Joan E. Broderick, PhD

Joan E. Broderick, PhD, is a senior behavioral scientist at the USC Center for Economic and Social Research and associate director of the USC Dornsife Center for Self-Report Science. She was previously an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stony Brook University.

Broderick’s research focuses on the methodology of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measurement, application of PROs in clinical and research settings, and clinical trials for treatment of chronic pain. She was a principal investigator with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) PROMIS Roadmap Initiative, Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise, a consortium effort to revamp tools for measuring PROs in clinical trials. She examines psychometric characteristics and ecological validity of PROs (e.g., pain, fatigue, physical functioning, depression, sleep and wellbeing) in patients in medical and community settings. In 2013, she completed an NIH-funded, multisite clinical trial of pain-coping-skills training for patients with chronic osteoarthritis. Past research has included work on sleep-disordered breathing, functional somatic syndromes and disaster psychology.

Broderick has served on the editorial boards of Health Psychology, Psychosomatic Medicine and Translational Behavioral Medicine: Practice, Policy, Research, and has authored more than 85 peer-reviewed papers, chapters and other publications, more than half focused on PROs. She is a consultant for international survey scientists, contract research organizations, the Department of Defense and other groups on outcomes measurement and development and implementation of PROs. She has served on NIH review study sections as chair and standing member, including the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases clinical trials study section.

Broderick has been honored with election to the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, Health Psychology Division.

She holds a BA and PhD from Stony Brook University.

Recent Work

Pain Relief Without Pills

CESR researcher Joan Broderick trains healthcare providers on a successful, non-pharma approach for patients to manage their chronic pain that may help stem American’s opioid crisis.

By Joan E. Broderick, PhD

Evidence Base

Can Real-Time Technologies Improve Cancer Patient Care?

The advent of low-cost, real-time monitoring technologies is allowing researchers to collect more data than ever before. A USC trial investigates whether this data can be used to improve cancer patient care by bridging the information gap between doctor’s office visits.

By Joan E. Broderick, PhD and Marcella May

Evidence Base

Move Beyond Drugs to Manage Pain

The government should prioritize integrative care to curb reliance on opioids.

By Joan E. Broderick, PhD and Jason Doctor, PhD

Encouraging Integrative, Non-Opioid Approaches To Pain: A Policy Agenda

Big changes are necessary to overcome our myopic view favoring immediate pain relief over safer approaches that are effective in the long term.

By Jason Doctor, PhD, Penny Cohan, Daniella Meeker, PhD, Patricia Bruckenthal and Joan E. Broderick, PhD