Mary Politi, PhD
Principal Investigator
- Email: mpoliti@wustl.edu
Dr. Politi is a health psychologist and behavioral scientist. Her primary research interests include health communication and shared decision-making. Her work helps patients and the public understand health information, explore what is important to them when making health decisions, and collaborate to make evidence-informed decisions that meet their needs. Dr. Politi also trains clinicians in shared decision making and patient engagement through a semester-long class on health literacy and shared decision-making and numerous conference presentations and short courses.
Zoe Troubh
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Zoe Troubh is an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis studying Anthropology: Global Health & Environment and History. As a pre-health student, she is interested in a career that meets at the intersection of pediatric medicine, public health, and education. In the Politi lab, she works on projects engaging patients and clinicians in decisions about antibiotics for urinary tract infections and asymptomatic bacteriuria.
Kylie Bushroe, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Carrie Coughlin, MD, MPHS
Junior Faculty Mentee
Dr. Coughlin is a board-certified dermatologist with a passion for integrating shared decision-making and decision support tools with her patients and their guardians at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Her research and clinical practice is driven by the goal of improving care for immunosuppressed children and children with cancer and skin tumors. She serves as an assistant professor of dermatology in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. She serves as a clinical advisor for the Center for Collaborative Care Decisions.
Krista Cooksey, BA
Public Health Research Coordinator
- Email: kcooksey@wustl.edu
Krista Cooksey is a public health research coordinator who has worked in the lab since 2020 and in clinical research since 2015. She first learned the importance of community engagement, consensus building, and collaboration in her undergraduate area of concentration in Minority Health and Policy in Underserved Communities. She has expertise in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis and project management.
Viktoria Schmitz, BA
Public Health Research Coordinator
Viktoria Schmitz is a public health research coordinator who has worked in the lab since 2022 and in clinical research since 2020. She first started her work in clinical research recruiting for projects on fetal care development in the Department of OB/GYN. She has expertise in qualitative data collection and analysis and recruitment across multiple projects.
Hannah Kinzer, PhD Student
Graduate Student Research Assistants
Hannah Kinzer is a graduate student with interests in community-based participatory approaches to health communication and infectious disease research with a focus on advancing health equity in disease surveillance. She has worked on a variety of interdisciplinary, collaborative research projects. In the Politi lab, she works on projects associated with financial toxicity during preference-sensitive care choices.
Eliana Goldstein, MPH
Research Coordinator
Eliana Goldstein is a public health research coordinator who has worked in the lab since 2023. After graduating from Washington University in St Louis, she began working in health communication for both nonprofit clinical organizations and industry settings. She later completed an MPH degree and developed skills in public health research methods. She has expertise in project management, program evaluation, maternal and child health, and health communication.