Carla L Fisher, PhD, MSW

Carla L. Fisher, Ph.D., M.S.W., is a Professor in Implementation Science and Health Interventions. She is also an 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 and expert in developing family-centered healthcare interventions to enhance care practice and health outcomes, particularly in psycho-oncology. She is especially passionate about building targeted psychosocial resources and mental health support for family caregivers based on the disease, relational dynamics, and phase of the lifespan of the patient and caregiver. In addition, Dr. Fisher is a theory expert in family systems & lifespan/human development and a methods expert in qualitative designs in implementation science and mixed- or multi-method designs. Her work has been consistently funded for nearly 20 years at the federal, state, local, and private levels (e.g., NIEHS, NCI, NIA, FDOH) and collaborated with leading institutions and nonprofits where she has also been an invited expert (e.g., Mayo Clinic, Memorial Sloan Kettering, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Elephants & Tea, Cactus Cancer Society). Dr. Fisher has authored more than >130 publications and 3 books. She’s also mentored 67 graduate students, 10 postdocs/early career PhD or MDs, and multiple early-career faculty on their paths to independent investigators.

Her work offers patients, caregivers, and families a “psychosocial map” to learn communication skills that promote healthier outcomes when: 1) coping with acute or chronic illnesses, 2) engaging in family caregiving, and 3) reducing hereditary disease risk. Her work spans numerous healthcare contexts (e.g., dementia, genomics, hereditary breast and ovarian cancer risk, diabetes, pediatric care). Her breast cancer and hematological cancer research is across the disease continuum, and she is especially concerned with supporting the distinct mental health and developmental needs of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients/survivors and AYA caregivers of diagnosed parents. She is currently the most published expert on the central role of mother-daughter communication to breast cancer coping and caregiving and has published a nationally recognized book providing narrative-driven guidance based on their phase of the lifespan (adolescence and young adulthood, midlife, later life). Collectively, her work brings to the forefront the importance of developmentally focused family communication in healthcare practice and public health interventions.

Dr. Fisher is a regularly invited to serve as the lead qualitative expert on grant-funded research supported by funders like NIH, PCORI, DOD, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She’s also an invited qualitative expert for the government including the National United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and Office on Women’s Health (OWH). For five years, she was the lead qualitative methodologist on multiple funded projects for the Military Primary Care Research Network (MPCRN). She currently directs a team of pre- and post-PhD qualitative scientists who lead the qualitative arms of multiple funded studies. She also teaches a popular summer advanced graduate course in qualitative design and thematic analysis.