Our Team

Laura Dunn, MD

Psychiatrist
Director of Psycho-Oncology

Laura B. Dunn, M.D. is Director of Psycho-Oncology and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF. She earned her medical degree at UCSF and completed her residency training in Psychiatry at University of California, San Diego, followed by a Fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry, also at UCSD. She is a Board Certified psychiatrist and Board Certified geriatric psychiatrist. Her psycho-oncology research focuses on identifying patterns and predictors of the longitudinal course of psychological symptoms in cancer patients, as well as on developing and testing novel interventions for psychological and psychiatric symptoms in cancer patients. Dr. Dunn is also an internationally recognized expert in ethical issues in psychiatric research, and has published numerous papers on ethical aspects of research.

Dianne Shumay, PhD

Clinical Psychologist
Associate Director of Psycho-Oncology

Dianne Shumay is a Health Sciences Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF and Associate Director of Psycho-oncology at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer. Dr. Shumay received her M.A. from Stanford University and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She completed a pre-doctoral internship with an emphasis in medical health psychology at the University of Florida and a visiting traineeship at Manchester College, Oxford University, UK. She also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in palliative care and hospice at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System. Her current research involves the longitudinal study of emotional distress in cancer survivors and the designing and testing of cognitive, behavioral and mindfulness interventions to target the psychological and physical symptoms of cancer and cancer treatment. Dr. Shumay works with Cancer Center patients, survivors and their loved ones to help with a wide range of short term and long term needs, such as stress management and coping, behavioral and mindbody approaches for symptoms such as pain, fatigue and insomnia, goal setting for finding meaning, purpose and good quality of life, issues around grief and bereavement, navigating the healthcare system, strategies for decisionmaking and communicating with provider teams, and more.

Laura Melton, PhD

Clinical Psychologist

Laura Melton, Ph.D. is a psychologist in the growing Psycho-Oncology program at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Melton received a Masters of Arts degree in Applied Health Psychology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston. Dr. Melton completed a prestigious pre-doctoral internship in behavioral medicine with an emphasis on oncology, hospice, and palliative care at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, followed by a competitive post-doctoral fellowship in behavioral medicine, also at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, which focused on oncology and transplants.

In addition to her work at the Cancer Center at the UCSF Mt Zion campus, Dr. Melton has a specialty clinic within the Hematology and Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinic at the Parnassus campus. In her clinical work, Dr. Melton works with cancer patients, survivors, and their family around issues related to their cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. She is able to help patients dealing with a spectrum of concerns relating to cancer, such as distress, adjustment, coping, grief, end-of-life issues, illness-related trauma, body image, survivorship, family issues, and quality of life concerns. Dr. Melton’s psycho-oncology research focuses on distress and coping. She is also interested in patient education and patient self-advocacy.

Sarah S. Hong, MSW, LCSW

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Sarah is a clinical social worker at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She received her Bachelor’s Degree, with honors, from Duke University, earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and completed a prestigious two year clinical fellowship in Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Hospital and Health System. Over three years at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sarah worked in the Hematology and Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinic, was the Director of the Yoga Program in Complementary Therapies, and provided psychotherapy to cancer survivors and caregivers at the Psycho-Oncology Clinic. Immediately prior to joining UCSF, Sarah was at the University of Pennsylvania delivering cognitive-behavioral-based resilience skills training courses to US Army Soldiers, families and Department of Army civilians. In addition to her work at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sarah leads groups and classes as an instructor at Kaiser Permanente’s Behavioral Health Education Program. Sarah specializes in cognitive, behavioral, mind-body and mindfulness-based interventions to help those facing adversity cope more effectively, cultivate insight, improve quality of life and manage stress.

Naomi Sadeh, PhD

Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow

Naomi Sadeh, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow in the Clinical Psychology Training Program in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF. Dr. Sadeh received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed her pre-doctoral internship in the Clinical Psychology Training Program at UCSF. Dr. Sadeh’s research focuses on identifying risk factors for self- and other-directed violence, antisocial behavior, and personality pathology. She co-facilitates psychotherapy groups for cancer patients and survivors at the Cancer Center.

Missy Buchanan

Psycho-Oncology Practice Assistant