Seattle-Denver Center of Innovation (COIN)

COIN Investigators & Staff

COIN Investigators

Laura Scherer, PhD

Title: Associate Research Professor, Medicine-Cardiology, University of Colorado

Contact: Laura.Scherer@cuanschutz.edu

Location: Denver

University of Colorado webpage

See Dr. Scherer's Dimensions profile that includes: publications, grants, datasets, patents and clinical trials

Research Interests

Dr. Laura Scherer’s research is about how people understand information, especially health and medical information. This includes:

• identifying what people understand from the information they are given
• how to communicate medical information more effectively
• how patients use that information to make decisions.

A key assumption of Dr. Scherer’s work is that patients are participants in their care. The concept of shared decision-making is the idea that evidence should be communicated to patients, and providers can engage patients in a conversation about that evidence and about their care preferences.

Below are three current research projects lead by Dr. Scherer with her research team at the University of Colorado and Seattle-Denver COIN.

Clinician Shared Decision Making Skills

This project is designed to improve a program that teaches clinicians shared decision-making skills. Scherer was tasked with redesigning and testing the training. Her team took an 8-hour course and tailored it to meet clinician needs, resulting in a course of less than 4 hours. The new program has both asynchronous and synchronous components.

The team has created opportunities for fun, enriching activities and discussions in the synchronous component. The new course has been tested and evaluated in 12 primary care and cardiology practices across Colorado, and shows promise in improving shared decision making in conversations between clinicians and patients.

Promoting Informed Choice for Breast Cancer Screening

In this study, Scherer’s team developed a breast cancer screening decision aid for women in their forties. The decision aid has a dynamic risk calculator to provide the patient information about their ten-year estimated risk of developing breast cancer. This information helps women decide when they should start screening (at 50 or earlier).

One theme of the grant is to test the decision aid’s effectiveness at improving patient knowledge and understanding. The other important theme is understanding how people react to a change in guidelines. For many years women were told to begin breast cancer screening at age forty. The new guidelines promote looking at the patient’s risk and their personal preferences, and potentially waiting until the age of 50 before screening.

Dr. Scherer is interested how people react to the new evidence and new guidelines, not just in terms of their understanding, but also in terms of their emotions. She wants to understand how this reversal emotionally affects women and how that those emotions determine how they use this information.

Road Maps to Help Patients Find a Way

The first two projects described above explore different types of decision making, for the patient and how to engage clinicians in shared decision-making. This last project understands that decisions are part of a larger journey, especially when the patient has a chronic illness. When the patent’s illness is on-going and will potentially last for years, the patients will have many decisions to make along their way.

Dr. Scherer and her team saw the need to create a tool to help patients navigate their way. The “road map” they created for patients with coronary artery disease starts with the moment that the patient is first diagnosed. The map shows the how the illness may take different paths depending on severity, helps patients form accurate expectations for the present and future, and understand the purpose of their treatments.

The patient road map provides a reference point and can be a visual aid to the patient and clinician. The roadmap is also designed to activate and engage the patient. Not only to inform them but to demonstrate how they are actively involved in their own journey and that they can and will make choices along their way.

The following images visualize Dr. Scherer's work. The word cloud is drawn from publication titles. The research collaboration map shows research relationships:

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Grants

Understanding affective processing of scientific evidence to promote informed choice for breast cancer screening

Role: PI
Given past health messages that strongly promoted mammography screening, recent revisions to guidelines that promote informed choice constitute a health message reversal that can be difficult for many women to accept.
This research will employ nationally representative and longitudinal surveys of women 40-49 that aim to understand women’s affective reactions to screening evidence and the consequences of those reactions for screening preferences and shared decision-making with a primary care provider.
This research will directly inform how to communicate more effectively about breast cancer screening to maintain credibility and trust when health messages change.
Funder: National Cancer Institute
NIH website
Publications of note:
Operating on Anxiety: Negative Affect toward Breast Cancer and Choosing Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy
Cancer Misinformation and Harmful Information on Facebook and Other Social Media: A Brief Report
The Impact of 4 Risk Communication Interventions on Cancer Screening Preferences and Knowledge
Interpersonal (mis)perceptions and (mis)predictions in patient-clinician interactions

Evaluation of the SHARE Approach Model

Role: PI
Funder: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Veterans Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Role: PI
Funder: Veterans Administration Rapid Response Grant

