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Education / Graduate Medical Education / Prospective Fellows / Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program / Curriculum / Research

Research

Welcome from the Palliative Care Research Center Director

Benzi Kluger, MD, MS

Current Division Research

  • We’ve expanded the fellows’ research exposure, with a seminar where all the faculty who participate in research present a brief overview of their projects and identify how they could potentially be available to the fellows as mentors for their fellowship projects
  • Helena Temkin-Greener, PhD, is completing the final year of a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute grant to improve quality palliative care outcomes in skilled nursing homes. Her research focuses on the effect of embedded palliative care teams on patient care and staff communication, teamwork and knowledge in comparison to usual care, via a facility-level randomized trial approach.
  • Sally Norton, PhD, RN, is serving as the local Principal Investigator for a study funded by the American Cancer Society to study the components of palliative care consultations that improve patient-centered care and quality of life among people with advanced cancer. In conjunction with Bob Gramling, MD ScD, who is now the Director of Palliative Medicine at the University of Vermont, the team is beginning analysis of more than 200 conversations between patients, their family members, and palliative care team members to understand how patients, families and palliative care doctors and nurses work together to craft treatment plans compatible with the patient’s values and options. Also, Sally is co-chairing a consensus-based committee with Dave Casarett on quality indicators for palliative care and hospice. 
  • Erin Denney-Koelsch, MD, continues to describe and study her perinatal palliative care team’s experience doing perinatal palliative care consultations.
  • Sue Ladwig, MPH, continues to anchor our quality improvement and research efforts. She was central to our successful Joint Commission Certification Review in October of 2015, which included both our Pediatric and Adult Programs.

