Yelena Wu

Biography

Dr. Wu is a pediatric and clinical child psychologist. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology, and a Full Member of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute. The overall goal of her research is to improve children’s health outcomes by promoting self-management and disease management. In particular, Dr. Wu is interested in improving adherence to medical recommendations among adolescents and young adults with cancer and children who are at elevated risk for melanoma.Dr. Wu’s research interests fall within three main areas:The first area is examining the socioecological factors that influence adherence, including individual, family, and systems-level factors. She is especially interested in patient developmental influences, the role of patient and family social networks, barriers to engagement in critical health behaviors, and provider communication with families.The second area includes using a socioecological framework to design and test developmentally-appropriate psychosocial and multidisciplinary interventions that promote optimal development, physical health, and psychosocial outcomes. These behavioral interventions address modifiable patient, family, and provider factors that influence child and family self-management. For example, Dr. Wu's work in this area includes testing new family-focused behavioral interventions for children who are at-risk for melanoma that incorporate risk communication and behavioral strategies to promote adherence. Dr. Wu also has interests in using eHealth and mHealth to deliver assessments and health promotion interventions.The third area comprises of advancing translation of evidence-based assessments and interventions into clinical practice, including interventions that increase adherence to medical regimens, as strategies to improve health and psychosocial outcomes. This work includes testing the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions in practice, spreading interventions to a wider range of healthcare providers, and addressing barriers to intervention implementation

Research Interest

Risk Communication Familial Melanoma Treatment Adherence Cancer Genetics Pediatric Psychology Clinical Child Psychology Skin Cancer Prevention