Project Investigator Biography

Dr. Christi Ann Patten, Ph.D. Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic Rochester 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905 phone: (507) 266-2577 fax: (507) 284-4288 email: patten.christi@mayo.edu

Dr. Patten is the Mayo Clinic PI of the Minority Serving Institution/Comprehensive Cancer Center partnership (NCI P20 grant) with Dr. Edward Garrison, PI at Diné College. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Psychology, and Director of the Behavioral Health Research Program in the Cancer Center at Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN. Dr. Patten has served on several expert panels at NIH in the areas of tobacco cessation and reducing cancer health disparities. She currently serves as a standing study section member of the NIDA Treatment Research Subcommittee (NIDA-E), and has authored over 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Patten’s research focuses on developing novel, theory-based behavioral interventions for cancer prevention, particularly in the area of tobacco cessation. She has contributed to the field in the areas of tobacco cessation interventions for adolescents and smokers with psychiatric comorbidity, and social support and smoking cessation.

Dr. Patten is committed to reducing cancer health disparities among Native Americans. The P20 grant with Diné College was funded in 2005. The grant is focused on cancer research education and cancer research training for Navajo undergraduate students, as well as faculty training in cancer prevention research. In addition to her work with the Navajo Nation, over the past 7 years Dr. Patten has established a successful partnership with the Alaska Native community in Western Alaska. A long-term goal of the partnership is to establish the research infrastructure and develop evidence-based programs to reduce tobacco-related health disparities among Alaska Natives. Her work in Alaska focuses on developing tobacco cessation interventions for pregnant women and children. She is the primary mentor or co-mentor on several pre- and post-doctoral NIH funded grants (i.e., F31 NIDA Kirchstein award) that focus on tobacco cessation among Native American communities.

Dr. Patten received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of California, San Diego and completed a research fellowship at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. In 2001, she was recognized by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco for her contributions to the field as the recipient of the New Investigator Award.