Incorporating Bayesian reasoning in physician testing

Role: Co-I
Funder: National Library of Medicine
NIH website

A Multicenter Trial of a Shared DECision Support Intervention for Patients offered implantable Cardioverter-DEfibrillators: DECIDE - ICD Trial

Role: Co-I
Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
NIH website

Exploring the Medical Maximizer-Minimizer Scale as a Tool for Facilitating Patient-Provider Communication

Role: PI
Funder: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Preferences for Cancer Screening in the Absence of Benefit

Role: PI
Funder: University of Missouri Research Council Grant

Collaborative Research: Testing Cognitive and Affective Interventions to Improve Public Understanding and Affective Reactions to Pandemic Risks

Role: Co-I
Funder: National Science Foundation

A Programmatic Approach to Judgment Debiasing

Role: PI
Funder: University of Missouri Research Board Grant

Intuition and Deliberation in Patient Decision Aids

Role: PI
Funder: Robert Derzon Postdoctoral Grant awarded by the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making

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Recent Publications

2023

Scherer LD, Suresh K, Lewis CL, McCaffery KJ, Hersch J, Cappella JN, Morse B, Tate CE, Mosley BS, Schmiege S, Schapira MM. Assessing and Understanding Reactance, Self-Exemption, Disbelief, Source Derogation and Information Conflict in Reaction to Overdiagnosis in Mammography Screening: Scale Development and Preliminary Validation. Med Decis Making. 2023 Sep 14:272989X231195603. doi: 10.1177/0272989X231195603. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 37705500

Shoemaker HE, Thorpe A, Stevens V, Butler JM, Drews FA, Burpo N, Scherer LD, Fagerlin A. Telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic among Veterans and non-Veterans: An Online Survey. JMIR Form Res. 2023 Jul 25. doi: 10.2196/42217. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 37527547
Learn more about this publication at Dimensions

Thorpe A, Levy AG, Scherer LD, Scherer AM, Drews FA, Butler JM, Fagerlin A. Impact of prior COVID-19 infection on perceptions about the benefit and safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Am J Infect Control. 2023 Aug 4:S0196-6553(23)00546-1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2023.08.002. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 37544513
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Bayerman SF, Li M, Syed A, Scherer LD. Development of a Naturalness Preference Scale. Med Decis Making. 2023 Jul 31:272989X231189494. doi: 10.1177/0272989X231189494. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 37522395
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Thorpe A, Zhong L, Scherer LD, Drews FA, Shoemaker H, Fagerlin A. Demographic, structural, and psychological predictors of risk-increasing and mask wearing behaviors among US adults between December 2020-March 2021. Patient Educ Couns. 2023 May 11;114:107792. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2023.107792. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 37201301
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Waters EA, Taber JM, Ackermann N, Maki J, McQueen AM, Scherer LD. Testing Explanations for Skepticism of Personalized Risk Information. Med Decis Making. 2023 Apr 2:272989X231162824. doi: 10.1177/0272989X231162824. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 37005827
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Levy AG, Thorpe A, Scherer LD, Scherer AM, Butler JM, Shoemaker H, Fagerlin A. Parental Nonadherence to Health Policy Recommendations for Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission Among Children. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e231587. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.1587.
Plain language summary
This survey study assesses whether parents had ever engaged in specific misrepresentation and nonadherence behaviors regarding public health measures for preventing COVID-19 transmission among children.

PMID: 36877524
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Røssell EL, Bo A, Grønborg TK, Kristiansen IS, Borgquist S, Scherer LD, Støvring H. Danish Women Want to Participate in a Hypothetical Breast Cancer Screening with Harms and No Reduction in Mortality: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Med Decis Making. 2023 Feb 3:272989X231152830. doi: 10.1177/0272989X231152830. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 36734154
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2022

