Hilary Aralis

Dr. Hilary Aralis, Ph.D., is a professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health Department of Biostatistics. She provides statistical expertise to the Nathanson Family Resilience Center (NFRC) and other Centers within the UCLA Department of Psychiatry Division of Population and Behavioral Health. As a member of the Research and Evaluation Team at NFRC, she contributes to research design and oversees statistical analyses for a wide range of projects and programs designed to promote behavioral health at the population level. Through her role at the Division, she has supported the implementation and evaluation of a number of large-scale, high-impact behavioral health interventions among diverse populations including students within Los Angeles Unified School District, deploying military service members and their families, and healthcare professionals coping with patient-related grief and trauma. Prior to her time at UCLA, Dr. Aralis was a Statistician at the Naval Health Research Center where she first developed an interest in military mental health and traumatic brain injury. During completion of her Ph.D program, she was awarded the NIH Pre-Doctoral Training Grant for Biostatistics Training in AIDS Research which strengthened her interest and expertise in the field of HIV/AIDS.

Her methodological interests include inference for multi-state models with incompletely observed data, uncertainty in Markov and semi-Markov process estimation, latent variable modeling, and measurement error in mental health assessment. Dr. Aralis’ applied interests are wide-ranging and include psychological and behavioral health, HIV/AIDS, aging and Alzheimer’s disease, military health, family- and community-based interventions, and environmental effects on maternal and child health.

Education


  • PhD, Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
  • MS, Statistics, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
  • BA, Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Selected Publications


  • Aralis HJ, Shoptaw S, Brookmeyer R, Ragsdale A, Bolan R, Gorbach PM. Psychiatric illness, substance use, and viral suppression among HIV-positive men of color who have sex with men in Los Angeles. AIDS and Behavior. 2018; 1-13.
  • Aralis H, Brookmeyer R. A stochastic estimation procedure for intermittently-observed semi-Markov multistate models with back transitions. Stat Methods Med Res. 2017;1-18.
  • Ponce AN, Cowan BA, Toro PA, Schumacher JE, You Z, Gross SZ, Bray JH, Aralis H, Milburn N. Psychologists’ roles in ending homelessness. J Soc Distress Homel. 2017:26(2), 116-127. 
  • Ijadi-Maghsoodi R, Marlotte LE, Garcia E, Aralis H, Lester P, Escudero P, Kataoka S. Adapting and implementing a school-based resilience-building curriculum among low-income racial and ethnic minority students. Contemp School Psychol. 2017;21, 223-239.
  • Aralis HJ, Gorbach PM, Brookmeyer R. Measuring concurrency using a joint multistate and point process model for retrospective sexual history data. Statistics in Medicine. 2016:35(24), 4459-4473.
  • Lester P, Aralis H, Sinclair M, Kiff C, Lee K, Mustillo S, Wadsworth SM. The impact of deployment on parental, family and child adjustment in military families. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2016, 1-12.
  • Lester P, Liang L, Milburn N, Mogil C, Woodward K, Nash W, Aralis H, Sinclair M, Semaan A, Klosinkski L, Beardslee W, Saltzman WR. Evaluation of a family-centered preventive intervention for military families: parent and child longitudinal outcomes. J Am Acad Child Psy. 2016:55(1), 14-24.
  • Ehrenstein OS, Aralis H, Flores MES, Ritz B. Fast food consumption in pregnancy and subsequent asthma symptoms in young children. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2015;26(6):571-577.
  • Aralis HJ, Macera CA, Rauh MJ, MacGregor A. Traumatic brain injury and PTSD screening efforts evaluated using latent class analysis. Rehab Psych. 2014;59(1):68-78.
  • Ehrenstein OS, Aralis H, Cockburn M, Ritz B. In utero exposure to toxic air pollutants and risk of childhood autism. Epidemiology. 2014;25(6):851-858.
  • Macera CA, Aralis HJ, Highfill-McRoy R, Rauh MJ. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder after combat zone deployment among Navy and Marine Corps men and women. J Womens Health. 2014;23(6):499-505.
  • Lester P, Lee KH, Aralis H, Sinclair M, Mustillo S, Wadsworth SM. Multiple deployments and very young children: How do parents and families influence child social-emotional adjustment? In The intergenerational impact of war. Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University, 2013:55-75.
  • Macera CA, Aralis HJ, Rauh MJ, MacGregor AJ. Do sleep problems mediate the relationship between traumatic brain injury and development of mental health symptoms after deployment? Sleep. 2013;36(1):83-90.
  • Rauh MJ, Aralis HJ, Melcer T, Macera CA, Sessoms P, Bartlett J, Galarneau MR. Effect of traumatic brain injury among U.S. service members with amputation. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2013;50(2):161-172.
  • Macera CA, Aralis HJ, MacGregor A, Rauh MJ, Galarneau MR. Postdeployment symptom changes and traumatic brain injury and/or posttraumatic stress disorder in men. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2012;49(8):1197-1208.
  • Norris JN, Viirre E, Aralis H, Sracic MK, Darren T, Gertsch JH. High altitude headache and acute mountain sickness at moderate elevations in a military population during battalion-level training exercises. Mil Med. 2012;177(8):917-923.
  • Macera CA, Aralis H, MacGregor A, Rauh MJ, Han P, Galarneau MR. Cigarette smoking, body mass index, and physical fitness changes among male Navy personnel. Nicotine Tob Res. 2011;13(10):965-971.
  • Macera CA, Aralis H, MacGregor A, Rauh MJ, Heltemes K, Han P, Galarneau MR. Weight changes among male Navy personnel deployed to Iraq or Kuwait in 2005-2008. Mil Med. 2011;176(5):500-506.
  • Nichols JF, Aralis H, Merino SG, Barrack MT, Stalker-Fader L, Rauh MJ. Utility of the Actiheart accelerometer for estimating exercise energy expenditure in female adolescent runners. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metabol. 2010;20:487-495.