Current and recent grants
Advance Care Planning
Planning Advance Care Together (PACT) to Improve Engagement in Advance Care Planning among Advanced Cancer Patients
Principal Investigator: Megan Shen, PhD
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Cancer Institute R37
Advanced Kidney Disease
Home-based conservative care model for advanced kidney disease
Principal Investigator: Susan Wong, MD, MS
Funder and Mechanism: VA/Health Systems Research Independent Investigator Merit Award
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Decision-Making Regarding Mechanical Ventilation in Adults with Dementia
Principal Investigator: Lauren Pollack, MD, MS
Funder and Mechanism: Alzheimer's Association Clinician Scientist Fellowship
Understanding Barriers to Goal-Concordant Care for Older Adults with Serious Illness in the Pre-Hospital Setting during Emergency Response Call-Outs: A Multi-Site Qualitative Study
Principal Investigators: Lauren Pollack, MD, MS and Elizabeth Dzeng, PhD, MD, MPH
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/Research Centers Collaborative Network of the National Institute on Aging
Equity in Palliative Care
Racial Inequities in End-of-Life Healthcare: How Perceived Discrimination Affects Communication and Decision-Making During Serious Illness
Principal Investigator: Crystal Brown, MD, MA
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities K23
Restorative Processes for Medical Racism: Fostering Accountability and Relational Repair
Principal Investigator: Crystal Brown, MD, MA
Funder and Mechanism: The Greenwall Foundation Making a Difference Grant
Understanding and Improving Inequities in Palliative Care for Older Adults with Advanced Dementia and Limited-English Proficiency: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation
Principal Investigator: Rashmi K. Sharma, MD, MHS
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Aging R01
Care Inequities in Advanced Cancer and Limited English Proficiency
Principal Investigator: Rashmi K. Sharma, MD, MHS
Funder and Mechanism: American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant
Financial Hardship after Critical Illness
Improving Patient- and Family-Centered Outcomes and Value of Care for Patients with Chronic Illness who Develop Acute Respiratory Failure
Principal Investigator: Nita Khandelwal, MD, MS
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K23
Financial Hardship among Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure and their Family Member Caregivers: Understanding the Impact on Patient- and Family-Centered Outcomes
Principal Investigator: Nita Khandelwal, MD, MS
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute R01
Heart Failure and Congenital Heart Disease
Implementation and Sustainment of Team-Based Practice Transformation to Improve Heart Failure Care and Outcomes
Principal Investigator: Erin Blakeney, PhD, RN
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K23
Assessing and Promoting Resilience in Adults with Congenital Heart Disease
Principal Investigator: Jill Steiner, MD, MS
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K23
ICU Communication and Outcomes
Unplanned ICU Admissions: Understanding Mechanisms and Identifying Associations with Patient- and Family-Centered Outcomes
Principal Investigator: Ann Jennerich, MD, MS
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute R01
Improving Goals-of-Care Discussions for Patients with Chronic Life-Limiting Illness and Acute Respiratory Failure
Principal Investigator: Robert Y. Lee, MD, MS
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute K23
Neuropalliative Care
A Novel Photo-Narrative Communication Intervention Among Parents of Children with Severe Neurological Impairment in the ICU
Principal Investigator: Jori Bogetz, MD
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development K23
Longitudinal Transdisciplinary Neuropalliative Care Support for Patients with Severe Stroke and their Families
Principal Investigator: Claire Creutzfeldt, MD
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Aging R56
Comprehensive Outcome Assessment after Severe Acute Brain Injury: Advanced Symptoms and End-of-Life Care
Principal Investigators: Claire Creutzfeldt, MD and Darin Zahuranec, MD, MS
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research R01
Randomized Trials of Communication Interventions
Evaluating Effectiveness of a Communication Facilitator to Reduce Distress and Improve Goal Concordant Care for Critically Ill Patients and Their Families: A Randomized Trial
Principal Investigators: J. Randall Curtis, MD, MPH, Ruth A. Engelberg, PhD, and Claire Creutzfeldt, MD
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute of Nursing Research R01
Using the Electronic Health Record to Identify and Promote Goals-of-Care Communication for Older Patients with Serious Illness
Principal Investigators: J. Randall Curtis, MD, MPH, Ruth A. Engelberg, PhD, and Erin Kross, MD
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Aging R01
Hybrid Efficacy-Effectiveness Trial to Promote Goals-of-Care Discussions for Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias and their Family Caregivers
Principal Investigator: Erin Kross, MD and Danae Dotolo, PhD
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Institute on Aging R01
Specialty Palliative Care Utilization
Palliative Care Utilization and Needs Assessment for Patients on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and their Families
Principal Investigator: Whitney Kiker, MD, MS (Mentors: Erin Kross, MD and Claire Creutzfeldt, MD)
Funder and Mechanism: NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute F32
Recent publication spotlight
Dr. Jori Bogetz is senior author of Leveraging User Experience Design Expertise in Palliative Care Intervention Science in the Journal of Palliative Medicine (Jul 2026).
