Mihaela Aslan, PhD
Senior Research ScientistCards
Additional Titles
Director, Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CSP-CERC), Veterans Health Administration
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Titles
Senior Research Scientist
Positions outside Yale
Director, Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CSP-CERC), Veterans Health Administration
Biography
Mihaela Aslan, Ph.D., is a graduate from the Department of Statistics at Yale University. As a mathematical statistician, she conducts methodological research on a range of topics, such as growth mixture models, competing risks methods in survival analysis, and observational methods to emulate randomized clinical trials. Multi-site observational study design represents another major methodological focus of Dr. Aslan's research. Some of her representative studies have focused on clinical topics such as prostate cancer, PTSD, suicidal ideation and behavior in patients with severe mental illness, Gulf War syndrome, and prediabetes. In her 23-year tenure with the Yale University School of Medicine and the VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP), and in her current role as the Director of Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CERC), her goals are centered around advancing scientific knowledge, and helping train the next generation of analysts on applied clinical epidemiology methods, for improving translation and implementation of research results into clinical practice, and to benefit the health and healthcare of Veterans, and by extension, of all human beings.
Appointments
General Internal Medicine
Senior Research ScientistPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- PhD
- Yale University (2002)
- MS
- Yale University, Statistics
- MS
- University of Bucharest, Probability and Statistics
- BS
- University of Bucharest, Mathematics (1994)
Research
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Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Nallakkandi Rajeevan, PhD
Lei Yan, PhD
John Concato, MD, FACP, MS, MPH
Renato Polimanti, PhD, MSc
Yuan Huang, PhD
Hongyu Zhao, PhD
Publications
2026
Association between deployment and Gulf War Illness and adverse COVID outcomes in a nationwide cohort of 1990–1991 Gulf Era war veterans in the VA’s Million Veteran Program
White D, NonoDjotsa A, Ahmed S, Boyle S, Gaziano J, Thompson A, Johnson M, Gifford E, Polimanti R, Aslan M, Hauser E, Helmer D, Program O. Association between deployment and Gulf War Illness and adverse COVID outcomes in a nationwide cohort of 1990–1991 Gulf Era war veterans in the VA’s Million Veteran Program. PLOS ONE 2026, 21: e0348594. PMID: 42296096, PMCID: PMC13268159, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0348594.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMillion Veteran ProgramVeteran ProgramGulf War IllnessPrevalence of Gulf War illnessCOVID-related hospitalizationEra veteransVA Million Veteran ProgramVA healthcare systemICU admissionGulf War-era veteransCOVID outcomesU.S. military veteransWar veteransGulf War veteransMultivariate logistic modelHealth outcomesHealthcare systemNationwide cohortHospitalization riskMilitary veteransDisorders associated with inflammationResearch cohortAfrican AmericansVeteransCOVID-related mortalityObservational and genetically-informed characterization of Gulf War Illness symptoms in 1990–1991 Gulf War deployed Veterans and non-deployed Gulf War Era Veterans
He J, Pathak G, Cabrera-Mendoza B, Qiu D, Zawack K, Steele L, Quaden R, Harrington K, Gifford E, Aslan M, Helmer D, Hauser E, Polimanti R. Observational and genetically-informed characterization of Gulf War Illness symptoms in 1990–1991 Gulf War deployed Veterans and non-deployed Gulf War Era Veterans. Environmental Health 2026 PMID: 42277823, DOI: 10.1186/s12940-026-01316-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNon-deployed veteransMillion Veteran ProgramGW-era veteransSymptom burdenPosttraumatic stress disorderPopulation-based case-control studyMethodsThis population-based case–control studyGW deploymentSymptom clustersMendelian randomization analysisHealth-related outcomesPolygenic risk scoresAssociated with demographic factorsActive-duty military personnelGulf War-era veteransBackgroundGulf War IllnessLower educational attainmentPosttraumatic stress disorder effectsHealth-related traitsMultivariate general linear modelNon-European descentCase-control studySymptom co-occurrenceT2D effectsVeteran ProgramPre-deployment sleep duration predicts longitudinal posttraumatic stress disorder symptom trajectories in US Army soldiers deployed to the Iraq war zone
Bottari S, Pless Kaiser A, Lee L, Aslan M, Vasterling J. Pre-deployment sleep duration predicts longitudinal posttraumatic stress disorder symptom trajectories in US Army soldiers deployed to the Iraq war zone. Journal Of Anxiety Disorders 2026, 122: 103198. PMID: 42284953, DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2026.103198.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPosttraumatic stress disorderPosttraumatic stress disorder symptom trajectoriesSymptom trajectoriesUS Army soldiersLong-term coursePosttraumatic stress disorder symptomsPosttraumatic stress disorder developmentTrajectory classesCourse of PTSD symptomsLatent growth mixture modelingSleep durationWar zone deploymentPTSD symptom trajectoriesArmy soldiersPost-deploymentPost-deployment assessmentTrajectory class membershipGrowth mixture modelingYears post-deploymentPTSD symptomsStress disorderPTSD onsetOdds of membershipPre-deploymentClass membership750. The Externalizing Spectrum and Suicide Risk: Insights From Genomics and Electronic Health Records in Over 500,000 Veterans
