Lee Ellington, PhD

Contact Information:

• Mailing Address:
• University of Utah
• College of Nursing
• 10 South 2000 East
• Salt Lake City, UT 84112-5880
• Phone: (801) 585-9844
• FAX: (801) 581-4642
• E-mail: lee.ellington@nurs.utah.edu

Background:

Lee Ellington is an Associate Professor at the College of Nursing, a clinical psychologist and adjunct faculty in Psychology, and a member of the Huntsman Cancer Institute-Center. She teaches in the nursing doctoral program and in the genetic counseling program. She obtained her Doctorate from the University of Utah, Psychology Department with an emphasis in Health Psychology. Her post-doctoral training was at the University of Utah Counseling Center and at the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.

Research Program/ Scholarly Activity:

Dr. Ellington has an interdisciplinary program of research in patient-provider communication. She has studied health communication in a range of health care contexts and among diverse groups of health care providers. For example, she has studied communication among family practice residents, genetic counselors and emergency calls to a poison control center. In particular, she is interested in the role emotional expression and personality play in client-provider communication. Her focus is on the communication mechanisms (i.e., verbal style and affect) in patient-provider interactions which predict attitudes, treatment decision making, adherence, health behaviors, and clinical outcomes. Dr. Ellington was awarded a 5 year Mentored Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society to examine the biopsychosocial correlates of provider obstruction and facilitation of client emotional expression in the context of cancer clinical genetics communication.

Funded Research:

• 2004-09 PI: "A Biopsychosocial Approach to the Analysis of Cancer Genetics Communication," Mentored Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society (MRSG-04-208-01-CPPB)
• 2003-06 Utah Site PI and Co-Investigator: "Genetic Counseling Process and Analogue Client Outcome," Johns Hopkins Subcontract (D. Roter, PI; 1R01HG002688-01A1)
• 2007-2010 Co-Investigator and Site PI: "Amelioration of Literacy Deficits in Prenatal Care" NIH; {PAR 04-116; PI: D. Roter)
• 2007-09 Co-Investigator; "Target, Tailored Symptom Management for Prostate Cancer" NIH, (R21 CA120896-01A1; PI: S. Beck)
• 2002-03 PI: "Identification of Decision Making Issues Related to Randomized Clinical Trial Participation Among the Latino/Hispanic Community" (funded through Huntsman Cancer Institute 3 P30 CA42014)
• 2001-03 PI: "Communication Analysis of BRCA1 Genetic Counseling," (1R03HG002359-01)

Recent Publications:

• Ellington, L., Maxwell, A., Baty, BJ, Roter, D, Dudley, WN, & Kinney Y, A. (in press). Genetic Counseling Communication with an African American BRCA1 Kindred. Social Science and Medicine
• Roter, D, Ellington L., Hamby Erby, L, Larson, S, & Dudley, WN. (2006). The Genetic Counseling Video Project (GCVP): Models of Practice. American Journal of Medical Genetics 142C, 209-220.
• Ellington, L., Baty, BJ, McDonald, J, Venne, V, Musters, A, Roter, D., Dudley, WN, & Croyle, R (2006), An Exploration of BRCA1 Genetic Counseling Communication Patterns: The Role of Teaching and Counseling Approaches. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 15, 179 -190.
• Kennedy Sheldon, L., Barrett, R., & Ellington, L. (2006). Difficult communication in nursing. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 38, 107-204.
• Ellington, L., Dudley, W.N., Baty, B. J., Upchurch, R., Larson, S., Roter, D., Wylie, J.E., Smith, K.R., Botkin, J.R. (2005). Communication analysis of BRCA1 Genetic Counseling. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 14, 377-386
• Ellington, L., Wahab, S., Sahami, S., Martin, S., & Mooney, K. (2005). Factors that influence Spanish- and English-speaking participants' decision to enroll in cancer randomized clinical trials. Psychoonocology
• Smith, K. R., Ellington, L., Chan, A. Y., Croyle, R. T., & Botkin, J. R. (2004). Fertility intentions following testing for a BRCA1 gene mutation. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention.
• Ellington, L., Wahab, S., Sahami, S., Field, R., & Mooney, K. (2003). Decision making needs for randomized clinical trial participation among Hispanics. Cancer Control.
• Ellington, L., & Wiebe, D. J. (1999). Neuroticism, symptom presentation, and medical decision making. Health Psychology, 18, 634-643.

