Marilyn Schapira, MD, MPH

Biography

Dr. Schapira’s research interests are in the decision sciences. Her research addresses how patients and clinicians structure a decision, construct values for the possible outcomes, integrate information regarding probabilistic outcomes and values attributed to those outcomes, and consider trade-offs when making decisions under uncertainty. Dr. Schapira’s work draws from economic and psychology theoretical frameworks and has addressed methods in risk communication, the measurement of health numeracy, and evidence regarding the use of decision-aids and shared decision making. Dr. Schapira uses mixed methods including qualitative and survey research, psychometric theory, conjoint analysis, and clinical trials of shared decision making interventions. Dr. Schapira has recently developed a bilingual (English and Spanish) measure of health numeracy using item response theory, the Numeracy Understanding in Medicine Instrument (NUMi). The primary clinical focus of her work is in the field of oncology and includes decision making relating to breast, prostate, and lung cancer. Dr. Schapira is also an investigator in the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center where she a Merit Review grant to develop, validate, and implement a shared decision making program for Veterans eligible for lung cancer screening. Dr. Schapira has a leadership role at University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center as a Co-Leader of the Cancer Control Research Program.