Carla L Fisher, PhD, MSW

Carla L. Fisher, Ph.D., M.S.W., is a Professor in Implementation Science and Health Interventions and Affiliate of the UF Health Cancer Center, Center for Arts in Medicine, and the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases. Dr. Fisher is a behavioral scientist with expertise in developing family-centered healthcare interventions/programs that enhance care practice and health outcomes, particularly in psycho-oncology, mental health, and aging. She is especially passionate about addressing the supportive care delivery gap for family caregivers and developing interventions that reduce their distress and enhance their coping and care abilities. Her work has been consistently funded for more than 20 years (e.g., NIH, FDOH, PCORI, Blood Cancer United formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society), and she values community partnerships which have included working with local churches and community advocates as well as healthcare systems like Mayo Clinic and Memorial Sloan Kettering. She’s an author on more than >130 publications and 3 books.

Dr. Fisher develops narrative-grounded, targeted interventions using family systems & lifespan/human development theory and mixed-method designs. She develops supportive care knowledge and resources to provide families with a “psychosocial map” to learn communication skills that promote healthier outcomes. She is especially passionate about supporting family caregivers across the lifespan as well as addressing the needs of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) navigating acute and chronic illness, and breast and hematologic cancers.

She is also a renowned expert in qualitative designs in implementation science and a regularly invited qualitative expert for the government (e.g., USAID, NIH – NIEHS, OWH, Military Primary Care Research Network). She currently directs a team of pre- and post-PhD qualitative scientists to lead the qualitative arms of multiple funded studies. She’s had the privilege of mentoring more than 70 graduate students, 10 postdocs/early career PhD or MDs, and multiple early-career faculty on their paths to independent investigators.