical officer in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control's (DCPC's) Epidemiology and Applied Research Branch. Since EIS, the majority of her CDC tenure has been spent with DCPC focusing on skin cancer epidemiology and cervical cancer screening. Dr. Saraiya advised the Choose Your Cover campaign from a medical and epidemiological perspective and spearheaded two major skin cancer initiatives: the school guidelines on sun protection and the community guidelines on skin cancer prevention.

Dr. Saraiya also provides gynecologic cancer expertise as a medical officer for the Inside Knowledge: Get the Facts About Gynecologic Cancer campaign, and her work also extends to helping inform practices and policies related to cervical cancer for CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. During the past six years, she has been an active member of various CDC human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine workgroups.

Her cervical cancer and HPV research portfolio is vast as she recently completed an initiative to characterize the HPV-associated cancer burden in the United States. Furthermore, she has also published several articles including characterizing the incidence of cervical cancer in the U.S., the necessary communication pieces for HPV testing and the HPV vaccine, the low Pap testing rates among foreign-born women in the U.S., and adherence to cervical cancer screening guidelines, especially with newer technologies such as HPV testing. More recently, she has been asked to strategize and increase the international portfolio for DCPC, which includes work related to increasing acceptability, capacity, and evaluation in countries to conduct non-cytology-based screening by working closely with international partners such as the World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization.

Dr. Saraiya recently provided CDC Expert Commentary for Medscape on Clearing Up Confusion About Cervical Cancer Screening.

Some of the most recent articles Dr. Saraiya has authored include—

• 2012 Cancers that U.S. physicians believe the HPV vaccine prevents: Findings from a physician survey, 2009.
• 2011 Cervical cancer screening among women who attend sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics: background paper for 2010 STD treatment guidelines.
• 2011 HPV vaccine effect: is the glass half full or half empty? [comment]
• 2010 Ambulatory care visits for Pap tests, abnormal Pap test results, and cervical cancer procedures in the United States.
• 2010 Approaches to monitoring biological outcomes for HPV vaccination: Challenges of early adopter countries.
• 2010 Cervical cancer screening with both human papillomavirus and Papanicolaou testing vs. Papanicolaou testing alone: what screening intervals are physicians recommending?
• 2010 Common abnormal results of Pap and human papillomavirus cotesting: what physicians are recommending for management.
• 2009 Liquid-based cytology vs conventional cytology in detecting cervical cancer.
• 2009 Pap testing and sexual activity among young women in the United States.
• 2009 Specialty differences in primary care physician reports of Papanicolaou test screening practices: a national survey, 2006 to 2007.
• 2008 Cancer registries and monitoring the impact of prophylactic human papillomavirus vaccines: The potential role.
• 2008 Incidence of in situ and invasive vulvar cancer in the U.S., 1998–2003.
• 2008 Toward using National Cancer Surveillance data for preventing and controlling cervical and other human papillomavirus-associated cancers in the U.S.
• 2007 Cervical cancer incidence in a prevaccine era in the United States, 1998–2002.
• 2007 Cervical cancer screening and management practices among providers in the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP).
• 2007 Sunburn prevalence among adults—United States, 1999, 2003, and 2004.
• 2005 Total and percent free prostate-specific antigen levels among U.S. men, 2001–2002.
• 2004 Cervical cancer screening among women without a cervix.
• 2004 Interventions to prevent skin cancer by reducing exposure to ultraviolet radiation: A systematic review.
• 2004 Skin cancer screening among U.S. adults from 1992, 1998, and 2000 National Health Interview Surveys.
• 2003 Preventing skin cancer: Findings of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services on reducing exposure to ultraviolet light.
• 2002 Observations from the CDC: An assessment of Pap smears and hysterectomies among women in the United States.
• 2002 Sunburn prevalence among adults in the United States, 1999.
• 2001 Self-reported Papanicolaou smears and hysterectomies among women in the United States.
• 2001 The role of family history in personal and clinical cancer prevention practices among U.S. women physicians.
• 2000 Personal and clinical skin cancer prevention practices of U.S. women physicians.

Dr. Saraiya is featured in the following podcasts—

• Pap Tests and Foreign-Born Women
• Cervical Cancer
• Women: Be Aware
• Natural History of HPV and Cervical Cancer
• Costs Associated with Cervical Cancer Screening
• Management of Cervical Cytology with HPV Test
• Cervical Cancer Screening with HPV Test
• HPV Testing Among Providers
• ACOG Recommendations and Guidelines for Cervical Cancer Screening and Management
• Case Studies – Cervical Cancer
• Cervical Cancer Screening in Underserved Populations
• Future Directions – Cervical Cancer