7: Dr. Emily Freeman: Behavioral Science and Patient-Centered Care

Dr. Emily Freeman is a social/behavioral scientist interested in the knowledge translation of medical evidence from clinical trials to evidence-based communication tools for patients and healthcare providers. She is exploring how medical evidence (i.e. risk, benefit, and health outcomes) is constructed and communicated within a patient-healthcare provider clinical encounter. In addition she is interested in the intersection of medical evidence and patient's values (and preferences) and the impact on shared treatment decisions. Emily ‘s research also has focused on the impact of shared treatment decision making on the quality of care received (and experienced) by patients. Finally, she is interested in bringing a more patient-centered approach to drug development through incorporating patient-reported and defined outcomes early in clinical development of new products. In her role at Pfizer, Emily is a Health Behavior and Program Evaluation scientist within the Worldwide Safety and Regulatory- Epidemiology group. She is conducting research to assess the effectiveness of the FDA mandated REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies) and EMA RMM's (Risk Minimization Measures) on patient and healthcare provider communication and knowledge and the impact of regulatory science on both groups. Emily received her PhD degree in Health Geography from McMaster University with postdoctoral training in Psychosocial Oncology from the University of Toronto. Emily’s substantive research interests include patient engagement, health literacy, risk communication, shared treatment-decision making, and patient reported outcomes. In this interview, Dr. Freeman discusses her experiences and how we can improve the system.