Dr. Jori Bogetz is senior author of The Qualitative Impact of Incorporating Photo-Narratives into the Care of Children with Severe Neurological Impairment: Parent and Clinician Perspectives in the Journal of Palliative Medicine (Jul 2026).
Dr. Claire Creutzfeldt is first author of Facilitating Communication for Family Members of Critically Ill Patients During and Following a Hospital Stay: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Critical Care Medicine. Lyndia Brumback, Anna Ungar, Patsy Treece, Nita Khandelwal, Erin Abu-Rish Blakeney, Elizabeth Nielsen, Ruth Engelberg, and J. Randall Curtis are co-authors (Jul 2026).
Dr. Lauren Pollack is a co-author of An Age-Friendly Approach to Caring for Chronic Lung Disease in the Ambulatory Setting in Respirology (Jul 2026).
Dr. Megan Shen is co-author of Fear of Cancer Recurrence in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Survivors in Transplantaton and Cellular Therapy (Jul 2026).
Dr. Amy Trowbridge is the senior author of Information Exchange in English and Interpreted Pediatric Serious Illness Care Conferences in Hospital Pediatrics (Jul 2026).
Dr. Jori Bogetz is first author of Proceeding From a National Workshop and Future Directions for Pediatric Palliative Care Research in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (Jun 2026).
Dr. Claire Creutzfeldt is first author of Longitudinal Transdisciplinary Neuropalliative care Support (LOTUS) Study - a conceptual framework and fidelity assessments in medRxiv. Elizabeth Nielsen and Robert Lee are co-authors (preprint Jun 2026).
Drs. Ruth Engelberg and Claire Creutzfeldt are co-authors of Surviving Severe Acute Brain Injury: Care Trajectories and Missed Opportunities in medRxiv (preprint Jun 2026).
Dr. Erin Kross is a co-author of The Family Perspectives Project: Development and Preliminary Feasibility of a Chaplain-delivered Emotional Support Intervention for Families of Critically Ill Patients in the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy (Jun 2026).
Dr. Megan Shen is a co-author of Minimal Comfort Feeding in Advanced Dementia: Attitudes of Hospice and Palliative Care Professionals in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Mangement (Jun 2026).
Dr. Amy Trowbridge is co-author of New Treatments, Novel Conversations: A Need to Study the Science of Communication about Treatment Options for Inborn Errors of Metabolism in Genetics in Medicine (Jun 2026).
Dr. Susan Wong is lead author of ASN Kidney Health Guidance on Conservative Management in People with Kidney Failure in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (Jun 2026).
Dr. Crystal Brown is the lead author of Medical Learner Perspectives on Restorative Practices to Address Medical Racism in JAMA Network Open (May 2026).
Dr. Erin Kross is a co-author of Core Elements of Goals of Care Initiatives Across Eight Health Systems in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (May 2026).
Dr. Susan Wong is the lead author of Conservative Kidney Management (CKM) Jumpstart: Designing a Behavioral Nudge to Jumpstart Conversations about CKM Between Patients and Nephrologists in Kidney360. Erin Kross is a co-author (May 2026).
Link here to see more publications from our researchers.
Programs & collaborators
Learn more about CPCCE research programs and our collaborators.
Jumpstart Program (Kross and Dotolo)
Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics and Palliative Care
UW Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
UW Palliative and End-of-Life Care Research Program