Hollings researcher honored for finding new ways to connect people to care

Dr. Jennifer Dahne was honored by the governor’s office and the South Carolina Academy of Science with the Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Scientific Research. Dr. Dahne is a licensed clinical psychologist, a Tenured Professor in the Addiction Sciences Division of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, a Research Member of MUSC’s National Cancer Institute designated Hollings Cancer Center and the Melvyn Berlinsky Distinguished Endowed Chair in Cancer Research.

Dr. Dahne uses her psychology background to look for ways to get behavioral interventions – things like smoking cessation help and treatment for depression – to more people, especially in rural areas where such help is harder to find.

This often involves the use of technology, like apps. But Dr. Dahne says she’s not interested in building apps just for the sake of apps.

“Technology does not solve all that ails us,” she says. “It is probably a good fit for some of what ails us, and there are probably other strategies needed for other things. So I try to be mindful to develop new technologies when it’s the right fit.”

Some of the things that Dr. Dahne is working on at Hollings include partnering with primary care clinics in rural areas to test proactive e-visits for smoking cessation and testing a new model of mental health care delivery for people living with likely incurable cancer who are dealing with depression.