Laura Dunn, MD

Research Interests

Dunn’s primary research interests are in the areas of psycho-oncology and empirical ethics. Empirical ethics is the application of empirical methods to the study of ethical issues in the context of clinical research and treatment decision-making.

Her research projects and collaborations focus on the psychiatric, psychological and pathological conditions resulting from cancer. For example, Dunn is examining the trajectories of specific psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety in cancer patients, including men with prostate cancer, and their family caregivers. She is interested in understanding individual differences in these symptom profiles and in developing predictive models that will form the basis of intervention studies. In collaboration with Dianne Shumay, PhD, another member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Psycho-oncology Services Team, Dunn is developing psychological interventions for men with prostate cancer.

Dunn is the principal investigator of a four-year grant funded by the National Institute on Aging that is examining the decision-making processes of the proxies of people with Alzheimer’s disease. This research specifically looks at the decision making process with regard to research protocols of varying risk versus anticipated benefit. She is also the principal investigator of a Greenwall Foundation funded study that is examining decision making and informed consent for patients considering deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. Dunn is also interested in informed consent and other ethical issues in the newly developing field of personalized genetic testing.

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