Lauren Van Scoy, MD

Dr. Lauren Van Scoy's current and ongoing research activities use qualitative and mixed methodology to evaluate innovative communication tools in variety of areas, including advance care planning and engaging patients and their families in discussions about end-of-life issues. She has expertise in mixed methods and qualitative research and is the co-founder and co-director of Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute's Qualitative and Mixed Methods Core, along with Dr. Heather Stuckey, MEd, DEd.

Dr. Van Scoy’s research has been funded by the National Institute of Health, including projects related to the rigorous assessment of communication quality using a methodology she co-developed with collaborator Allison Scott, PhD (University of Kentucky).

She is the director of Project Talk, a research program that studies the impact of innovative conversational tools, including an end-of-life conversation game ("Hello") and an novel graphic ICU communication tool (Let's Talk).

Most recently, she partnered with the Hospice Foundation of America to lead a national community-engagement project to evaluate and disseminate the "Hello" across 27 states and more than 1,200 people living in underserved communities.

Dr. Van Scoy serves as a methodology consultant for a wide variety of mixed-method projects and topics. She has served as a qualitative and mixed-methods consultant on a variety of projects, including large, randomized controlled trials, pharmacological drug trials and education projects. In addition to her NIH funding, Dr. Van Scoy's work has been supported by the Parker B. Francis Foundation, Society for Critical Care Medicine, John and Wauna Harman Foundation, Penn State's Huck Institutes for the Life Sciences and others.

Dr. Lauren Van Scoy co-directed the Medical Ethics and Professionalism Course for medical and physician assistant students at Penn State College of Medicine students from 2017 to 2020. She has also been the co-director of Mixed Methods (PHS 538) for public health sciences programs at the College of Medicine since 2019.

In addition to her teaching, Dr. Van Scoy served as the faculty mentor to winners of Penn State College of Medicine's Graduate Medical Education Innovation Award in 2014 and 2018, and to the winner of the college's K. Danner Clouser Student Research Award in 2015.

Dr. Lauren Van Scoy is a pulmonary and critical care physician at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. She has a clinical interest in acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, clinical ethics, communication and end-of-life decision-making.

Member, Mixed Methods International Research Association, 2020 to present

Member, Society for Critical Care Medicine, 2017 to present

Board-certified in Critical Care Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 2014 to 2024

Board-certified in Pulmonary Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 2012 to 2022

Board-certified in Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, 2010 to 2020

Member, American Thoracic Society, 2008 to present

Member, American College of Chest Physicians, 2007 to present