Levy AG, Thorpe A, Scherer LD, Scherer AM, Drews FA, Butler JM, Burpo N, Shoemaker H, Stevens V, Fagerlin A. Misrepresentation and Nonadherence Regarding COVID-19 Public Health Measures. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Oct 3;5(10):e2235837. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.35837.
PMID: 36215070
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Navanandan N, McNulty MC, Suresh K, Freeman J, Scherer LD, Tyler A. Factors Associated With Clinician Self-Reported Resource Use in Acute Care and Ambulatory Pediatrics. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2022 Oct 5:99228221128074. doi: 10.1177/00099228221128074. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 36199256
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Silverstein MC, Lee CN, Scherer LD, Phommasathit C, Merrill AL, Peters E. Operating on Anxiety: Negative Affect toward Breast Cancer and Choosing Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy. Med Decis Making. 2022 Sep 5:272989X221121134. doi: 10.1177/0272989X221121134. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 36059240
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Thorpe A, Fagerlin A, Butler J, Stevens V, Drews FA, Shoemaker H, Riddoch MS, Scherer LD. Communicating about COVID-19 vaccine development and safety. PLoS One. 2022 Aug 5;17(8):e0272426. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272426. PMCID: PMC9355181.
PMID: 35930557
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Rao BR, Speight CD, Allen LA, Halpern SD, Ko YA, Matlock DD, Moore MA, Morris AA, Scherer LD, Thomson MC, Ubel P, Dickert NW. Impact of Financial Considerations on Willingness to Take Sacubitril/Valsartan for Heart Failure. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 Jun 20:e023789. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.121.023789. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 35723002
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Thorpe A, Fagerlin A, Drews FA, Shoemaker H, Scherer LD. Self-reported health behaviors and risk perceptions following the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in the USA: an online survey study. Public Health. 2022 May 18;208:68-71. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2022.05.007. Epub ahead of print. PMCID: PMC9113961.
PMID: 35717747
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Baghdadi JD, Korenstein D, Pineles L, Scherer LD, Lydecker AD, Magder L, Stevens DN, Morgan DJ. Exploration of Primary Care Clinician Attitudes and Cognitive Characteristics Associated With Prescribing Antibiotics for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 May 2;5(5):e2214268. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.14268.
PMID: 35622364
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Thorpe A, Fagerlin A, Drews FA, Butler J, Stevens V, Riddoch MS, Scherer LD. Communications to Promote Interest and Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines. Am J Health Promot. 2022 Apr 12:8901171221082904. doi: 10.1177/08901171221082904. Epub ahead of print. PMCID: PMC9008475.
PMID: 35411819
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Korenstein D, Scherer LD, Foy A, Pineles L, Lydecker AD, Owczarzak J, Magder L, Brown JP, Pfeiffer CD, Terndrup C, Leykum L, Stevens D, Feldstein DA, Weisenberg SA, Baghdadi JD, Morgan DJ. Clinician attitudes and beliefs associated with more aggressive diagnostic testing. Am J Med. 2022 Mar 17:S0002-9343(22)00190-5. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2022.02.036. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 35307357
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2021

Nosek BA, Hardwicke TE, Moshontz H, Allard A, Corker KS, Dreber A, Fidler F, Hilgard J, Struhl MK, Nuijten MB, Rohrer JM, Romero F, Scheel AM, Scherer LD, Schönbrodt FD, Vazire S. Replicability, Robustness, and Reproducibility in Psychological Science. Annu Rev Psychol. 2021 Oct 19. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-020821-114157. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 34665669

Thomson MC, Allen LA, Halpern SD, Ko YA, Matlock DD, Mitchell AR, Moore MA, Morris AA, Rao BR, Scherer LD, Speight CD, Ubel PA, Dickert NW. Framing Benefits in Decision Aids: Effects of Varying Contextualizing Statements on Decisions About Sacubitril-Valsartan for Heart Failure. MDM Policy Pract. 2021 Oct 18;6(2):23814683211041623. doi: 10.1177/23814683211041623. PMCID: PMC8529322.
PMID: 34693019

Pickles K, Scherer LD, Cvejic E, Hersch J, Barratt A, McCaffery KJ. Preferences for More or Less Health Care and Association With Health Literacy of Men Eligible for Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening in Australia. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Oct 1;4(10):e2128380. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.28380.
PMID: 34636915

Valentine KD, Wegier P, Shaffer VA, Scherer LD. The Impact of 4 Risk Communication Interventions on Cancer Screening Preferences and Knowledge. Med Decis Making. 2021 Sep 1:272989X211039743. doi: 10.1177/0272989X211039743. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 34470536

Valentine KD, Scherer LD. Interpersonal (mis)perceptions and (mis)predictions in patient-clinician interactions. Curr Opin Psychol. 2021 Jul 31;43:244-248. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.07.021. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 34461604

