Dr. Steinhauser is a social scientist dedicated to improving the quality of life of patients, families, and providers during serious illness. She is a Health Scientist with the Durham VA Health Services Research and Development Center for Innovation; Professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences and Medicine at Duke University; Senior Fellow with the Duke University Center for Aging; Associate Chief for Research, Duke Palliative Care; and Vice Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Population Health Sciences. Dr. Steinhauser also Directs the HSR&D Qualitative Data Analysis Unit. Her research focuses on improving patient and family quality of life during serious illness. She has developed tools to assess both patient and family quality of life and psychosocial and spiritual interventions to improve the experience of serious illness. Her latest work includes developing a tool to gauge the spiritual needs of those in palliative care, developing and assessing programs for clinician well-being, investigating health disparities in palliative care, and serving as Director of the Duke Residency Professional Development Coaching program. Dr. Steinhauser is a member of the scientific review committee for the National Center for Palliative Care Research and a recipient of the American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s 2015 Award for Scientific Excellence.