Jennifer L. Hay, PhD

I am a clinical health psychologist with expertise in addressing psychological aspects of cancer risk, diagnosis, and treatment. I specialize in the treatment of patients with melanoma, individuals who are at risk for developing melanoma, and their families. I am the psychology liaison to the Melanoma Disease Management Team.

I am also a cancer prevention and control researcher affiliated with the Health Behavior Change and Cancer Risk Reduction Laboratory. My research program focuses on two areas — the science of risk perception, and cancer genomics and behavior. Accordingly, I work to optimize the translation of novel basic science, genomic, and epidemiological findings in cancer through research concerning individuals’ perceptions of their cancer risk and subsequent health decision-making in members of the general public across diverse populations and settings. This involves understanding cancer risk perceptions in the adoption of cancer prevention strategies, and psychological and behavioral approaches to melanoma prevention, control, and therapeutics, as well as understanding psychological aspects of cancer genomics. Since 2001, I have been funded by the National Institutes of Health to address these issues.

At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, I currently serve as a member of the Institutional Review Board. I serve as core teaching faculty for the trans-NIH Advanced Training Institute in Health Behavior Theory. I am a member of the Psychosocial Workgroup within the Clinical Genetics Board for NCI Physician Data Query comprehensive database, and the Health Decision Making Special Interest Group for the Society of Behavioral Medicine.