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

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. 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. 2022 Jun 17; 1-15.  View on PubMed
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. Murphy M, Callander JK, Dohan D, Grandis JR. Women's Experiences of Promotion and Tenure in Academic Medicine and Potential Implications for Gender Disparities in Career Advancement: A Qualitative Analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 09 01; 4(9):e2125843.  View on PubMed
  7. 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. 2022 01; 63(1):160-170.  View on PubMed
  8. 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 11; 29(11):1079-1088.  View on PubMed
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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

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