PCAR Team and Collaborators

Krysta Barton, PhD

Dr. Krysta Barton is the lead qualitative investigator within the PCAR Program. She received an MPH in health education and behavioral science from Rutgers University and a PhD in public health genetics from University of Washington. On the PCAR team, she assists with the design, conduct, interpretation and dissemination of results of all qualitative objectives. She has particular interest in understanding the experience of adolescents and young adults with cancer and their caregivers in the setting of advanced cancer and bereavement.

Miranda Bradford, MS

Miranda Bradford is a biostatistician in the Children’s Core for Biomedical Statistics. She received her MS in biostatistics from the University of Washington in 2012. She joined Seattle Children’s the same year and has worked on a broad range of research projects as a consulting statistician.

Nicki Etsekson, MPH

Nicki Etsekson joined the PCAR team in August 2016 as a clinical research associate. She studied public health and philosophy during her undergraduate career at Tulane University, and went on to complete her MPH at Tulane in August 2015, with a focus in maternal and child health. She currently administers study interventions for Dr. Abby Rosenberg, and aids in the day-to-day running of the PRISM study.

Kaitlyn Fladeboe, MA

Kaitlyn Fladeboe joined the PCAR team in 2015 as an interventionist. She received her master’s degree in psychology at San Francisco State University in 2014, and is currently pursuing her PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Washington. Her current research interests involve examining the impact of family relationships and peer support on children and adolescents with cancer.

Courtney Junkins, PsyD

Dr. Courtney Junkins is a licensed psychologist who joined the PCAR team in October 2016. She received her PsyD in clinical psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Prior to joining the PCAR team, Junkins completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Children’s Health–Children’s Medical Center Dallas in pediatric health psychology. Her research interests include improving mental health outcomes and quality of life, and promoting resilience in pediatric patients and their families.

Nancy Lau, PhD

Dr. Nancy Lau is a postdoctoral research fellow on a palliative care T32 training grant. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Harvard University and completed her psychology residency at the University of Washington School of Medicine/Seattle Children’s Hospital. Her research interests include the development and dissemination of psychosocial treatments for youths with cancer and other serious medical illnesses, and co-occurring anxiety and depression.

Maeve O’Donnell, MS

Maeve O’Donnell joined the PCAR team in July 2018 as a research collaborator while she completes her internship in clinical psychology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She received master’s degrees in sport and performance psychology from the University of Denver in 2010 and in counseling psychology from Colorado State University in 2015. She will complete her PhD in counseling psychology from Colorado State University in August 2019. On the PCAR team, she will serve as an interventionist on a trial of the PRISM program and contribute to scholarly work in the area of resilience.  

Abby Rosenberg, MD, MS, MA

Dr. Abby Rosenberg is an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University of Washington; a research faculty member of the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics; and the principal investigator of the Palliative Care and Resilience Research Program. She received her MD from Stanford University School of Medicine and her MS in clinical research methods from the University of Washington School of Public Health, and completed her pediatrics residency and hematology/oncology fellowship in the Seattle Children's/University of Washington programs. Rosenberg's research focuses on the intersection of medical, psychosocial and bioethical issues involved in the care of children, adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer.

Samantha Scott, BA

Samantha Scott joined the PCAR team in September 2015 to implement her study investigating the impact of psychosocial factors on cortisol elevation and synchrony in children with brain tumors and their caregivers (the SPIT Study). In her undergraduate career, Sam studied psychology, neuroscience and bioethics at the University of Puget Sound, where she graduated in May 2017 with honors, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and was named a Coolidge Otis Chapman Honors Scholar. She currently helps with regulatory and study activities for several PCAR projects, and continues to conduct the SPIT Study. Her research interests involve understanding the reciprocal relationship between the progression and trajectory of severe childhood illness and hormonal, familial and sociodemographic factors.

Angela Steineck, MD

Dr. Angela Steineck joined the PCAR team in July 2017 as a postdoctoral research fellow. She received her MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed her pediatrics residency at Stanford University. She is currently working to complete her fellowship training in pediatric hematology-oncology through the Seattle Children’s/University of Washington program, as well as pursuing an MS in epidemiology from the University of Washington Department of Public Health. Her research interests include quality of life in pediatric hematology and oncology patients, particularly following completion of treatment, as well as the impact of psychosocial factors on outcomes.

Molly Taylor, MD

Dr. Molly Taylor joined the PCAR team in July 2018 as a postdoctoral research fellow. She attended the University of Arizona for her undergraduate degree, and went on to Dartmouth for medical school. She completed her pediatrics internship at the University of Chicago, and her residency at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she is currently a fellow in pediatric hematology/oncology. She is concurrently pursuing an MPH at the University of Washington Department of Public Health in health services/social and behavioral science. Her research interests include palliative care, integrative medicine and biobehavioral influence on clinical outcomes.

Casey Walsh, PhD, MSW

Dr. Casey Walsh is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Biobehavioral Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program at the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She received her MSW from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and her PhD in social work from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a recipient of the American Cancer Society Oncology Social Work Doctoral Training Grant. As part of the PCAR team, she is learning about intervention development with adolescents and young adults with advanced cancer. Her research interests include the social functioning of young adult cancer patients and their supportive care needs and preferences, the development and testing of behavioral interventions for young adult cancer survivors and the impact of critical health literacy skills on adolescent and young adult cancer survivor outcomes.

Joyce Yi-Frazier, PhD

Dr. Joyce Yi-Frazier is a senior clinical research scientist in the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. She completed her PhD in health psychology at the University of Washington and obtained her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. Yi-Frazier has a long history of research in stress and resilience in association with chronic/serious illness. She was one of the first to publish on resilience in the diabetes population and has also studied resilience in relation to stress in caregivers, elite athletes and obese youth.

PCAR Collaborators

• Scott Baker, MD, MS, Seattle Children’s/Fred Hutch
• Randy Curtis, MD, MPH, University of Washington/Harborview Medical Center, director of the Cambia UW Palliative Care Center of Excellence
• Sangeeta Hingorani, MD, MPH, Seattle Children’s
• Megan Moreno, MD, PhD
• Demet Toprak, MD, Seattle Children’s