Caroline P Groth

Dr. Caroline P. Groth is an Assistant Professor and Program Director of the MS in Biostatistics at West Virginia University's School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She holds a PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Minnesota (2017) and a BA from St. Olaf College (2012).

Dr. Groth's research focuses on biostatistical methods for occupational health, with special expertise in missing data, measurement error, and Bayesian methods. Her work spans environmental health, occupational health, toxicology, psychology, and neuroscience. She has been actively involved with the airborne chemical exposure assessment team in the GuLF STUDY since 2012, investigating the health of workers who responded to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on environmental exposures from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including studies on neurological symptoms, cardiovascular health effects, and respiratory outcomes related to oil spill cleanup work. She has also conducted research on suicide risk factors in Appalachia, opioid-related deaths, and occupational exposures in healthcare and coffee production settings, showcasing her diverse research portfolio that bridges statistical methodology with practical public health applications.

• WVCTSI Research Scholar (2024-2026)
• West Virginia University's School of Public Health Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award (2021, 2022)
• NIOSH Alice Hamilton Award (2021)
• West Virginia University Values Coin (2021)

Dr. Groth serves as Principal Investigator for "Statistical Methods for Describing Relationships Between Occupational Respiratory Exposures and Health" funded by WVCTSI (2024-2026), and as Co-Investigator on projects related to wastewater testing for COVID-19 response and implementing clinical pathways in rural Appalachian school-based health clinics. She previously held an Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement with NIOSH as a Statistician (2020-2024).

She teaches multiple biostatistics courses including BIOS 610 (Biostatistics Methods and Inference), BIOS 611 (Data Management and Reporting), BIOS 620 (Applied Linear Models), and BIOS 628 (Biostatistics Practicum), where she applies her expertise in statistical methods to train the next generation of public health professionals.