Laurie E. McLouth, PhD

Dr. Laurie McLouth received her PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2016. In 2019, she joined the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science in the Markey Cancer Center and Center for Health Equity Transformation. The goal of her research program is to improve cancer care and quality of life for people undergoing treatment for advanced cancer by developing, testing, and disseminating multilevel cancer care delivery and supportive care interventions. Dr. McLouth is principal investigator of two National Cancer Institute-funded grants (R03CA235171; R21CA261844) and co-investigator on several large, multiyear grants (e.g., R01CA254734). She is also a recipient of a KL2 Career Development Award. Dr. McLouth’s research has identified promising psychological targets to reduce distress and improve function during advanced stage lung cancer treatment and has developed novel, point of care interventions to leverage them. Her research has also identified implementation barriers to delivering guideline-concordant palliative care during advanced cancer treatment and developed a novel multilevel intervention to address them. Dr. McLouth’s expertise in cancer survivorship and cancer care delivery has resulted in numerous productive collaborations, including a mhealth intervention to reduce risky drinking in post treatment, rural adolescent and young adult cancer survivors; implementation of molecular tumor board-assisted care in advanced lung cancer; and implementation of a comprehensive needs assessment and psychosocial care referral intervention for community oncology. Her research efforts have resulted in 30 peer-reviewed publications, roughly half of which are first-authored. Dr. McLouth provides significant service to the University and College of Medicine through multiple committees, including search committees; the Department of Behavioral Science’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Council; and training committees for Markey Cancer Center. She is an instructor for BSC 731, Methods and Technologies in Clinical and Translational Science and MD 811, Introduction to Clinical Medicine. She has served as primary mentor to Markey Cancer Center’s Appalachian Career Training in Oncology Program undergraduate trainees, is primary mentor one of the inaugural fellows of the Department’s White Coats for Black Lives’ Fellowship, and serves on graduate student Master’s and dissertation committees across campus.