Susan Lutgendorf, PhD

Dr. Lutgendorf is a Professor in the Departments of Psychology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Urology and a member of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa. She is also the Director of a pre-doctoral training program funded by NIH entitled Mechanisms of Health and Disease at the Behavioral-Biomedical Interface. Her current work, funded by the National Cancer Institute, examines how behavioral factors are linked to biological processes involved in tumor growth in ovarian cancer. She also investigates the role of inflammation in the context of chronic pelvic pain. She has previously been funded by NIH to study the effects of energy medicine interventions on the immune system in cancer patients. Dr. Lutgendorf is the President-Elect of the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, and serves as a core member of the National Cancer Institute Network on Biobehavioral Pathways in Cancer.

Dr. Lutgendorf's work has been recognized by a New Investigator Award from the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, an Early Career Award from the American Psychosomatic Society, and by an award from the American Psychological Association for Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology. She has also received a Faculty Scholar Award and the Starch Faculty Fellowship from the University of Iowa. She is a past member of the Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotions, Stress, and Health (MESH) Study Section at NIH.