 Dr. Paige McDonald is chief of the Basic and Biobehavioral Research Branch of the Behavioral Research Program in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). A program director since joining NCI in 2001, Dr. McDonald has cultivated the growth of the branch’s research portfolio, focused on elucidating biological mechanisms of psychosocial effects on health and disease.
Prior to joining the NCI, Dr. McDonald was a research psychologist at Howard University Cancer Center (HUCC) and a faculty member in the Department of Medicine at Howard University College of Medicine. Her research interests included stress and immunity within a cancer risk context, the influence of behavioral factors on breast cancer risk and survival, and the perceptions and knowledge of breast cancer and early detection behaviors among women residing in public housing.
Dr. McDonald received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. Her doctoral training included an emphasis on behavioral medicine and psychophysiology within the context of cardiovascular disease. Dr. McDonald completed her clinical psychology internship, with specialization in health psychology, at the Brown University Clinical Psychology Internship Consortium and postdoctoral fellowships at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the HUCC. In 2005, she received a Master of Public Health degree form Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. |
| Abstract: The Behavioral Research Program (BRP) initiates, supports, and evaluates a comprehensive program of behavioral research ranging from basic behavioral research to research on the development, testing, and dissemination of disease prevention and health promotion interventions in areas such as tobacco use, screening, dietary behavior, and sun protection. Our goal is to increase the breadth, depth, and quality of cancer prevention and control behavioral science. Dr. Paige McDonald will present the scientific mission of the program, highlight research priorities, and discuss funding opportunities for the scientific study of behavior in a cancer control and population science context. |