Dateline DFCI
Dana-Farber psychologist honored with Presidential Citation
The leadership role that Andrea Farkas Patenaude, Ph.D., has played at Dana-Farber in promoting the use of psychology in genetic testing for cancer recently earned her a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association.
Andrea Farkas Patenaude, Ph.D.
Patenaude, director of Psycho-Oncology Research in Pediatric Oncology for the Institute, has raised awareness among physicians, genetic counselors, and psychologists about the benefits of having psychologists help people decide whether to seek genetic testing and cope with the resulting knowledge about their genetic status, according to the association.
"I believe this award indicates an awareness of the importance of psychology in the treatment of cancer now and in the coming decades, as genetics become even more vital to our understanding of this disease," says Patenaude, who has been on the Dana-Farber faculty since 1979 and a staff psychologist at Children's Hospital since 1970.
