Katarina E. AuBuchon, PhD, Research Scientist

Dr. AuBuchon is a Research Scientist in Palliative Care Research at MedStar Health Research Institute; Assistant Professor of Oncology at Georgetown University; and a Member of the Cancer Prevention and Control program at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research spans the cancer care continuum and includes 1) understanding and intervening to promote equitable communication to promote equitable health, 2) promoting effective and equitable pain and symptom management, and 3) designing and testing implementable multilevel interventions to promote equitable experiences across the cancer care continuum.

She received her B.A. in philosophy and psychology at Furman University and gained clinical research experience working at Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas. In her doctoral training at The George Washington University, she gained extensive experience in designing experimental studies to test the effects of social-behavioral factors on health cognitions, behaviors, and other measurable health outcomes like pain sensitization. She continued her training as a T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in Cancer Population Sciences at the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Her work falls into three broad categories that intersect: health equity, cancer control, and pain and symptom management. She is especially interested in the role of communication in shaping cancer pain outcomes for patients with cancer, particularly for patient populations who experience worse cancer-related pain. Her work focuses on how social factors (e.g., provider-patient communication) influence cancer symptom management, palliative care utilization, and pain management, especially for historically marginalized patients that experience inequities. In her work, she collaborates with patient advocates, clinicians, and other researchers to help us identify strategies to promote equitable patient care, ultimately leading to better care for all patients. In addition to being an essential member of the Palliative Care research team, she also works across MHRI with the Implementation Science research team.

Research Interests:

  • Health Equity
  • Communication
  • Cancer
  • Pain
  • Symptom Management
  • Social Psychology
  • Bias

Selected Research:

  1. AuBuchon, KE, Aduloju A, Billini OM, Khoudary A, Rodriguez JD, Kim C, Wheeley J, Gutierrez M, Derry-Vick HM, Conley CC. “A lot of the times, patients really don’t know what questions to ask:” Communication perspectives of Black patients with advanced lung cancer. Patient Education and Counseling. 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2026.109569

  2. AuBuchon, KE, McDonnell, A, Arem, H, Taylor, T, Kanaan, YM, Gondré-Lewis, MC, Harrison, BW, Chapell, NP, Bauman, JE, King, CJ, Chalasani, P, Gallagher, C, Williams, C, & Pratt-Chapman, M. Establishing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice task forces for District of Columbia area cancer centers: Lessons learned implementing efforts in oncology. PLOS One. 2026; 21(2): e0341662. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0341662

  3. AuBuchon, KE, Amaru, A, Quintero Cepero, T, Creed, S, Caputo, J, Cogan, A, Verweil, C, Kim, V, Zhang, R, Ahn, J, Arem, H, McCabe, P, & Goyal, M. Exploring demographic differences in post-intubation analgesia by racial group, sex, and age. The Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2025.11.007

Research Areas


  • Health Equity
    Health Services/Quality/Outcomes
    Implementation Science
    Oncology
    Other Medical