Morgan DJ, Pineles L, Owczarzak J, Magder L, Scherer L, Brown JP, Pfeiffer C, Terndrup C, Leykum L, Feldstein D, Foy A, Stevens D, Koch C, Masnick M, Weisenberg S, Korenstein D. Clinician Conceptualization of the Benefits of Treatments for Individual Patients. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Jul 1;4(7):e2119747. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.19747.
PMID: 34287630

Johnson SB, Parsons M, Dorff T, Moran MS, Ward JH, Cohen SA, Akerley W, Bauman J, Hubbard J, Spratt DE, Bylund CL, Swire-Thompson B, Onega T, Scherer LD, Tward J, Fagerlin A. Cancer Misinformation and Harmful Information on Facebook and Other Social Media: A Brief Report. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2021 Jul 22:djab141. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djab141. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 34291289

Holtrop JS, Scherer LD, Matlock DD, Glasgow RE, Green LA. (2021). The Importance of Mental Models in Implementation Science. Frontiers in Public Health. Jul 6. 9, 916.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.680316/full

Scherer LD, Matlock DD, Allen LA, Knoepke CE, McIlvennan CK, Fitzgerald MD, Kini V, Tate CE, Lin G, Lum HD. Patient Roadmaps for Chronic Illness: Introducing a New Approach for Fostering Patient-Centered Care. MDM Policy Pract. 2021 Jul 2;6(1):23814683211019947. doi: 10.1177/23814683211019947. PMCID: PMC8255605.
PMID: 34277949

Morgan DJ, Pineles L, Owczarzak J, Magder L, Scherer L, Brown JP, Pfeiffer C, Terndrup C, Leykum L, Feldstein D, Foy A, Stevens D, Koch C, Masnick M, Weisenberg S, Korenstein D. Accuracy of Practitioner Estimates of Probability of Diagnosis Before and After Testing. JAMA Intern Med. 2021 Jun 1;181(6):747-755. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.0269. PMCID: PMC8022260.
PMID: 33818595

Wallace B, Matlock DM, Scherer A, Fagerlin A, Scherer LD. Life Support Preferences in the Context of COVID-19: Results from a National US Survey. Med Decis Making. 2021 May 29:272989X211016313. doi: 10.1177/0272989X211016313. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 34053355

Stuart, J. O., Windschitl, P. D., Miller, J. E., Smith, A. R., Zikmund-Fisher, B. J., & Scherer, L. D. (2021). Attributions for ambiguity in a treatment-decision context can create ambiguity aversion or seeking. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 1– 16.
https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.2249

Scherer LD, Pennycook G. ¿Quién es más susceptible a la información errónea en línea sobre la salud? Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2021 May 12;45:e53. Spanish. doi: 10.26633/RPSP.2021.53. PMCID: PMC8110850.
PMID: 33995520

Ingle MP, Lammons W, Guigli R, Kini V, Matlock DD, Brereton E, Scherer LD. Patient Perspectives on the Benefits and Risks of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions: A Qualitative Study. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2021 Apr 12;15:721-728. doi: 10.2147/PPA.S302146. PMCID: PMC8055246.
PMID: 33883883

McVay MA, Cooper KB, Seoane MC, Donahue ML, Scherer LD. Transparent reporting of hypotheses and analyses in behavioral medicine research: An audit of publications in 2018 and 2008. Health Psychol Behav Med. 2021;9(1):285-297. doi: 10.1080/21642850.2021.1907186. Epub 2021 Apr 7. PMCID: PMC8145985.
PMID: 34046250

Scherer LD, McPhetres J, Pennycook G, Kempe A, Allen LA, Knoepke CE, Tate CE, Matlock DD. Who is susceptible to online health misinformation? A test of four psychosocial hypotheses. Health Psychol. 2021 Mar 1. doi: 10.1037/hea0000978. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 33646806

Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Shaffer VA, Scherer LD. Promoting Reflection on Medical Maximizing-Minimizing Preferences May Create Undesired Effects on Decisions About Low-Benefit and High-Benefit Care. MDM Policy Pract. 2021 Jan 29;6(1):2381468320987498. doi: 10.1177/2381468320987498. PMCID: PMC7863160.
PMID: 33598547

Waters EA, Foust JL, Scherer LD, McQueen A, Taber JM. Adherence of Internet-Based Cancer Risk Assessment Tools to Best Practices in Risk Communication: Content Analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Jan 25;23(1):e23318.
PMID: 33492238

