Michelle van Ryn, PhD

Associate Professor
Adjunct Associate Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health
612-625-9105
vanry001@umn.edu

Primary Research Themes: Provider-patient relationships as they influence health outcomes both directly and indirectly through their influence on self-esteem, self-regulation, decision-making, health behaviors, adherence, and utilization; the contribution of provider, patient, and encounter factors to disparities in quality of care; disparities in cancer care and in the experiences of caregivers of cancer patients; developing and testing valid methods for assessing unconscious bias in clinical decision-making.

Education Activities: Teaches in the Family Medicine and Community Health residency program and graduate courses in the School of Public Health

Current Grants

VA HSR&D and National Cancer Institute, "VA Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance"

National Cancer Institute, "What Is the Impact of Caregiving?"

Selected Articles

Griggs JJ, Culakova E, Sorbero MES, van Ryn M, Poniewierski MS, Wolff DA, Crawford J, Dale DC, Lyman GH. Effect of patient socioeconomic status and body mass index on the quality of breast cancer adjuvant chemotherapy. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2007;25(3):277-284.

Burgess D, van Ryn M, Dovidio J, Saha S. Reducing racial bias among health care providers: Lessons from social-cognitive psychology.  Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2007;22(6):882-887.

Fu S, Burgess D, van Ryn M, Hatsukami DK, Solomon J, Joseph AM. Views on smoking cessation methods in ethnic minority communities: A qualitative investigation. Preventive Medicine. 2007;44(3):235-240.

Burgess DJ, van Ryn M, Crowley-Makota M, Malat J. Understanding the provider contribution to race/ethnicity disparities in pain treatment: Insights from dual process models of stereotyping. Pain Med. 2006;7(2):119-134.

Malat J, van Ryn M, Purcell D.  Race, socioeconomic status, and the perceived importance of positive self-presentation in health care. Social Science and Medicine. 2006;62:2479-2488.

van Ryn M, Burgess D, Malat J, Griffin J. Physicians' perceptions of patients' social and behavioral characteristics and race disparities in treatment recommendations for men with coronary artery disease. American Journal of Public Health 2006; 96(2): 351-357.

Malat, J., van Ryn, M. African American preference for same-race doctors: The role of perceived discrimination. Ethnicity & Disease 2005; 15(4): 739-747.

van Ryn, M., Williams, D. Commentary on racial disparities in health care. Medical Care Research and Review. 2003; 60: 496-508.

van Ryn, M., and Fu, S. Paved with good intentions: Do public health and human service providers contribute to race/ethnicity disparities in health? American Journal of Public Health. 2003; 93(2): 248-55.

Murdoch, M., Hodges, J., Cowper, D., and van Ryn, M. Racial disparities in VA service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder disability. Medical Care. 2003; 41(4): 536-549.

Education

PhD, Social Psychology and Health Behavior, University of Michigan, Rackham School of Graduate Studies

MPH, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health

Selected Professional Activities

Cancer Care Quality Measures Steering Committee, National Quality Forum, funded by NCI, 2000-present

Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Expert Panel in Cancer Care, 2003-present

Director, VA Associated Health Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in Health Services Research and Development, Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 2002-present

Research Director, Colorectal Cancer Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, NCI/VA, Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 2001-present