Lamia P. Barakat, PhD
Professor of Clinical Psychology in Pediatrics (Oncology) at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Member, Academic Affairs Committee, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Member, Psychology Training Advisory Committee, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Member, Abramson Cancer Center
Director, Behavioral Oncology Program, Center for Childhood Cancer Research, CHOP Research Institute
Member, CRISSP Faculty Advisory Committee, CHOP Research Institute
Member, Executive Committee, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Co-Division Chief, Division of Integrated Psychiatry, Psychology, and Behavioral Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Department: Pediatrics
Contact information
The Hub for Clinical Collaboration
Division of Oncology/3rd floor, 3567
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
3500 Civic Center Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Division of Oncology/3rd floor, 3567
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
3500 Civic Center Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 267-426-8135
Fax: 215-590-3020
Fax: 215-590-3020
Email:
barakat@chop.edu
barakat@chop.edu
Publications
Education:
BA (Psychology)
Villanova University, 1985.
PhD (Clinical-Community Psychology)
University of South Carolina, 1991.
Permanent linkBA (Psychology)
Villanova University, 1985.
PhD (Clinical-Community Psychology)
University of South Carolina, 1991.
Description of Clinical Expertise
evidence-based interventions to improve disease management and adaptation among children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer and their caregivers during active treatment and through the survivorship phase; evidence-based psychosocial screening and assessment in pediatric oncology to improve cancer outcomes and decrease disparities in care; setting and implementing the standards for psychosocial care in pediatric oncologyDescription of Other Expertise
training and mentorship in pediatric psychology and pediatric psycho-oncologyDescription of Research Expertise
My federally-funded research program is focused examining risk-and-resistance models of adaptation to pediatric chronic conditions particularly sociodemographic and family factors in quality of life and disease management in pediatric hematology and oncology. Another focus is on translating risk-and-resistance models into empirically supported interventions to improve disease management, school functioning, quality of life in pediatric samples. Within oncology, at present, I have an active research program examining evidenced based assessment in clinical care and posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth in survivors of childhood cancer and their caregivers. Future projects involve understanding perceived benefits and barriers to participation in clinical trials and examining engagement of adolescents and young adults with cancer in this decision-making and implications for adherence to treatment and quality of life.Selected Publications
Barakat, L.P., Hammer, S.N., Wen, Y., Anil, A., Schwartz, L.A., Reilly, A., Bagatell, R., Schapira, M.M., Li, Y., & Deatrick, J.A. : Evaluation of a Decision Support Intervention for AYA Newly Diagnosed with Cancer. Medical Decision Making: Policy and Practice June 2026 Notes: https://doi.org/10.1177/23814683251344624.Steinway, C.M., Carbaugh,L., Belton, T., Teng, O., Shults, J., Bennett, L., Griffis, H., Aygun, B., Appiah-Kubi, A., Apollonsky, N., Boruchov, D., Niss, O., Schwartz, L., Crosby L.E., Barakat, L.P., Andemariam, B., Rubin, D., Smith-Whitley, K., & Jan, S. : Characterizing Engagement with a Mobile Health Application Designed for Adolescents and Young Adults with Sickle Cell Disease: Findings from the COMETS Study. Pediatric Blood and Cancer 73(6), Jun 2026 Notes: doi: 10.1002/1545-5017.70252. Epub 2026 Mar 17.
Barakat, L.P., Hammer, S.N., Knafl, G.J., Stevens, E., Hobbie, W.L., Minturn, J.E., Knafl, K., & Deatrick, J.A. : Acceptability and Feasibility of a Problem-solving Intervention for Maternal Caregivers of Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Brain Tumors. Psycho-oncology 35(2), Feb 2026.
Barakat, L.P., Scialla, M.A., Ramaswamy, N., Deatrick, J.A., Arasteh, K., Sandler, E., Hammer, S.N., & Kazak, A.E. : A Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Two Implementation Strategies for Universal Psychosocial Screening with the Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PAT) across 18 Childhood Cancer Programs in the United States: Adoption, Penetration, and Health Equity. Implementation Science 21(1), Feb 2026.
Jan, S., Steinway, C., Belton, T., Shults, J. . . . Schwartz, L., Crosby, L., Barakat, L.P., Andemariam, B., Mulchan, S., Rubin, D., & Smith-Whitley, K. : Community Health Worker and Mobile Health Interventions for Quality of Life Among Young Adults with Sickle Cell Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open 8(11), Nov 2025.
Paeps, M., Scialla, M., Barakat, L., Arasteh, K. & Kazak, A. : Implementing a psychosocial screener in pediatric cancer: Barriers and facilitators identified by multidisciplinary clinicians. Poster presented at the annual congress of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. October 2025.
Psihogios, A.M., El-Khatib, A., Matos, K., Rabbi, M., Rossoff, J., Dinner, S., Zeng, K., Picos, R., Ahmed, A., Patel, E.M., Fleisher, L., Hunger, S.P., Pai, A., Laurenceau, J.-P., Rini, C., Barakat, L.P., Schwartz, L.A., Murphy, S., & Yanez, B.: Human-centered design of a personalized digital health intervention to improve oral chemotherapy adherence in adolescents and young adults with hematologic cancers. Pediatric Blood & Cancer 72(8), Aug 2025 Notes: In Press.
Darabos, K., Deatrick, J., Wolk, C. B., O’Hagan, B., King-Dowling, S., Szalda, D., Hobbie, W., Barakat, L. P., Hill-Kayser, C., & Schwartz, L. A. : Perspectives on care plans for adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer: A qualitative evaluation of survivors, caregivers, and oncology and primary care practitioners. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology July 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1177/21565333251362113. Epub ahead of print.
Darabos, K., Barakat, L. P., & Schwartz, L.A.: Decisional conflict and biomarkers of stress among adolescents and young adults with cancer. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology 43(6): 903-913, June 2025.
Hammer, S.N., Deatrick, J.A., Stevens, E., Hobbie, W., Minturn, J., Knafl, K.A., Knafl, G., & Barakat, L.P. : Evaluating a Self- and Family Management Framework for Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Brain Tumors. Journal of Family Nursing 31(2): 140-152, May 2025 Notes: https://doi.org/10.1177/10748407251314865.