Thomas LeBlanc

I am a medical oncologist, palliative care physician, and patient experience researcher, and serve as Chief Patient Experience and Safety Officer for the Duke Cancer Institute. My clinical practice focuses on the care of patients with hematologic malignancies, with a particular emphasis on myeloid conditions and acute leukemias including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs / MPDs, CML).  

As founding Director of the Duke Cancer Patient Experience Research Program (CPEP), my research investigates common issues faced by people with cancer, including issues of symptom burden, quality of life, psychological distress, prognostic understanding, and treatment decision-making. This work aims to improve patients' experiences living with serious illnesses like blood cancers, including the integration of specialist palliative care services to provide an extra layer of support along with their comprehensive cancer care. More broadly, our team in CPEP conducts various studies of patient experience and outcomes issues in oncology, including retrospective chart review studies, comparative effectiveness work, prospective observational studies and registries, and qualitative research, along with efforts to facilitate the integration of patient-generated health data (PGHD) into routine cancer care processes, such as with electronic patient-reported outcome measures (ePROs) and other mobile health interventions (mHealth). 

This work has led to recognition as an "Inspirational Leader under 40" by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), "Fellow" status from the Academy in 2016, the 2018 international "Clinical Impact Award" from the European Association for Palliative Care, and the AAHPM "Early Career Investigator" award in 2020. I served as 2017-18 Chair of the ASCO Ethics Committee, and currently Chair the Scientific Review Committee of the NIH/NINR-funded Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group (PCRC; www.palliativecareresearch.org). I have served on various national guideline panels for AML and for palliative/supportive care issues in oncology, and was inducted as a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) in 2021. To date I have published over 200 Medline-indexed articles, and several chapters in prominent textbooks of oncology and palliative medicine.