Laura A. Siminoff, Ph.D., Professor and Chair

EDUCATION

McGill University, Montreal, Canada, BA 1975, Anthropology
University of New Brunswick, Canada, MA 1978, Anthropology
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD, PhD 1988, Public Health

POSITIONS AND HONORS

Research and Professional Experience
1989-1995 - Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA

1990-1995 - Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Health Services Administration, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA

1996-2000 - Associate Professor of Bioethics, Center for Biomedical Ethics, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH
1996-2000 - Associate Professor of Medicine and Health Care Research, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH

2000-2002 - Professor of Medicine, Bioethics and Oncology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH

2002-2006 - Professor of Bioethics, Family Medicine and Oncology, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH

2001-2006 - Director, Prevention Research Educational Postdoctoral Training Program. CWRU Comprehensive Canter Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

2006 - Professor and Chair, Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University and Associate Director of Cancer Control, Massey Cancer Center, VCU, Richmond, VA

Selected peer-reviewed publications (in chronological order)

Siminoff LA, Fetting JH. Factors Affecting Treatment Decisions for a Life-Threatening Illness: The Case of Medical Treatment of Breast Cancer. Social Science and Medicine, 32(7): 813-818, 1991.

Siminoff LA, Arnold RM, Caplan AL. Health care professionals' attitudes toward donation: effect on practice and procurement. J Trauma 39:553-559, 1995.

Siminoff LA, Arnold RM, Caplan AL. Asking for altruism when death occurs: who asks for organ donation and why? Transplant Proc 28:3632-3638, 1996.

Ravdin PM, Siminoff LA, Harvey JA. A survey of breast cancer patients who have received adjuvant therapy: defining their parameters of knowledge and acceptance of treatment. J Clin Oncol 16:515-521, 1998.

Silverman M, Musa D, Kirsch B, Siminoff LA. Self-care for chronic illness: older African Americans and whites. J Cross Culture Gerontology 14:169-189, 1999.

Siminoff LA, Chillag K. The fallacy of the ‘gift of life’ and its implications for transplant recipients and donor families. Hastings Cent Rep 29(6):34-41, 1999.

Siminoff LA, Arnold RM. Increasing organ donation in the African-American community: altruism in the face of an untrustworthy system. Ann Intern Med 130:607-609, 1999.

Siminoff LA, Ravdin PM, Colabianchi N, Saunders Sturm CM. Doctor-patient communication patterns in breast cancer adjuvant therapy decisions. Health Expect 3(1):26-36, 2000.

Siminoff LA, Zhang A, Colabianchi N, Saunders Sturm CM, Shen QS. Factors which predict the referral of breast cancer patients in clinical trials by their surgeons and medical oncologists. J Clin Oncol 18(6):1202-1211, 2000.

Ravdin PM, Siminoff LA, David GJ, Mercer MB, Hewlett J, Gerson N, Parker HL. Computer Program to Assist in Making Decisions about Adjuvant Therapy for Women with Early Breast Cancer. J of Clin Oncol, 19(4):980-91, 2001.

Siminoff LA, Gordon N, Hewlett J, Arnold RM. Factors Influencing Families’ Consent for Donation of Solid Organs for Transplantation. JAMA, 286(1):71-77, 2001.

Siminoff LA, Lawrence RH. Knowing Patients’ Preferences about Organ Donation: Does it Make a Difference? J Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, 53(4): 754-760, 2002.

Siminoff LA, Lawrence RH, Arnold RM. Comparison of black and white families’ experiences and perceptions regarding organ donation requests. Crit Care Med, 31(1): 146-151, 2003.

Siminoff LA. Toward Improving the Informed Consent Process in Research with Humans. IRB: Ethics & Human Research, Supplement 25(5): S1-S3, 2003.

Siminoff LA, Mercer MB, Arnold R. Families’ Understanding of Brain Death. Progress in Transplantation, 13(3): 218-224, 2003.

