Caroline P Groth, PhD, BA

Dr. Caroline P. Groth is a biostatistician with expertise in occupational health biostatistical methods. Her methodological research focuses on missing data, measurement error, and Bayesian methods.

Program Director, MS in Biostatistics
Associate Professor

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Public Health

Department:

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Classification:

Faculty

• PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 2017
• BA, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, 2012

Henneberger, P, Rollins, SM, Humann, MJ, Liang, X, Groth, CP, & Virji, MA. (2026). The association of current asthma with and without exacerbation with products used and tasks performed by healthcare workers. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 69 (1): 49–60. doi:10.1002/ajim.70038.

Caswell, E, Dyer, AM, Hartley, SD, Groth, C.P, Christensen, M, Tulabandu, SK, Weaver, BK, & Bhandari, R. (2025). Investigating suicide risk factors among Appalachian West Virginian adults. Journal of Appalachian Health, 6 (4), 41-66. doi.org/10.13023/jah.0604.05.

Chen D, Sandler DP, Keil AP, Heiss G, Whitsel EA, Edwards JK, Stewart PA, Stenzel MR, Groth CP, Ramachandran G, Banerjee S, Huynh TB, Jackson WB 2nd, Blair A, Lawrence KG, Kwok RK, Engel LS. (2023). Volatile Hydrocarbon Exposures and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Events: Up to Ten Years of Follow-up among Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Workers. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2023 May;131(5):57006. doi: 10.1289/EHP11859.

Groth, C.P., Banerjee, S., Ramachandran, G., Stenzel, M., Stewart, P., Virji, M.A. Industrial Hygiene: Quantifying Worker Exposures Using Bayesian Methods. In Wiley StatsRef: Statistics Reference Online (eds N. Balakrishnan, T. Colton, B. Everitt, W. Piegorsch, F. Ruggeri and J.L. Teugels). doi.org/10.1002/9781118445112.stat08376

Henneberger PK, Cox-Ganser JM, Guthrie GM, Groth CP. (2022). Estimates of COVID-19 vaccine uptake in major occupational groups and detailed occupational categories in the United States, April-May 2021. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 65(7):525-536. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23370.

LeBouf RF, Blackley BH, Fortner AR, Stanton M, Martin SB, Groth CP, McClelland TL, Duling MG, Burns DA, Ranpara A, Edwards N, Fedan KB, Bailey RL, Cummings KJ, Nett RJ, Cox-Ganser JM, Virji MA. (2020). Exposures and Emissions in Coffee Roasting Facilities and Cafés: Diacetyl, 2,3-Pentanedione, and Other Volatile Organic Compounds. Frontiers in Public Health. 8:561740. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.561740.

For a full publication list, see: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1Xab9Bo5cjl1pG/bibliography/public/

• April 2026: WVU Impact Award
• 2024-2026: WVCTSI Research Scholar
• Dec 2022-present: Member of International Commission on Occupational Health’s Scientific Committee on Epidemiology in Occupational Health
• April 2021, April 2022: West Virginia University’s School of Public Health Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award (awarded two years)
• April 2021: NIOSH Alice Hamilton Paper Award in Exposure and Risk Assessment

Courses taught

• BIOS 610: Biostatistics Methods and Inference
• BIOS 611: Data Management and Reporting
• BIOS 620: Applied Linear Models HS
• BIOS 621: Categorical Data Analysis HS
• BIOS 628: Biostatistics Practicum
• BIOS 697: Biostatistics Research
• PUBH 790: Teaching Practicum
• PUBH 797: Research

Since 2012, Dr. Groth has been active with the airborne chemical exposure assessment team in the GuLF STUDY, a long-term effort to investigate the health of workers and volunteers who responded to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is leading this research. Dr. Groth’s work has been published in Spatial Statistics, Annals of Work Exposures and Health, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, JAMA Network Open, Environmental Health Perspectives, and Environmetrics.

Dr. Groth has statistical research interests in missing data, Bayesian statistics and measurement error. She is a highly collaborative researcher with interests in a variety of areas including environmental health, occupational health, toxicology, psychology, and neuroscience.

Dr. Groth actively collaborates with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). At NIOSH she advises on statistical analysis of respiratory exposures. At NIOSH Dr. Groth has contributed to research in a variety of areas including healthcare worker exposures to cleaning chemicals, COVID-19 related health outcomes and occupation (through Delphi’s COVID-19 Trends and Impacts Survey), and coffee worker exposures at coffee roasting and packaging facilities.

West Virginia School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Statistical Methods for Describing Relationships Between Occupational Respiratory Exposures and Health. West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science’s Institute (WVCTSI) Research Scholars Program. 07/2024-06/2026. Role: Principal Investigator 

Routine Testing of Wastewater to Identify Communities of Concern for COVID-19 Pandemic Response. WV DHHR-BPH Bureau for Public Health. 01/2022-09/2025. Role Co-Investigator

Implementing the NIMH Clinical Pathway in Rural Appalachian School-Based Health Clinics. NIH/NIMH R34MH137618. 08/2024-08/2027. Role Co-Investigator

Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement (IPA) with National Institutes for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH Respiratory Health Division; Role: Statistician; 08/2020-08/2024; Role: Statistician

The Groth Lab is not recruiting doctoral students for the 2027-2028 academic year.