Theresa Marie Coles

Theresa Coles, Ph.D., is a health outcomes methodologist with a focus on measuring and evaluating patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and other clinical outcomes assessments (COAs), integrating PRO measures for screening of symptoms in clinical care (PROMs for screening), and improving interpretation of patient-centered outcome scores for use in healthcare delivery and clinical research settings to inform decision making. I am excited by opportunities to use COA scores to support actionable decision-making in clinical care.

My research program is comprised of 2 pillars:

1. Enhance the assessment of function (e.g., physical function, cognitive function) to inform decision-making
2. Design patient-reported screening questionnaires to improve patient-centered care by measuring what matters

I use qualitative (concept elicitation and cognitive interviews) and quantitative (psychometric) methods in my work. I've also been exploring consensus methodologies. At the core of my work is questionnaire design.

Applications of my work are in a range of conditions such as cancer, heart failure, orthopedics, hearing healthcare, sinusitis, Eustachian tube dysfunction, migraine, autoimmune conditions, and hematologic conditions.