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 1, 2020 - May 31, 2025 - Leadership to Enhance Aging Research and Innovation in Medical Culture (LEARN-MC) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K07AG066814
  • July 10, 2021 - April 30, 2025 - Anticipating ethical challenges and disparities in the dissemination of novel neurotechnologies , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01MH126997
  • September 15, 2020 - August 31, 2024 - Next-Gen ethnography to understand decision-making among diverse populations impacted by Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: DP1AG069809
  • September 13, 2017 - May 31, 2021 - Achieving ethical integration in the development of novel neurotechnologies , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01MH114860
  • September 1, 2017 - May 31, 2020 - Developing Tools to Support the Appropriate Use of Surgery in Frail Older Adults , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21AG054208
  • June 1, 2010 - April 30, 2016 - Before Consent: Cancer Patients' Deliberations about Early Phase Clinical Trials , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA152195
  • September 15, 2003 - August 31, 2007 - Poverty, Substance Use, and Stigma in Four Organizations , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, 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. Chehab L, Weiss Goitiandia S, Pereira L, Jung K, Chen A, Patel D, Axelrod J, Li L, Williams I, Dohan D, Sammann A, Dzeng E. Using Human-Centered Design to Improve Serious Illness Care for Older Adults With Advanced Dementia. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2025 Mar; 69(3):e228-e239.  View on PubMed
  2. Parks AL, Thacker A, Dohan D, Gomez LAR, Ritchie CS, Paladino J, Shah SJ. "I'm worth saving"- A Qualitative Study of People with Alzheimer's Disease Considering Lecanemab Treatment. medRxiv. 2024 Sep 18.  View on PubMed
  3. Chen BB, Haeusermann T, Dada A, Hamilton RH, James JE, Fong KC, Dohan D, Chiong W. Race-Ethnicity, Rurality, and Age in Prospective Preferences and Concerns Regarding Closed-Loop Implanted Neural Devices. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2025; 37(1):79-87.  View on PubMed
  4. Chang GJ, Gunn HJ, Barber AK, Lowenstein LM, Dohan D, Broering J, Dockter T, Tan AD, Dueck A, Chow S, Neuman H, Finlayson E, OPTI-Surg Investigators. Improving Surgical Care and Outcomes in Older Cancer Patients Through Implementation of a Presurgical Toolkit (OPTI-Surg)-Final Results of a Phase III Cluster Randomized Trial (Alliance A231601CD). Ann Surg. 2024 Oct 01; 280(4):623-632.  View on PubMed
  5. Chu CD, Dohan D, Estrella MM, Shlipak MG, Tuot DS. Primary care clinician perspectives on automated nephrology e-consults for diabetic kidney disease: a pre-implementation qualitative study. BMC Prim Care. 2024 Jun 04; 25(1):197.  View on PubMed
  6. Haeusermann T, Liu EY, Fong KC, Dohan D, Chiong W. Patient experiences of resection versus responsive neurostimulation for drug-resistant epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav. 2024 Apr; 153:109707.  View on PubMed
  7. Shaw NM, Breyer BN, Walter LC, Sudore RL, Suskind AM, Baussan C, Quanstrom K, Allen IE, Cooperberg MR, Dohan D, Hampson LA. How older men live with stress urinary incontinence: Patient experience and navigation to treatment. Neurourol Urodyn. 2024 Jan; 43(1):11-21.  View on PubMed
  8. Sideman AB, Ma M, Hernandez de Jesus A, Alagappan C, Razon N, Dohan D, Chodos A, Al-Rousan T, Alving LI, Segal-Gidan F, Rosen H, Rankin KP, Possin KL, Borson S. Primary Care Pracitioner Perspectives on the Role of Primary Care in Dementia Diagnosis and Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 09 05; 6(9):e2336030.  View on PubMed
  9. Dzeng E, Batten JN, Dohan D, Blythe J, Ritchie CS, Curtis JR. Hospital Culture and Intensity of End-of-Life Care at 3 Academic Medical Centers. JAMA Intern Med. 2023 08 01; 183(8):839-848.  View on PubMed
  10. Hampson LA, Shaw NM, Breyer BN, Walter LC, Sudore RL, Cooperberg MR, Baussan C, Quanstrom K, Elaine Allen I, Dohan D. Patient-identified Treatment Attributes Among Older Men With Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Qualitative Look at What Matters to Patients Making Treatment Decisions. Urology. 2023 07; 177:189-196.  View on PubMed
  11. Jones CP, Shaw NM, Mena J, Breyer BN, Walter LC, Baussan C, Quanstrom K, Allen IE, Dohan D, Hampson LA. The relationship between frailty, incontinence severity, and treatment decisions for men with post-prostatectomy stress urinary incontinence: a mixed methods analysis. Transl Androl Urol. 2023 May 31; 12(5):840-848.  View on PubMed
  12. Li L, Dohan D, Smith AK, Whitlock EL. 'It was a great brain, and I miss it': lay perspectives on postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Br J Anaesth. 2023 05; 130(5):567-572.  View on PubMed
  13. Wilson L, Dohan D, Garibaldi M, Szeto D, Timmerman M, Matheny J. Prosthesis preferences for those with upper limb loss: Discrete choice study of PULLTY® for use in regulatory decisions. J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng. 2023 Jan-Dec; 10:20556683231152418.  View on PubMed
  14. Light SW, Dohan D, Possin KL, Wolf MS, Rankin KP, Lanata S, Sideman AB. Perceptions of and Knowledge Acquisition about Brain Health and Aging among Latin American Immigrants:A QualitativePaper. Clin Gerontol. 2023 Mar-Apr; 46(2):180-194.  View on PubMed
  15. Murphy M, Callander JK, Dohan D, Grandis JR. Networking practices and gender inequities in academic medicine: Women's and men's perspectives. EClinicalMedicine. 2022 Mar; 45:101338.  View on PubMed
  16. Tsang M, DeBoer RJ, Garrett SB, Dohan D. Decision-making about clinical trial options among older patients with metastatic cancer who have exhausted standard therapies. J Geriatr Oncol. 2022 06; 13(5):594-599.  View on PubMed
  17. Harrison KL, Garrett SB, Halim M, Bernstein Sideman A, Allison TA, Dohan D, Naasan G, Miller BL, Smith AK, Ritchie CS. "I Didn't Sign Up for This": Perspectives from Persons Living with Dementia and Care Partners on Challenges, Supports, and Opportunities to Add Geriatric Neuropalliative Care to Dementia Specialty Care. J Alzheimers Dis. 2022; 90(3):1301-1320.  View on PubMed
  18. 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. 2022 01 01; 97(1):136-142.  View on PubMed
  19. Li Z, Dohan D, Abramson CM. Qualitative Coding in the Computational Era: A Hybrid Approach to Improve Reliability and Reduce Effort for Coding Ethnographic Interviews. Socius. 2021 Jan-Dec; 7.  View on PubMed
  20. 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. 2023 Jan-Mar; 14(1):32-44.  View on PubMed

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