Research Summary

My training is in sociology (emphasis on culture, inequality, and research methods) and health policy. My research uses mixed-methods social scientific approaches to examine how the culture of medicine shapes delivery of patient care and conduct of medical research. I lead three major research projects. I am co-Program Director for EngageUC – a three-year CTSA initiative to develop harmonized processes for biospecimen repository data collection and analysis across all five University of California medical centers. EngageUC includes a statewide community engagement activity as well as a randomized trial of different consenting methods. I am PI for the Cancer Patient Deliberation study, an NCI-funded R01 examining how patients with advanced cancer make decisions about treatment and participation in clinical trials. Finally, I am PI of a recently-funded contract with the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to explore how to integrate qualitative methods into PCOR using visual displays of qualitative data. At UCSF, I hold a number of leadership positions related to training and program development including Deputy Director of the Institute for Health Policy Studies, co-lead of the health policy theme in the undergraduate medical education curriculum, Chair of the campus-wide Precision Medicine Regulatory/Policy workgroup, lead faculty of the proposed MS in Health Policy and Law, and co-Director of the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science, and Health Policy.

Research Funding

  • September 13, 2017 - May 31, 2021 - Achieving ethical integration in the development of novel neurotechnologies, Co-Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIMH, Sponsor Award ID: R01MH114860
  • September 1, 2017 - May 31, 2019 - Developing Tools to Support the Appropriate Use of Surgery in Frail Older Adults, Co-Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIA, Sponsor Award ID: R21AG054208
  • June 1, 2010 - April 30, 2015 - Before Consent: Cancer Patients'Deliberations about Early Phase Clinical Trials, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA152195
  • September 15, 2003 - August 31, 2007 - Poverty, Substance Use, and Stigma in Four Organizations, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NIAAA, Sponsor Award ID: R21AA014855

Education

Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, AB, 1987, Sociology
University of California Berkeley, MA, 1991, Sociology
University of California Berkeley, PhD, 1997, Sociology
University of California Berkeley, post-doc, 1999, Health Policy
University of California Berkeley, post-doc, 2001, Health Policy

Honors & Awards

  • 1987
    AB Magna cum Laude with Highest Honors in Sociology, Harvard College, Cambridge MA
  • 1987
    Hoopes Prize, Senior Honors Thesis "Malpractice in Massachusetts: Physicians' Perspectives," Harvard College
  • 1989
    Regents Intern-Fellow, UC Berkeley
  • 1994
    Carol Hatch Ethnography Award, UC Berkeley Sociology Department
  • 1998
    Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor, UC Berkeley
  • 2006
    UCSF-Coro Faculty Leadership Collaborative

