Doerte U. Junghaenel, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist at the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) and the Center for Self-Report Science (CSS) in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California (USC). She joined USC from Stony Brook University in New York. Her primary research interests are geared towards supporting patients and their families in the successful adaptation to chronic medical conditions, in particular chronic pain. As a Health and Social Psychologist, she believes that effectively assisting patients with medical needs takes many forms. These range from optimal assessments of self-reported health and wellbeing, to the recognition that people vary in the ways they cope and respond to medical care, to an understanding that interpersonal dynamics with family members and healthcare providers play an integral part in patients’ illness experience. Dr. Junghaenel’s research focuses on the measurement of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) via multi-modal methodology, the examination of individual differences in symptom experience, and the study of patient-proxy (i.e., spouse, healthcare provider) interactions/perspectives and how they may relate to effective disease management and favorable adaptation. Additional interests include the identification of cost-effective psychosocial interventions for chronic disease as a supplement to standard pharmacologic treatment and mobile health technologies in rheumatology.

Ph.D. Social/Health Psychology, Stony Brook University, 12/2006
M.A. Social/Health Psychology, Stony Brook University, 2003