Dr. Ulrike Boehmer is an Associate Professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences at Boston University School of Public Health. Her research program is guided by an overarching focus on understanding and eliminating health disparities, particularly within cancer survivorship. At the center of Dr. Boehmer's work is her research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health and cancer prevention and control. Much of her recent work has focused on overcoming the absence of sexual orientation and gender identity data in the context of cancer surveillance.

Dr. Boehmer's work contributes to cancer prevention and control by bringing to the forefront the conditions and experiences of a greatly underserved minority - LGBT individuals. Dr. Boehmer's projects all share the common goal of improving our understanding of this minority population’s health and the social and cultural factors that contribute to their well-being, which has clear implications for physicians, policy makers, and researchers. Knowing about the conditions and factors related to this population’s health and well-being allows for the development of interventions that target LGBT cancer survivors, to improve their experiences and adjustment, and prevent negative outcomes.

For her current study, "Variations in Needs after Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis," Dr. Boehmer plans to obtain a population-based sample of sexual minority and heterosexual colorectal cancer survivors by identifying and recruiting these survivors from cancer registry data. The ability to study a racially and ethnically diverse sample of heterosexual and sexual minority men and women with colorectal cancer has the potential to generate novel insights regarding the differences between LGBT cancer survivors and their heterosexual counterparts in terms of healthcare and quality of life.