People

Ashley Housten, OTD, MSCI, OTR/L

Assistant Professor, Division of Public Health Sciences

https://surgery.wustl.edu/people/ashley-housten/

ahousten@wustl.edu

Areas of interest: health disparities, health literacy, health communication, shared decision-making

Mentor Profile

Dr. Housten graduated from the Washington University Program in Occupational Therapy with a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy and Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. During her time as a student in the Program in Occupational Therapy, she focused on health literacy and disparities by working with her mentor to deliver community and hospital-based interventions to youth and families with or at-risk for sickle cell disease. Dr. Housten then applied her skills in health literacy and disparities to post-doctoral research training in decision sciences at Washington University and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her recent research has centered on decision-making in the context of limited evidence and divergent guidelines among vulnerable populations.

Current Lab members:
  • Michelle Eggers, MA (Senior Public Health Research Coordinator)
  • Rachelle Roy, BS (Public Health Research Coordinator II)
  • Hannah Rice, MPH (Public Health Research Coordinator II)
  • Kate Gladhart-Hayes, MSOT/MPH (Public Health Research Coordinator I)
  • Abby Berns, BA (Public Health Research Coordinator I)
  • Rorah Ndungu, BS (Graduate Research Assistant)
  • Ross Buchman, BS (Graduate Research Assistant)
Current Mentees of Dr. Housten:
  • Kylie Bushroe (PGY-4, Newborn Medicine | Co-Mentor with Mary Politi, PhD)
  • Kelly Crisp (PhD Student | Northern Illinois University)

Lab Alumni:

  • Kamilah Abdur-Rashid, MSc
  • Erin Blalock, MHS (Meharry Medical College | MD Candidate, 2025)
  • Melania Boker, BA (Leah Menshouse Springer Summer Opportunities Program)
  • Maggie Britton, MA
  • Yunan Han, MD
  • Johanna Hilpuesch, BA
  • Allison L’Hotta, OTD, PhD
  • Catherine Hoyt, OTD, PhD
  • Rachel Mintz, BS
  • Irania Santaliz Moreno, MS (PhD Student in Molecular Genetics and Genomics)
  • Hunter Moore, BS (MPH Student)
  • Camille Neal, MBS, MHS (Meharry Medical College | MD Candidate, 2026)
  • Charles Okere, MPH, CPH
  • Roxana Portillo
  • Sienna Ruiz, BA
  • Amela Siječić, BS (Leah Menshouse Springer Summer Opportunities Program)