Barbara L. Andersen

Barbara L. Andersen obtained her Bachelor of Science in 1973 with High Honors and High Distinction in psychology from the University of Illinois. She later continued graduate study at Illinois and received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1980. Dr. Andersen completed her internship at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA. In 1980 she joined the faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Iowa as Assistant Professor. In 1985, she was promoted to Associate Professor, with a joint appointment in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; she remained at Iowa through 1988.

Dr. Andersen joined the Ohio State University faculty in 1989 in the Departments of Psychology and Obstetrics and Gynecology and was promoted to Professor in 1991. Dr. Andersen is also a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program in the Comprehensive Cancer Center. She was instrumental in the development of the Behavioral Measurement Shared Resource, which is dedicated to providing oncology investigators with expertise for the design, data collection, and assessment of psychological and behavioral outcomes. She was the Director from 2003 to 2005.

Dr. Andersen is active in teaching and service to the profession. She has taught psychometrics, practicum, and behavioral medicine courses. She mentors many undergraduate and graduate students as well as junior faculty. She has chaired grant review panels for private foundations and NIH. She has over 130 publications and her research has been funded continuously since 1983. Currently this includes an NCI grant for the Stress and Immunity Breast Cancer Project, an American Cancer Society grant for studying the biobehavioral aspects of cancer recurrence, and a Research Career Award (K05) from the NCI. She is also a collaborator with Dr. Jeffrey Fowler on research which focuses on racial disparities in women with gynecologic cancer.

Dr. Andersen has received numerous awards for her work including the Burlington Award in Teaching (1985) and the Faculty Scholar Award (1988), both from the University of Iowa. She was one of 50 women scientists invited to the White House to attend a briefing on the Clinton Administration's initiatives in science and technology. At Ohio State, she has received the Distinguished University Scholar Award (2000) and the Distinguished Lecturer Award (2003). Also in 2003 she received the Award for Outstanding Contributions in Health Psychology from the American Psychological Association (Division 38). Recently she was the recipient of the Peter Minton, M.D., Ph.D. Hero of Hope Research Champion Medal of Honor (2004) from the American Cancer Society (Ohio Division) and elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS; 2005).