Staff: Paul Han, MD, MA, MPH
Paul Han, MD, MA, MPH
- Office of the Associate Director (OAD)
- Behavioral Research Program (BRP)
paul.han@nih.gov
240-276-7281
Paul Han, M.D., M.A., M.P.H., is a Senior Scientist in the Behavioral Research Program (BRP). His broad research interests are in risk communication and medical decision making, and his work spans the disciplines of behavioral and health services research. His specific interests focus on understanding and improving the communication and management of uncertainty in health care, and his program of research uses qualitative and quantitative methods to examine these problems in various clinical domains including cancer prevention and treatment, genomic medicine, and palliative and end-of-life care.
Dr. Han earned his M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine, and an M.A. in Bioethics and an M.P.H. from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed Internal Medicine residency training at the University of California, Los Angeles, and spent the first half of his career as a practicing general internist and palliative medicine physician, before completing an NCI Cancer Prevention Fellowship in BRP and shifting his focus to research. Dr. Han is the author of Uncertainty in Medicine: A Framework for Tolerance (Oxford University Press, 2021), as well as over 150 papers and book chapters in the peer-reviewed medical literature, and he has been actively involved in initiatives to promote shared decision making and teach risk communication skills to medical students and physicians.
In addition to his Senior Scientist role in BRP, Dr. Han also serves as an adjunct investigator with the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB) in the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and is leading cross-division research initiatives and projects focused on improving the communication of risk and uncertainty in cancer care, and helping patients and clinicians tolerate uncertainties that arise in cancer care.
Current and/or past CGB mentees include Emily Pearce.
Current and/or past BRP mentees include Carlos Garrido and Jackelyn Payne.
Research Areas
- Medical uncertainty
- Shared decision making
- Risk communication
- Predictive modeling
- Cancer screening
- Cancer genomics
- Palliative and end-of-life care
Selected Publications and Presentations
- Anderson EC, DiPalazzo J, Lucas FL, Hall MJ, Antov A, Helbig P, Bourne J, Graham L, Gaitor L, Lu-Emerson C, Bradford LS, Inhorn R, Sinclair SJ, Brooks PL, Thomas CA, Rasmussen K, Han PKJ, Liu ET, Rueter J. Genome-matched treatments and patient outcomes in the Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative (MCGI). NPJ Precis Oncol 2024 Mar 9; 8(1):67.
- Valentine KD, Leavitt L, Sepucha KR, Atlas SJ, Simmons L, Siegel L, Richter JM, Han PKJ. Uncertainty tolerance among primary care physicians: Relationship to shared decision making-related perceptions, practices, and physician characteristics. Patient Educ Couns 2024 Mar 2 ; 123:108232.
- Pearce E, Raj H, Emezienna N, Gilkey MB, Lazard AJ, Ribisl KM, Savage SA, Han PK. The Use of Social Media to Express and Manage Medical Uncertainty in Dyskeratosis Congenita: Content Analysis. JMIR Infodemiology 2024 Jan 15; 4:e46693.
- van der Velden NCA, Han PKJ, van Laarhoven HWM, de Vos FYFL, Hendriks LEL, Burgers SA, Dingemans AC, van Haarst JMW, Dits J, Smets EMA, Henselmans I. Prevalence and Predictors of Physician-Patient Discordance in Prognostic Perceptions in Advanced Cancer. Oncologist 2023 Aug 3; 28(8):e653-e668.
- Berrigan D, Dean D Jr, Senft Everson N, D'Angelo H, Boyd P, Klein WMP, Han PKJ. Uncertainty: a neglected determinant of health behavior? Front Psychol 2023 May 12; 14:1145879.
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