General Internal Medicine

Peter A Ubel, MD

Professor of Business Administration
Madge and Dennis T. McLawhorn University Distinguished Professor
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Professor of Medicine
Professor in Population Health Sciences
Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
Campus mail 100 Fuqua Dr, Box 90120, Room W309, Durham, NC 27708-0120
Phone (919) 660-8003
Email address peter.ubel@duke.edu

I am a physician and behavioral scientist at Duke University. My research and writing explores the quirks in human nature that influence our lives — the mixture of rational and irrational forces that affect our health, our happiness and the way our society functions. (What fun would it be to tackle just the easy problems?)

I am currently exploring controversial issues about the role of values and preferences in health care decision making, from decisions at the bedside to policy decisions. I use the tools of decision psychology and behavioral economics to explore topics like informed consent, shared decision making and health care spending. My books include Pricing Life (MIT Press 2000) and Free Market Madness (Harvard Business Press, 2009). My newest book, Critical Decisions (HarperCollins), came out in September of 2012, and explores the challenges of shared decision making between doctors and patients.

Education and Training

  • M.D., University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 1988
  • B.A., Carleton College, 1984

Grants

Publications

Wong, Charlene A., William B. Song, Megan Jiao, Emily O’Brien, Peter Ubel, Gary Wang, and Charles D. Scales. “Strategies for research participant engagement: A synthetic review and conceptual framework.” Clin Trials 18, no. 4 (August 2021): 457–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/17407745211011068.

PMID
34011179
Full Text

Hildenbrand, Jordan D., Debra M. Davis, Areej El-Jawahri, Kris W. Herring, Susan C. Locke, Kathryn I. Pollak, Gregory P. Samsa, et al. “A novel decision aid for acute myeloid leukemia: a feasibility and preliminary efficacy trial.” Support Care Cancer 29, no. 7 (July 2021): 3563–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05864-5.

PMID
33159220
Full Text

Wong, Charlene A., Shabnam Hakimi, Taruni S. Santanam, Farrah Madanay, Ilona Fridman, Carol Ford, Mitesh Patel, and Peter A. Ubel. “Applying Behavioral Economics to Improve Adolescent and Young Adult Health: A Developmentally-Sensitive Approach.” The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 69, no. 1 (July 2021): 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.10.007.

PMID
33288458
Full Text

Barks, Mary C., Emma A. Schindler, Peter A. Ubel, Megan G. Jiao, Kathryn I. Pollak, Hanna E. Huffstetler, and Monica E. Lemmon. “Assessment of parent understanding in conferences for critically ill neonates.” In Patient Educ Couns, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.06.013.

PMID
34130892
Full Text

Williamson, Theresa, C Rory Goodwin, and Peter A. Ubel. “Minority Tax Reform - Avoiding Overtaxing Minorities When We Need Them Most.” N Engl J Med 384, no. 20 (May 20, 2021): 1877–79. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2100179.

PMID
34014047
Full Text

Fagerlin, Angela, Margaret Holmes-Rovner, Timothy P. Hofer, David Rovner, Stewart C. Alexander, Sara J. Knight, Bruce S. Ling, et al. “Head to head randomized trial of two decision aids for prostate cancer.” Bmc Med Inform Decis Mak 21, no. 1 (May 12, 2021): 154. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-021-01505-x.

PMID
33980208
Full Text

Lemmon, Monica E., Robert D. Truog, and Peter A. Ubel. “Allocating Resources Across the Life Span During COVID-19-Integrating Neonates and Children Into Crisis Standards of Care Protocols.” Jama Pediatr 175, no. 4 (April 1, 2021): 347–48. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5215.

PMID
33315093
Full Text

Timko, C Alix, Anushua Bhattacharya, Kathleen Kara Fitzpatrick, Holly Howe, Daniel Rodriguez, Connor Mears, Kerri Heckert, Peter A. Ubel, Jill Ehrenreich-May, and Rebecka Peebles. “The shifting perspectives study protocol: Cognitive remediation therapy as an adjunctive treatment to family based treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa.” Contemporary Clinical Trials 103 (April 2021): 106313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2021.106313.

PMID
33539993
Full Text

Ubel, Peter A., and J. S. Blumenthal-Barby. “Paying the Right Amount to Challenge Trial Participants - We Need to Use Behavioral Science Insights to Sell What's Right.” The American Journal of Bioethics : Ajob 21, no. 3 (March 2021): 38–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2020.1870774.

PMID
33616501
Full Text

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