Team Publications 2025-2026

  • Aslam S, Ayele R, Fullard M, Sillau S, McQueen RB, Miyasaki JM, Katz M, Kluger B. Healthcare Utilization Patterns of Persons Living with Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders with Moderate to High Palliative Care Needs. Mov Disord Clin Pract. 2026 Apr 25. 
  • Côté-Arsenault D, Hawsawi S, Denney-Koelsch E, Kobler K, Spence K. Parenting Support Intervention During Pregnancy With a Life-Limiting Fetal Condition: A Pilot Study. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2025 Jun;69(6):633-640.
  • Côté-Arsenault D, Kobler K, Denney-Koelsch EM, Hawsawi S, Schwob M, Spence K. Training of Nurse Interventionists to Optimize Intervention Fidelity in a Telehealth Pilot Study. Res Nurs Health. 2025 Feb;48(1):7-16.
  • Creutzfeldt CJ, Bogetz J, Candrian C, Colborn KL, Crooms RC, Fehnel CR, Fleisher JE, Hasnain-Wynia R, Hopfgarten M, Hwang DY, Kluger BM, Leeper HE, Lemmon ME, Muehlschlegel S, Ritchie CS, Saadi A, Sumrall M, Treat L, Vranceanu AM, Zahuranec DB. Proceedings of the First Neuropalliative Care Research Summit (NeuroCARES). J Pain Symptom Manage. 2025 Dec;70(6):e366-e376. 
  • Gianchandani SY, Jiao JM, Adjepong KO, Leavell YL, Besbris JM, Kramer NM, Phillips JN, Vermilion PM. Identifying Key Components of Neuropalliative Care Fellowship Using Nominal Group Technique. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2026 May;71(5):676-684.e1.
  • Grouls A, Leavell YL, Mehta AK, Kojimoto G, O'Riordan DL, Maiser S, Kluger BM, Pantilat SZ, Bischoff KE. Embedding Palliative Care Clinicians in ALS Teams Improves ALS Clinicians' Confidence in Their Patient Management and Satisfaction With Palliative Care. Muscle Nerve. 2026 May 22. 
  • Horowitz RK, Rosa WE, Zarrabi AJ, Swogger MT. A Blueprint for Implementing Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Palliative Care: Design, Process, and Treatment Patterns of a Real-World Clinical Program. J Palliat Med. 2026 Mar;29(3):297-309
  • Huang AP, Corcoran J, Zizzi C, DeFehr C, Contento A, Ross L, Kluger B. A 360 Degree Qualitative Ethical Assessment of Reporting Patient Reported Outcomes. J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2026 Apr 30:15562646261441724.
  • Huang AP, Gibson C, Seshadri S, Kluger BM. Curriculum Innovation: Combining Didactic and Clinic-Based Methods to Improve Palliative Care Education for Neurology Residents and Advance Practice Providers. Neurol Educ. 2025 Sep 23;4(4):e200249.
  • Jan B, Denney-Koelsch E. Reconciling cultural conflicts: Asian American parent responses to perinatal loss. Death Stud. 2025 Nov 5:1-12
  • Kluger BM. Neuropalliative Care in Movement Disorders. Continuum (Minneap Minn). 2025 Dec;31(6):1637-1656.
  • Kukulka N, Vermilion P, Lee B. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Clinical Innovations, Ethical Considerations, and Evolving the Path to Adulthood. Pediatr Neurol. 2026 Feb;175:210-217. 
  • Loh KP, Ng QMR, Mohile SG, Norton S, Epstein RM, Sohn MB, Richardson D, Jamy O, Hedjri SM, Blumberg R, Nafis L, Jensen-Battaglia M, Wang Y, Mendler J, Liesveld J, Huselton EJ, Rodenbach R, Moore J, Maguire C, Buechler SM, Hodges S, Klepin HD. Protocol of a decisional intervention for older adults with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia and their caregivers: UR-GOAL 3. J Geriatr Oncol. 2025 Mar;16(2):102187. 
  • Mehta AK, Kojimoto G, O'Riordan DL, Leavell YL, Maiser S, Grouls A, Smith AK, Pantilat SZ, Kluger BM, Bischoff KE. Patients' and Caregivers' Perceptions of Specialty Palliative Care for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Multicenter Evaluation. Muscle Nerve. 2025 Nov;72(5):1081-1090. 
  • Saeed F, Ahmed S, Allen RJ, Ozdemir S, Fiscella KA, Epstein RM, Duberstein PR. Kidney-therapy decision-making among older adults and caregivers: treatment beliefs, prognostic information, and health priorities. BMC Nephrol. 2025 Dec 10;27(1):40. 
  • Saeed F, Duberstein PR, White DB, Liu KD, Epstein RM, Fiscella KA. Time-limited trials for acute dialysis decision-making for critically ill older patients: rationale, communication strategies, and future research. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 2026 Mar 1;35(2):195-201. 
  • Saeed F, Horowitz RK, Allen RJ, Auinger P, Epstein RM, Fiscella KA, Veazie PJ, Duberstein PR. Feasibility and Acceptability of a Palliative Care Intervention among Older Adults with Advanced CKD and Their Caregivers. Kidney360. 2025 Feb 1;6(2):236-246. 
  • Seshadri S, Contento A, Ouellette SE, Sugiura K, Kluger BM. Spirituality, Spiritual Distress and Experiences of Joy, Meaning and Growth Among Parkinson's Disease Caregivers in the United States. J Relig Health. 2025 Jun;64(3):2364-2384. 
  • Seshadri S, Magan KC, Contento A, Mammen JR, Kluger BM. Domains of Caregiving in Parkinson's Disease: A Framework Developed Through Perspective Mapping. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2026 Apr 27:10499091261446261. 
  • Yilmaz S, Aryal K, King J, Bischof JJ, Hong AS, Wood N, Gould Rothberg BE, Hudson MF, Heinert SW, Wattana MK, Coyne CJ, Reyes-Gibby C, Todd K, Lyman G, Klotz A, Abar B, Grudzen C, Bastani A, Baugh CW, Henning DJ, Bernstein S, Rico JF, Ryan RJ, Yeung SJ, Qdaisat A, Padela A, Madsen TE, Liu R, Adler D. Understanding oncologic emergencies and
  • related emergency department visits and hospitalizations: a systematic review. BMC Emerg Med. 2025 Mar 5;25(1):40. 
  • Yilmaz S, Aslam S, Sillau S, Katz M, Kluger B. Bridging the gap: Evaluating a community-based palliative care intervention for underserved patients with Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2026 May;146:108262. 
  • Yilmaz S, Gilbride E, Hryniv S, Consagra W, Mohile SG, Culakova E, Canin B, Malhotra A, Tylock R, Hopkins JO, Liu JJ, Khatri J, LoCastro M, Anand M, Magnuson A, Loh KP. Peaceful Acceptance of Illness Among Older Adults With Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2026 Jan;71(1):200-209.