Karen Steinhauser, PhD

Karen Steinhauser, PhD is Professor, Departments of Population Health Sciences and Medicine, Duke University Medical Center and Senior Fellow with the Duke University Center for Aging and Health Scientist with the Durham ADAPT Center for Health Services Research, VA Medical Center, Durham. Her research focuses on improving patient and family quality of life in serious illness. She has developed tools to assess patient and family quality of life as well as psychosocial interventions to improve the experience of serious illness for patients and those who care for them. Her latest work includes: exploring approaches to improving health disparities in the clinician-patient encounter, developing a measure to assess the spiritual needs in palliative care, and addressing clinician resilience. She serves as Vice Chair for Faculty Development, Department of Population Health Sciences and is the founding and current Director of the Duke Residency Professional Development Coaching program.