Leaders in Research
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| Mara Schonberg, M.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine Div. of General Medicine and Primary Care Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess MC
Mammography screening for women 80 and older is one area where limited information on benefits and risks complicates decision-making. For example, will it be a benefit or a burden for an 85-year-old woman to learn that she has breast cancer? Dr. Mara Schonberg is using her Beeson award to collect more data in this area and design a tool to help physicians and their patients make an informed decision. To accomplish this, she is conducting a longitudinal observational study to describe the psychological impact and the decision-making process of a cohort of women aged 80 and older after an abnormal mammogram, as compared to a younger cohort of women aged 65-79. The data from this study will be used along with data she has previously collected to design and evaluate a decision aid on mammography screening for women aged 80 and older and their clinicians. This decision aid will help patients become involved in decision-making by providing balanced information about test and/or treatment options and outcomes, and by clarifying personal values. The results of Dr. Schonberg's research will enhance decision-making for women aged 80 and older, allowing these women to make informed decisions about their treatment options, based on their values and preferences. In the future, Dr. Schonberg plans to use the results of her Beeson research to explore the benefits and risks of other health promotion measures for older adults and to design tools to improve decision-making around these measures. Dr. Schonberg received her MD and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago. She completed a fellowship in general internal medicine through the Faculty Development and Fellowship Program in General Internal Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. During fellowship, she obtained a Masters in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. | |
| Primary Research (for Beeson Program): Benefits and Burdens of Screening Oldest-old Women: the Case of Mammography
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Now that more individuals are living healthfully and independently into their 80s and 90s, identifying which of these older adults may benefit from health promotion measures is becoming a challenge for their doctors. To improve medical decision-making among the oldest adults, more research is needed on outcomes of health promotion measures.