PCAR Team and Collaborators

Elizabeth Adhikari, MSW

Elizabeth Adhikari joined the PCAR team in March 2019 as a Behavioral Health Interventionist. She received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Washington in June 2019.

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.

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 joined the PCAR team in September 2016. Dr. Lau is an Acting Assistant Professor in the University of Washington School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and a UW K12 Implementation Science Scholar funded by the NHLBI. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Harvard University and completed her T32 palliative care research fellowship at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Her research interests include the implementation of evidence-based psychosocial care for youths with cancer and other serious medical illnesses in real world clinic settings, and leveraging mHealth technologies to increase access to care.

Angela Mills, MM

Angela Mills is the administrative assistant for the CORE and PCAR teams at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, after previously working in arts administration. She received her bachelor and master of music degrees in cello performance from Manhattan School of Music. Upon graduation, she was the orchestra manager at her alma mater, while maintaining a performing and teaching career. After moving to Seattle and taking time to raise her two young daughters, she was eager to venture back into the workforce. Her interest in pediatric clinical research and medical care is deeply tied to her mother, a former PICU/NICU nurse.

Ali O'Daffer, BA

Ali O’Daffer joined PCAR in 2017 as an undergraduate volunteer, most notably working with Dr. Lau on a systematic review of smartphone apps for stress management. She graduated summa cum laude from University of Puget Sound in 2019, where she studied psychology, bioethics and anthropology while conducting independent research. Post-graduation, she joined the team full time as a Clinical Research Coordinator, where she leads several PCAR projects and coordinates daily study activities. An aspiring health psychologist, her research interests include health behavior adherence, particularly in relationship to psychosocial outcomes in populations with chronic illness.

Maeve O’Donnell, MS

Maeve O’Donnell is a postdoctoral scholar and behavioral interventionist with PCAR. She received her PhD in counseling psychology from Colorado State University and completed her behavioral medicine/psychology residency at the University of Washington School of Medicine in 2019. Her research interests lie at the intersection of positive psychology and behavioral medicine, including a focus on bolstering resilience and fostering meaning-making for pediatric patients with chronic disease and their families. 

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.

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 MS in Health Sciences 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.

Amy Trowbridge, MD

Dr. Amy Trowbridge is an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Bioethics and Palliative Care at the University of Washington, and the co-director of the Palliative Care Training Center at the University of Washington. She received her MD from Weill Cornell Medical College. She completed her pediatrics residency and chief residency at Seattle Children's Hospital/University of Washington and her hospice and palliative medicine fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Trowbridge’s work focuses on improving serious illness communication with patients and families through primary palliative education investigation and interventions.

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 and 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 developing specialized knowledge and expertise in biobehavioral interventions with an emphasis on learning how to design and implement randomized controlled trials with adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. Her research focuses on the social functioning and health-related quality of life of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

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