Susan Lutgendorf

Dr. Lutgendorf is a Professor in the Departments of Psychology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Urology and member of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa. Her current work, funded by the National Cancer Institute, examines how factors such as stress, depression, and social support are linked to biological processes involved in angiogenesis, inflammation, and recurrence inovarian
cancer patients. She is also an investigator in a Discovery Center at the University of Iowa funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to investigate mechanisms underlying chronic urologic pelvic pain. Dr. Lutgendorf has also had substantial experience examining effects of behavioral and complementary interventions on quality of life and the immune response in cancer.
Dr. Lutgendorf completed her doctoral work at the University of Miami. Her work has been recognized by a New Investigator Award from the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society in 2004, an Early Career Award from the American Psychosomatic Society in 2002, by an award from the American Psychological Association for Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology (2000), and by a Faculty Scholar Award and the Starch Faculty Fellowship from the University of Iowa. She is on the Scientific Council of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, is the Past President of the American Psychosomatic Society, and serves as a core member of the NCI Network on Biobehavioral Pathways in Cancer. She is on the editorial boards of Brain, Behavior and Immunity, Psychological Bulletin, Health Psychology, and Psychosomatic Medicine.