Faculty
Marleah Dean Kruzel
Associate Professor
CONTACT
BIOGRAPHY
Marleah Dean Kruzel is an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida and a Collaborator Member in the Health Outcomes & Behavior Program at the Moffitt Cancer Center. Dr. Dean Kruzel’s research interests are cancer communication and the communication of genetic risk information. Most of her projects investigates how patients, families, and clinicians exchange information, manage uncertainty, and make decisions regarding issues of hereditary cancer in order to create communication tools to improve health outcomes and health experiences. She is an expert on the health experiences and decisions of previvors—individuals with inherited gene mutations who have not been diagnosed with cancer. Her work has been published in journals such as Genetics in Medicine, Academic Medicine, Social Science & Medicine, Supportive Care in Cancer, Patient Education & Counseling, Qualitative Health Research, Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, and Journal of Genetic Counseling. Dr. Dean Kruzel’s research is and has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
RESEARCH AREAS
Health Communication, Patient-Clinician Interaction, Cancer Communication, Health Decision Making, Inherited Cancer Risk
RESEARCH clusters
Health Communication; Interpersonal and Relational Communication
FEATURED MEDIA, PODCASTS, AND BLOGS
"Understanding BRCA1/2 previvors’ information and support needs" (Blog - Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered)
"Coping with uncertainty from genetic testing" (Podcast - National Society of Genetic Counselors)
"Making decisions in an uncertain world" (Podcast - Health Stories)
"Combining Personal and the Professional in Research" (Podcast - Oregon State University’s Research in Action)
"How to make decisions in the wake of uncertainty" - (TEDxUSF)
"Inspired by my mom" (Video - Bring Your Brave Social Media Campaign)