Faculty Profile

Patrice Hicks

Patrice Hicks, PhD, MPH

  • Assistant Professor, Medical School, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
  • Assistant Professor Health Behavior and Health Equity
Dr. Patrice Hicks is an ophthalmic epidemiologist whose research focuses on the social determinants of health and social risk factors related to eye care and vision health outcomes. Specifically, her work highlights the implications of the neighborhood and built environment on both acute and chronic eye disease. She received her PhD in Population Health Sciences with an emphasis in Clinical and Translational Epidemiology from the University of Utah, where she was funded by an NIH T32 Institutional Training grant. Dr. Hicks completed her postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Michigan, and she was also a University of Michigan K12 Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) Fellow.

  • BS, Chemistry, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI (2013)
  • MPH, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (2017)
  • Certificate - Public Health Administration, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (2017)
  • PhD - Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (2021)
  • Higher Education Teaching Specialist Designation, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (2021)
  • Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan (2025)

  • Sensory Health
  • Neighborhood and Built Environment
  • Aging Health
  • Pediatric Health
  • Social Risk Factors
  • Access to Care

Hicks PM, Niziol LM, Newman-Casey PA, Salami K, Singh K, Woodward MA. Social Risk Factor Associations With Presenting Visual Acuity in Patients With Microbial Keratitis. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2023;141(8):727-734. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.2415
 
Lee MC, Vogt EL, Hicks PM, et al. Social Risk Factors Associated With Microbial Keratitis. Cornea. 2026;45(1):21-28. doi:10.1097/ICO.0000000000003766
 
Hicks PM, Lin G, Newman-Casey PA, et al. Place-Based Measures of Inequity and Vision Difficulty and Blindness. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2024;142(6):540-546. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2024.1207
 
Hicks PM, Woodward MA, Niziol LM, et al. Seeing Red: Associations between Historical Redlining and Present-Day Visual Impairment and Blindness. Ophthalmology. 2023;130(4):404-412. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2022.12.005
 
Woodward MA, Hicks PM, Harris-Nwanyanwu K, et al. Eye Care in Federally Qualified Health Centers. Ophthalmology. 2024;131(10):1225-1233. Doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2024.04.019

Hicks PM, Elam AR, Woodward MA, et al. Perceptions of Respect From Clinicians by Patients in Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups With Eye Disease. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2022;140(2):125-131. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2021.5371