Joanna Paladino, MD

Joanna Paladino, MD, is a palliative care-trained physician investigator in the Center for Aging and Serious Illness at Massachusetts General Hospital. She serves as the Associate Director of Research for the Continuum Project and the Co-Chair of the Patient and Family Advisory Council of the Dementia Care Collaborative. Her research focuses on improving communication and decision-making in early dementia care, including conversations about diagnosis, care planning, and novel anti-amyloid treatments. In her prior role at Ariadne Labs, Dr. Paladino led the design, implementation, and dissemination of a structured serious illness communication intervention (Serious Illness Care Program). She led studies to develop and adapt the intervention using human-centered design methods. She also conducted mixed methods implementation research to identify the contextual factors and implementation strategies that support or impede improvement in serious illness conversations across clinical contexts. She plans to use a similar approach to transform communication and care at the time of a dementia diagnosis. Dr. Paladino requires training in dementia research, intervention adaptation, and clinical trials to develop and test a diagnostic disclosure communication intervention in dementia care to improve experience and outcomes for patients and caregivers. Her long-term goal is to become an independent physician scientist in patient-oriented dementia research.