Virginia LeBaron

Virginia LeBaron is an Associate Professor at the University of Virginia School of Nursing and holds the endowed Kluge-Schakat Professorship in Compassionate Care. She directs the Technology Enhanced Compassionate Care (TECC) Lab, which develops innovative solutions to alleviate suffering and improve access to quality care through technology. Her clinical background spans adult oncology and palliative care, with global health experience in India and Nepal.

Education: BSN (University of Virginia, 1996), MS (University of Maryland, 2002), PhD (University of Utah, 2013), post-doctoral fellowship (Dana-Farber/Harvard/UMass Boston, 2015).

Research focuses on technology-enabled solutions for pain management and patient-clinician communication. Major areas include: (1) Remote monitoring systems for cancer pain management; (2) Wearable sensors to improve patient-clinician communication; (3) mHealth applications for global palliative care; and (4) Ethical dimensions of novel therapies for existential distress.

Awards and honors include multiple NIH grants, Fulbright Fellowship, and fellowships in the American Academy of Nurses and American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Recent projects focus on developing smart health systems to support cancer patients and caregivers.

Leads the TECC Lab that fosters interdisciplinary collaborations across nursing, engineering, and computer science to develop and test innovative health technologies.