Zhang AY, Siminoff LA. Silence and Cancer: Why Do Families and Patients Fail to Communicate? Health Communication, 15(4): 415-429, 2003.

Kodish ED, Eder M, Noll RB, Ruccione K, Lange B, Angiolillo A, Pentz R, Zyzanski S, Siminoff LA, Drotar D. Communication of Randomization in Childhood Leukemia Trials. JAMA 291(4): 470-475, 2004.

Siminoff LA, Caputo M, Burant C. The Promise of Empirical Research in the Study of Informed Consent Theory and Practice. HEC Forum 16(1): 53-71, 2004.

Peele PB, Siminoff LA, Xu Y, Ravdin PM. Decreased Use of Adjuvant Breast Cancer Therapy in a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Decision Aid with Individualized Risk Information. Medical Decision Making 25: 301-307, 2005.

King LP, Siminoff LA, Myer DM, Yancy CW, Ring WS, Mayo TW, Drazner MH. Health Insurance and Cardiac Transplantation: A Call for Reform. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 45(9): 1388-91, 2005

Gordon EJ, Prohaska T, Siminoff LA, Minich PJ, Sehgal AR. Needed: Tailored Exercise Regimens for Kidney Transplant Recipients. American Journal of Kidney Diseases 45(4):769-774, 2005.

Siminoff LA and Step MM. A Communication Model of Shared Decision Making. Accounting for Cancer Treatment Decisions. Health Psychology 24(4 Suppl):S99 –S105, 2005.

Bryce CL, Siminoff LA, Ubel PA, Nathan H, Caplan A, Arnold RM. Do Incentives Matter? Providing Benefits to Families of Organ Donors. American Journal of Transplantation. 5: 2999-3008, 2005.

Perloff RM, Bonder B, Ray GB, Ray EB, Siminoff LA. Doctor-Patient Communication, Cultural Competence, and Minority Health: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. American Behavioral Scientist, 49(6): 835-852, 2006.

Siminoff LA, Rose JH, Zhang A, Zyzanski SJ. Measuring discord in treatment decision making; progress toward development of a cancer communication and decision-making assessment tool. Psycho-Oncology. 15(6):528-540, 2006.

Siminoff LA, Burant CJ, Ibrahim SA. Racial disparities in preferences and perceptions regarding organ donation. J Gen Intern Med. 2006 Sep;21(9):995-1000.

Siminoff LA, Graham G, Gordon NH. Cancer Communication Patterns and the influence of Patient Characteristics: Disparities in Information-Giving and Affective Behaviors: Patient Education & Counseling Patient Educ Couns. 2006 Sep;62(3):355-60.

Siminoff LA, Gordon NH, Silverman P, Budd T, Ravdin PM. A decision aid to assist in adjuvant therapy choices for breast cancer. Psycho-oncology. 2006 Nov;15(11):1001-13.
Zhang AY, Strauss GJ, Siminoff LA, Intervention on Urinary Incontinence and Quality of Life Outcome of Prostate Cancer Patients. J Psychosocial Oncology, 24 (2) : 17-30, 2006.

Gordon NH, Silverman P, Lasheen W, Meinert J, Siminoff LA. Thirty-year follow-up of chemo/hormonal therapy in node-positive breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 102(3):301-12, 2007.

Siminoff LA, Mercer MB , Graham G, Burant C. The Reasons Families Donate Organs for Transplantation: Implications for Policy and Practice; The Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection and Critical Care 62(4):969-78, 2007.

RESEARCH

ACTIVE

Siminoff, PI
Testing the Early Referral and Request Approach Model
9/01/03-8/31/07
HRSA
The major goal of this project is to boost organ and tissue donation by testing the multimethod hospital barriers to referral and organ donation assessment system, evaluating the impact of the early referral and request approach (ERRA) intervention on referral of potential donor patients to the Organ Procurement Organizaations (OPO) from target hospitals and evaluating the overall impact of the ERRA intervention on family consent rates to organ donation in acute care hospital settings.

