Eden Brauer, PhD, RN

“In recent decades, there has been tremendous progress in cancer treatments and marked improvements in survival rates, which is wonderful news. However, cancer and its treatment can still leave people devastated on many levels — physically, emotionally, financially. Many patients experience long term and late effects of treatment and chronic cancer-related symptoms. It is now crucial to transform our systems of care so that we can promote the health and quality of life of a growing number of long-term cancer survivors.”

Dr. Brauer’s program of research focuses on cancer care delivery and strategies to implement high-quality cancer care to promote the best outcomes for patients with cancer and their families. She is particularly interested in improving symptom management and care coordination across phases of the cancer care continuum, from diagnosis and treatment through survivorship and end of life. Her current research is particularly focused on the use of patient-reported outcome measures in routine symptom assessment for oncology patients at risk for high symptom burden. A goal of this research is to develop tools that can help multidisciplinary teams of health care providers adequately assess and respond to common cancer-related symptoms, such as pain, fatigue, cognitive impairment, and depression and anxiety, in routine clinical practice. Another focus of Dr. Brauer’s research is communication practices between health care providers and patients about potential long-term and late effects of cancer therapy and how to best prepare patients for risks of long-term complications. Dr. Brauer is also part of a special working group within the Head and Neck Cancer Program at UCLA Health to establish a multidisciplinary survivorship clinic to provide cutting-edge, disease-specific follow-up care to patients who have completed cancer treatment. As a Registered Nurse and Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL), Dr. Brauer has dedicated her entire nursing career to improving oncology care for patients and their families.

Dr, Brauer is a Faculty Member of the Cancer Control and Survivorship Program in the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Faculty Research and Clinical Expertise 

Research: Cancer, Cancer Survivorship, Symptom Assessment and Management, Quality of Care, Cancer Care Delivery, Heath Services, Supportive Care

Clinical: oncology, cancer, symptom management, stem cell transplantation

Education

Bachelor of Arts, Columbia University, New York

Master of Science, Nursing, UCLA

Ph.D. Nursing, UCLA

Postdoctoral Fellowship, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center

Honors and Awards

Publications

Brauer, E.R., Ganz, P.A. & Pieters, H.C. (2016). “Winging it”: How older breast cancer survivors persist with aromatase inhibitor treatment. Journal of Oncology Practice. 12(12), e991-e1000. doi: 10.1200/JOP.2016.011767.

Brauer, E.R., Pieters, H.C., Ganz, P.A., Landier, W., Pavlish, C., & Heilemann, M.V. (2017). “From snail mode to rocket ship mode”: Adolescents and young adults’ experiences of returning to work and school after hematopoietic cell transplantation. J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. 6(4), 551-559. doi: 10.1089/jayao.2017.0025.

Brauer, E.R., Pieters, H.C., Ganz, P.A., Landier, W., Pavlish, C., & Heilemann, M.V. (2018). Coming of age with cancer: Physical, social, and financial barriers to independence among emerging adult survivors. Oncology Nursing Forum. 45(2), 148-158. doi: 10.1188/18.ONF.148-158.

Brauer, E.R., Pieters, H.C., Ganz, P.A., Landier, W., Pavlish, C., & Heilemann, M.V. (2018). “Improving to where?” Treatment-related health risks and perceptions of the future among adolescents and young adults after hematopoietic cell transplantation. Supportive Care in Cancer. 27(2):623-630. doi: 10.1007/s00520-018-4350-7.

Kline, R.M., Arora, N.K., Bradley, C.J., Brauer, E.R., Graves, D.L. Lunsford, N.B., McCabe, M.S., Nasso, S.F., Nekhlyudov, L., Rowland, J.H., Schear, R.M. & Ganz, P.A. (2018). Long-term survivorship care after cancer treatment: Proceedings of a 2017 National Cancer Policy Forum workshop. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 110(12),1300-1310. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djy176.

Brauer, E.R., Long, E., Melnikow, J., Ravdin, P., & Ganz, P.A. (2018). Communicating risks of adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: Getting beyond the "laundry list." Journal of Oncology Practice. doi: 10.1200/JOP.18.00162.

Brauer, E.R. & Ganz, P.A. (2019). Health burden in cancer survivors: Below the tip of the iceberg. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology. doi: 10.1038/s41571-019-0226-0.

Brauer, E.R. & Morasso, E.G. (2019). Financial vulnerability in patients with head and neck cancer: A case study. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. 23(5), 31-35. doi: 10.1188/19.CJON.S2.31-35.