Selected Publications

  1. Murphy M, Record H, Callander JK, Dohan D, Grandis JR. Mentoring Relationships and Gender Inequities in Academic Medicine: Findings From a Multi-Institutional Qualitative Study. Acad Med. 2021 Sep 07.  View on PubMed
  2. Haeusermann T, Lechner CR, Fong KC, Bernstein Sideman A, Jaworska A, Chiong W, Dohan D. Closed-Loop Neuromodulation and Self-Perception in Clinical Treatment of Refractory Epilepsy. AJOB Neurosci. 2021 Sep 02; 1-13.  View on PubMed
  3. Blythe JA, Kentish-Barnes N, Debue AS, Dohan D, Azoulay E, Covinsky K, Matthews T, Curtis JR, Dzeng E. An Interprofessional Process for the Limitation of Life-Sustaining Treatments at the End of Life in France. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2021 Jun 19.  View on PubMed
  4. Weiner-Light S, Rankin KP, Lanata S, Possin KL, Dohan D, Bernstein Sideman A. The Role of Spirituality in Conceptualizations of Health Maintenance and Healthy Aging Among Latin American Immigrants. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2021 May 05.  View on PubMed
  5. Rosenwohl-Mack S, Dohan D, Matthews T, Batten JN, Dzeng E. How individual ethical frameworks shape physician trainees' experiences providing end-of-life care: a qualitative study. J Med Ethics. 2021 Feb 16.  View on PubMed
  6. Mergenthaler JV, Chiong W, Dohan D, Feler J, Lechner CR, Starr PA, Arias JJ. A Qualitative Analysis of Ethical Perspectives on Recruitment and Consent for Human Intracranial Electrophysiology Studies. AJOB Neurosci. 2021 01; 12(1):57-67.  View on PubMed
  7. Garg M, Eniasivam A, Satterfield J, Norton B, Austin E, Dohan D. Rapid transition of a preclinical health systems science and social justice course to remote learning in the time of coronavirus. Med Educ Online. 2020 Dec; 25(1):1812225.  View on PubMed
  8. Rosenwohl-Mack S, Dohan D, Matthews T, Batten JN, Dzeng E. Understanding Experiences of Moral Distress in End-of-Life Care Among US and UK Physician Trainees: a Comparative Qualitative Study. J Gen Intern Med. 2021 07; 36(7):1890-1897.  View on PubMed
  9. Bernstein A, Merrilees J, Dulaney S, Harrison KL, Chiong W, Ong P, Heunis J, Choi J, Walker R, Feuer JE, Lee K, Dohan D, Bonasera SJ, Miller BL, Possin KL. Using care navigation to address caregiver burden in dementia: A qualitative case study analysis. Alzheimers Dement (N Y). 2020; 6(1):e12010.  View on PubMed
  10. Liu LH, Garrett SB, Li J, Ragouzeos D, Berrean B, Dohan D, Katz PP, Barton JL, Yazdany J, Schmajuk G. Patient and clinician perspectives on a patient-facing dashboard that visualizes patient reported outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis. Health Expect. 2020 08; 23(4):846-859.  View on PubMed
  11. Garrett SB, Matthews TM, Abramson CM, Koenig CJ, Hlubocky FJ, Daugherty CK, Munster PN, Dohan D. Before Consent: Qualitative Analysis of Deliberations of Patients With Advanced Cancer About Early-Phase Clinical Trials. JCO Oncol Pract. 2020 01; 16(1):e56-e63.  View on PubMed
  12. Rendle KA, Abramson CM, Garrett SB, Halley MC, Dohan D. Beyond exploratory: a tailored framework for designing and assessing qualitative health research. BMJ Open. 2019 08 27; 9(8):e030123.  View on PubMed
  13. Bernstein A, Harrison KL, Dulaney S, Merrilees J, Bowhay A, Heunis J, Choi J, Feuer JE, Clark AM, Chiong W, Lee K, Braley TL, Bonasera SJ, Ritchie CS, Dohan D, Miller BL, Possin KL. The Role of Care Navigators Working with People with Dementia and Their Caregivers. J Alzheimers Dis. 2019; 71(1):45-55.  View on PubMed
  14. Garrett SB, Abramson CM, Rendle KA, Dohan D. Approaches to decision-making among late-stage melanoma patients: a multifactorial investigation. Support Care Cancer. 2019 Mar; 27(3):1059-1070.  View on PubMed
  15. Petrillo LA, McMahan RD, Tang V, Dohan D, Sudore RL. Older Adult and Surrogate Perspectives on Serious, Difficult, and Important Medical Decisions. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2018 08; 66(8):1515-1523.  View on PubMed
  16. Garrett SB, Murphy M, Wiley J, Dohan D. Standard Versus Simplified Consent Materials for Biobank Participation: Differences in Patient Knowledge and Trial Accrual. J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2017 12; 12(5):326-334.  View on PubMed
  17. Dzeng E, Dohan D, Curtis JR, Smith TJ, Colaianni A, Ritchie CS. Homing in on the Social: System-Level Influences on Overly Aggressive Treatments at the End of Life. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2018 02; 55(2):282-289.e1.  View on PubMed
  18. Garrett SB, Koenig CJ, Trupin L, Hlubocky FJ, Daugherty CK, Reinert A, Munster P, Dohan D. What advanced cancer patients with limited treatment options know about clinical research: a qualitative study. Support Care Cancer. 2017 10; 25(10):3235-3242.  View on PubMed
  19. Possin KL, Merrilees J, Bonasera SJ, Bernstein A, Chiong W, Lee K, Wilson L, Hooper SM, Dulaney S, Braley T, Laohavanich S, Feuer JE, Clark AM, Schaffer MW, Schenk AK, Heunis J, Ong P, Cook KM, Bowhay AD, Gearhart R, Chodos A, Naasan G, Bindman AB, Dohan D, Ritchie C, Miller BL. Development of an adaptive, personalized, and scalable dementia care program: Early findings from the Care Ecosystem. PLoS Med. 2017 03; 14(3):e1002260.  View on PubMed
  20. Dry SM, Garrett SB, Koenig BA, Brown AF, Burgess MM, Hult JR, Longstaff H, Wilcox ES, Madrigal Contreras SK, Martinez A, Boyd EA, Dohan D. Community recommendations on biobank governance: Results from a deliberative community engagement in California. PLoS One. 2017; 12(2):e0172582.  View on PubMed

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