Donna Evon, PhD

Research Summary

Donna Evon is a clinical psychologist and social scientist who has worked in the field of chronic liver disease for 15 years. She is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and clinical/research faculty in the UNC Liver Center. She conducts research to better understand the psycho-social-behavioral factors related to chronic liver disease, patients’ needs and experiences, and then applies this knowledge to the development and evaluation of psychosocial interventions to improve health outcomes of people living with chronic liver disease. She uses both patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments and qualitative interviews in her research studies, including generic and disease-specific PROs in clinical studies of chronic liver disease. She has experience working closely with patient engagement groups and patient advocacy organizations.

Relevance of Research to CGIBD Mission: Dr. Evon is a social scientist who studies patient reported outcomes and conducts health services research involving psychosocial interventions for chronic liver disease patients. She has been the PI and Co-I on several NIH, PCORI and industry-funded studies. She has been instrumental in collaborating with trainees and junior faculty interested in developing psychosocial interventions and using patient reported outcomes and qualitative methods to study digestive and liver diseases.

CGIBD Focus Area(s):  Clinical/Translational Research

Collaborators:  Fried, Galanko, Barnes, Eluri