Siminoff, PI
Understanding Consent to Tissue Donation
8/1/03 – 7/31/07
AHRQ
The major goal of this project is to increase tissue donation by understanding why most requests for tissue donation are refused, while consent rates for requests for solid organ donations average 50% by directly examining the tissue request process by describing the approaches taken by Tissue Bank staff requesting donation and assess the adequacy of the informed consent process, assessing the determinants of the families’ willingness to donate tissue, including the incentives and disincentives associated with the donation decision, recommending ways in which the current request process might be modified, and suggesting education measures that might help to increase the numbers of tissue procured and ensure that consent to tissue donation is based on informed decision making.

PENDING

Siminoff, PI
Appraisal and Diagnostic Delay in Cancer
National Cancer Institute
4/01/07-3/31/12
Disparities in cancer incidence, prevalence and mortality have been well-documented for racial/ethnic minorities. Diagnostic delay is not solely explained by structural barriers to obtaining health care, however. Evidence has accumulated that cultural and communication factors may play a role in outcome disparities caused by late detection. This study examines two important factors that are likely to contribute to a delay in the diagnosis of cancer. First, ‘appraisal delay’ defined as patients’ inability to identify, interpret, and bring symptoms to the attention of their physicians. Second, “diagnostic delay, defined as physicians’ inaction or incorrect actions to make a diagnosis. We will examine how diagnostic delay may be associated with an inability to understand, interpret, and communicate effectively with patients. The overall goal of this study is to understand how these factors contribute to delay in detecting cancers in African-Americans, using colon cancer as a paradigm for this phenomenon.

Simonoff, Co-Investigator, John Quillin, PI
Valuing Genetic Legacy at the End of Life
American Cancer Society
7/1/07 – 6/30/09
To develop a decision aid to help palliative care patients and their families understand and communicate family cancer history, and decide about genetic counseling and DNA banking and to explore the effect of the decision aid on family communication about genetic risk for cancer, decisional self-efficacy and decisional regret concerning choices about genetic counseling and DNA banking.
Role:

Siminoff, PI
Elizabeth A. Fries Training Program in Cancer Control
12/1/07 – 11/30-12
NIH
The goal of this training program is to provide an environment that encourages the development of cancer prevention and control research at the highest levels. To train predoctoral and postdoctoral individuals in conducting cancer prevention and control research to increase our knowledge of the psychosocial, behavioral, genetic and economic aspects of cancer. This will contribute to the fight to prevent and control cancer and to improve cancer patient care.

COMPLETED

Siminoff, PI
Ethnic Differences - Management of Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease
10/1/99-09/30/03
Department of Veterans Affairs
The aim of this study was to examine ethnic/cultural variations in the management of patients with Ischemic Heart Disease using quantitative and qualitative methods.5R01 CA089513-04 (Siminoff, PI)

Gordon, NH
Characteristics of Long-term Breast Cancer Survivors
09/01/00-06/31/05
NIH/NVI
This research examined the quality of life of long-term breast cancer survivors and developed an instrument to parsimoniously and reliably measure quality of life.

Silverman
Self Care: Comparison of African Americans and Whites
09/1/00-08/31/04
NIH/NIA
This project compared self care health practices among elderly African-American and white patients who suffer from select chronic illnesses.

Siminoff, PI
Family Conflict and Decision Making for Advanced Cancer
02/15/01-01/31/06
NIH/NCI
Family members often urge advanced cancer patients to accept futile care that can impair their quality of life. Disputes over treatment decisions further undermine caregivers’ physical and psychosocial well-being. This study developed a new measure that can validly and reliably assess the likelihood and degree of family discordance about cancer treatment decisions.

Siminoff, PI
Prevention Research Educational Postdoctoral (PREP) Training Program
05/23/01-03/31/06
NIH/NCI
The goal of the training program is to offer a set of instructional and directed research opportunities to exceptional candidates in order to promote their careers as independent researchers in the field of cancer prevention and control.