Thorpe A, Scherer AM, Han PKJ, Burpo N, Shaffer V, Scherer L, Fagerlin A. Exposure to Common Geographic COVID-19 Prevalence Maps and Public Knowledge, Risk Perceptions, and Behavioral Intentions. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Jan 4;4(1):e2033538. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.33538. PMCID: PMC7788466.
PMID: 33404615

2020

Volpert-Esmond HI, Scherer LD, Bartholow BD. Dissociating Automatic Associations: Comparing Two Implicit Measurements of Race Bias. Eur J Soc Psychol. 2020 Jun;50(4):876-888. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2655. Epub 2019 Dec 17. PMCID: PMC7565860.
PMID: 33071368

Waters EA, Taber JM, McQueen A, Housten AJ, Studts JL, Scherer LD. Translating Cancer Risk Prediction Models into Personalized Cancer Risk Assessment Tools: Stumbling Blocks and Strategies for Success. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2020 Dec;29(12):2389-2394. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-0861. Epub 2020 Oct 12. PMCID: PMC8170537.
PMID: 33046450

Scherer LD, Pennycook G. Who Is Susceptible to Online Health Misinformation? Am J Public Health. 2020 Oct;110(S3):S276-S277. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305908. PMCID: PMC7532320.
PMID: 33001736

Morgan DJ, Scherer LD, Korenstein D. Improving Physician Communication About Treatment Decisions: Reconsideration of ""Risks vs Benefits"". JAMA. 2020 Sep 8;324(10):937-938. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.0354.
PMID: 32150219

Fridman I, Fagerlin A, Scherr KA, Scherer LD, Huffstetler H, Ubel PA. Gain-loss framing and patients' decisions: a linguistic examination of information framing in physician-patient conversations. J Behav Med. 2020 Jul 28. doi: 10.1007/s10865-020-00171-0. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 32725580

Langford AT, Scherer LD, Ubel PA, Holmes-Rovner M, Scherr KA, Fagerlin A. Racial differences in veterans' response to a standard vs. patient-centered decision aid for prostate cancer: Implications for decision making in African American and White men. Patient Educ Couns. 2020 Jun 3:S0738-3991(20)30322-0. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2020.06.004. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 32591257

Volpert-Esmond HI, Scherer LD, Bartholow BD. Dissociating Automatic Associations: Comparing Two Implicit Measurements of Race Bias. Eur J Soc Psychol. 2020 Jun;50(4):876-888. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2655. Epub 2019 Dec 17.
PMID: 33071368

Scherer LD, Zikmund-Fisher BJ. Eliciting Medical Maximizing-Minimizing Preferences with a Single Question: Development and Validation of the MM1. Med Decis Making. 2020 May;40(4):545-550. doi: 10.1177/0272989X20927700. Epub 2020 Jun 10.
PMID: 32522094

Saffran L, Hu S, Hinnant A, Scherer LD, Nagel SC. Constructing and influencing perceived authenticity in science communication: Experimenting with narrative. PLoS One. 2020 Jan 15;15(1):e0226711. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226711. PMCID: PMC6961857.
PMID: 31940373

Scherer LD, Shaffer VA, Caverly T, DeWitt J, Zikmund-Fisher BJ. Medical Maximizing-Minimizing Predicts Patient Preferences for High- and Low-Benefit Care. Med Decis Making. 2020 Jan;40(1):72-80. doi: 10.1177/0272989X19891181.
PMID: 31975657

2019

Piltch-Loeb R, Zikmund-Fisher BJ, Shaffer VA, Scherer LD, Knaus M, Fagerlin A, Abramson DM, Scherer AM. Cross-Sectional Psychological and Demographic Associations of Zika Knowledge and Conspiracy Beliefs Before and After Local Zika Transmission. Risk Anal. 2019 Dec;39(12):2683-2693. doi: 10.1111/risa.13369. Epub 2019 Jul 9.
PMID: 31290166

Scherer LD, Lin G. Decision Aids for Prostate Cancer Screening-The True Potential Remains Unknown. JAMA Intern Med. 2019 Jun 24. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0753. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 31233089

Scherer LD, Brenner MK, Mamonkin M. Chimeric Antigen Receptors for T-Cell Malignancies. Front Oncol. 2019 Mar 5;9:126. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2019.00126. eCollection 2019.
PMID: 30891427

Scherer LD, Fagerlin A. Shared Decision-Making in Revascularization Decisions. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2019 Feb;12(2):e005446. doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005446.
PMID: 30764653

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