Overview
Dr. Pollak is a social psychologist who designs and tests behavioral interventions to promote smoking cessation, reduce health disparities, and improve clinician-patient communication. She also is one of the Multiple Principal Investigators of the Palliative Care Research Cooperative that supports multi-site palliative care trials. Finally, Dr. Pollak serves as a Communication Coach where she teaches clinicians effective communication techniques.
Area of expertise: Health Behavior
Area of expertise: Health Behavior
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Professor in Population Health Sciences
·
2017 - Present
Population Health Sciences,
Basic Science Departments
Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
·
2017 - Present
Family Medicine and Community Health,
Clinical Science Departments
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
·
1998 - Present
Duke Cancer Institute,
Institutes and Centers
Recent Publications
Letter: Death Professionals as Health Advocates: Exploring Funeral Directors' Willingness to Support Goals-of-Care Conversations.
Journal Article J Palliat Med · December 2025 Full text Link to item CiteExploring Racial Differences in Family Expressions of Emotion and Clinician Empathy in ICU Family Meetings
Conference Chest Critical Care · December 1, 2025 Background: Critical care guidelines recommend that clinicians provide emotional support to families of critically ill patients during family meetings. Little is known about how family member race impacts how emotions are expressed and supported in meeting ... Full text CiteQualitative study of Black and Latino (a/e) caregiver participation on family-centered rounds.
Journal Article Patient Educ Couns · October 2025 BACKGROUND: Family-centered rounds (FCR), multi-disciplinary rounds at bedside that involve the patient and family, has become the standard of care in pediatric hospitalizations. Caregiver participation on FCR improves shared-decision making and communicat ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
2/3 CTSA K12 Program at Duke University
ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2025 - 2030Building Relationship, Improving Dialogue, and Growing Empathy (BRIDGE): An intervention to support decision-making for critically ill children
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2025 - 2030Nurse LEADS: Training in Nurse-LEd models of care ADdressing the Social Determinants of Health
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute of Nursing Research · 2024 - 2029View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
University of Houston ·
1996
Ph.D.