Barr P, Stephenson M, Poore H, Chatzinakos C, Trabilsy M, Qin X, Ashley-Koch A, Hauser E, Meyers J, Peterson R, Sanchez-Roige S, Mallard T, Dick D, Harden P, Aslan M, Harvey P, Beckham J, Bigdeli T, Kimbrel N. 750. The Externalizing Spectrum and Suicide Risk: Insights From Genomics and Electronic Health Records in Over 500,000 Veterans. Biological Psychiatry 2026, 99: s419. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.03.984.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCombining Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Mindfulness Training for Binge Eating Disorder: Protocol for a Feasibility Trial
Sala M, Roos C, Ascarrunz D, Stern C, Bricker J, Feldman J, Levinson C, Aslan M, Hay J, Kober H. Combining Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Mindfulness Training for Binge Eating Disorder: Protocol for a Feasibility Trial. JMIR Research Protocols 2026, 15: e91761. PMID: 42061840, PMCID: PMC13135158, DOI: 10.2196/91761.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricGenomic interplay between deployment exposures and Gulf War illness in Million Veteran Program participants
Qiu D, Cabrera-Mendoza B, He J, Steele L, Quaden R, Harrington K, Ahmed S, Gaziano J, Gifford E, Aslan M, Helmer D, Hauser E, Polimanti R. Genomic interplay between deployment exposures and Gulf War illness in Million Veteran Program participants. Human Genomics 2026, 20: 82. PMID: 41896945, PMCID: PMC13147720, DOI: 10.1186/s40246-026-00951-w.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsGulf War IllnessEpigenetic interactionsDeployment exposuresGenome-wide significant interactionBurden of chronic health conditionsElevated burdenMillion Veteran Program participantsEpigenome-wide association studiesGW deploymentChronic health conditionsGW exposuresDrug repurposing analysisGenomic interplayAssociation studiesMilitary exposuresHealth conditionsRisk associationEpigenetic factorsProgram participantsGW-deployed veteransDruggable pathwaysVeteransMolecular pathwaysGenetic susceptibilityDisease etiologyBiological insights into schizophrenia from ancestrally diverse populations
Bigdeli T, Chatzinakos C, Bendl J, Barr P, Venkatesh S, Gorman B, Clarence T, Genovese G, Iyegbe C, Peterson R, Kolokotronis S, Burstein D, Meyers J, Li Y, Natarajan S, Francis M, Rajeevan N, Cheung K, DeLisi L, Kosten T, Zhao H, Achtyes E, Buckley P, Malaspina D, Lehrer D, Rapaport M, Braff D, Pato M, Fanous A, Pato C, Huang G, Muralidhar S, Gaziano J, Pyarajan S, Girdhar K, Lee D, Hoffman G, Aslan M, Fullard J, Voloudakis G, Harvey P, Roussos P. Biological insights into schizophrenia from ancestrally diverse populations. Nature 2026, 651: 404-413. PMID: 41565822, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-10000-6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsPopulations of African ancestryBiological insightsStatistical fine-mappingAfrican ancestryGenetically diverse populationsAfrican populationsIntegrative transcriptomic analysisElectronic health recordsDiverse populationsFine-mappingGenetic architectureGenomic dataPolygenic basisSchizophrenia geneticsTranscriptome analysisConsensus genesRate of diagnosisHealth disparitiesHealth recordsComprehensive assessmentBlack individualsRecruitment biasDisease biologyGenesAncestryDurability of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine Effectiveness Among US Veterans
Bajema K, Bui D, Yan L, Li Y, Rajeevan N, Vergun R, Sriskantharajah V, Hynes D, Berry K, Huang Y, Lin H, Aslan M, Ioannou G. Durability of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine Effectiveness Among US Veterans. JAMA Internal Medicine 2026, 186: 78-88. PMID: 41284307, PMCID: PMC12645397, DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6355.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsRespiratory syncytial virus vaccineRespiratory syncytial virusIntensive care unit admissionRSV vaccineVaccine effectivenessUnit admissionRespiratory syncytial virus illnessSevere respiratory syncytial virusVaccine doseRespiratory syncytial virus infectionMonths of follow-upLong-term effectsHealth care useRespiratory illness seasonVeterans Health AdministrationMatched index dateUrgent care visitsTarget trial emulationMedian ageCare useCare visitsSingle doseSyncytial virusIndex dateVaccine recipients
2025
Effectiveness of the 2024–2025 KP.2 COVID-19 vaccines in the United States during long-term follow-up
Ioannou G, Berry K, Yan L, Huang Y, Lin H, Bui D, Hynes D, Boyko E, Ferguson J, Aslan M, Bajema K. Effectiveness of the 2024–2025 KP.2 COVID-19 vaccines in the United States during long-term follow-up. Nature Communications 2025, 17: 1043. PMID: 41444246, PMCID: PMC12847879, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-67796-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsVaccine effectivenessED/UC visitsUp-to-date estimatesFollow-upCOVID-19 vaccineLong-term follow-upLong-term vaccine effectivenessSARS-CoV-2 infectionVeterans Health AdministrationEmergency department/urgent careSARS-CoV-2-associated deathsVaccination strategiesStudy populationCOVID-19 vaccine effectivenessHealth AdministrationInfectionOmicron variantCOVID-19 vaccination strategiesHospitalVaccineCOVID-19DeathEstimates of COVID-19 vaccine effectivenessVisitsImpact of time zero designation on estimated COVID-19 antiviral effectiveness in observational studies
Bajema K, Yan L, Berry K, Bui D, Lin H, Huang Y, Li Y, Rajeevan N, Maciejewski M, Smith V, Bohnert A, Hynes D, Aslan M, Ioannou G. Impact of time zero designation on estimated COVID-19 antiviral effectiveness in observational studies. American Journal Of Epidemiology 2025, 195: 562-568. PMID: 41078178, DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwaf221.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
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