Recent Presentations:

• Ellington, L, Matwin, S., Jasti, S., Endo, M., Uchino, B. Dudley, W., & Roter, D. (20070. Emotional Inhibition in Cancer Clinical Genetics: The Body's Response to Provider Communication. Paper to be presented at the 27th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Washington, D.C...
• Ellington, L, Matwin, S, Sheldon, LK, Crouch, BI, Caravati, M, & Jasti, S. An Examination of Poison Control Communication. Paper presented at the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology. 2006, San Francisco, CA.
• Erby L, Roter D, Larson S, Ellington L, McDonald E. Simulated client use in the study of genetic counseling: A detailed examination of validity and reliability. Presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the European Association of Communication in Healthcare in Basle, Switzerland.
• Erby L, Roter D, Larson S, Ellington L, McDonald E. Simulated client use in the study of genetic counseling: A detailed examination of validity and reliability. Presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the European Association of Communication in Healthcare in Basle, Switzerland.
• Roter D, Erby L, Larson S, Ellington L. Oral literacy burden in genetic counseling sessions. Presented at the 2006 annual meeting of the European Association of Communication in Healthcare in Basle, Switzerland.
• Hamby Erby, L, Roter, D, Larson, S, & Ellington L. Validity and reliability of the use of simulated clients in the study of routine genetic counseling interactions. Paper presented at the National Society of Genetic Counselors. 2005, Nashville, TN.
• Ellington, L., Maxwell, L., Musters, A., Dudley, W., & Williamson, J., Hamby Erby, L, Larson, S, & Roter, D. Genetic. Counselor Responsiveness to Client Distress. Paper presented at the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare. 2005, Chicago, IL
• Baty BJ, Ellington L, Dudley, WN, Musters. A. Predictors of variation in genetic counselor communication patterns. Paper presentation at the American College of Medical Genetics Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting, Dallas, TX.
• 2/05 Ellington, L., Bjerregaard-Petersen, L., Dudley, W. N., Baty B. J., Smith K. R., & Botkin, J. R. The use of cluster analysis to study cancer genetic communication. Paper presented at the 8th National Conference on Cancer Nursing Research , Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• 4/04 Ellington, L., Dudley, W., Botkin, J., D. Roter, Baty, B. J., Larson, S. & Smith, K. R. Communication analysis of BRCA1 genetic counseling and client psychological adjustment at four month follow-up. Paper presented at the International Conference on Communication in Health Care, Bruges, Belgium.
• 4/04 Ellington, L., Yeomans, Kinney, A., Dudley, W., Beveridge, R., Upchurch, R., Baty, M. J., Roter, D., & Smith, K. R. Communication analysis of pre and post-test BRCA1 genetic counseling sessions in a large African American kindred. Paper presented at the International Conference on Communication in Health Care, Bruges, Belgium.
• Hamby, L., Roter, D., Larson, S. & Ellington, L. Utility and validity of the use of simulated clients in the study of genetic counseling interactions. Paper presented at the International Conference on Communication in Health Care, Bruges, Belgium.
• 3/04 Ellington, L., Roter, D., Beveridge, R., Upchurch, R., Baty, B., Smith, K. R., Biesecker, B., & Botkin, J. Communication analysis of BRCA1 genetic counseling sessions. Paper presented at the 24th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT Citation Award.

Professional Societies:

• 1990-present Utah Psychological Association
• 1990-present American Psychological Association
• 1990-present Society of Behavioral Medicine

Areas of Teaching Responsibilities: