Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Shelli Feder
Dr. Shelli Feder leads the Palliative and End-of-Life Care Innovation (PECIL) Lab at Yale. Her research focuses on how healthcare systems and clinicians can improve access to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care for people with serious illness. The lab’s work emphasizes translating research findings into practical solutions that health systems can adopt to better support patients and their families.
Through collaborations with partners such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and Yale New Haven Health System, the PECIL Lab evaluates innovative models of care, develops informatics tools to promote timely palliative care, and trains the next generation of nurse scientists and clinicians.
Q: Please describe your research or clinical focus area(s).
A: I study how healthcare systems and clinicians can better provide palliative care and high-quality end-of-life care to people with serious illness. Much of my work focuses on older adults, people with cardiopulmonary conditions, and Veterans.
Q: What first drew you to this area of scholarship or clinical focus?
A: I graduated from YSN in 2010 as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and went to work at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC with their hospitalist team. In this role, I frequently encountered patients who were admitted and readmitted shortly thereafter with chronic conditions, including heart failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). They often suffered from significant symptoms and had poor end-of-life care, dying in the hospital. I decided to pursue a PhD because I wanted to improve my patients’ care, particularly to help increase their access to palliative care and hospice.
Q: How would you describe your work to someone outside of nursing or healthcare?
A: I direct the Palliative and End-of-Life Care Innovation Lab at Yale. Our work centers on improving access to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care and translating research into actionable solutions healthcare systems can adopt.
Q: What problem are you ultimately trying to solve?
A: Our research evaluates novel models of care, develops informatics interventions to promote timely palliative care, and uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches to improve quality of life for people with serious illness.
Q: What has been the most meaningful impact of your work so far?
A: We have two large studies underway: identifying best practices in palliative care delivery in heart failure across the Department of Veterans Affairs, and a clinical trial of a decision support tool to promote timely palliative care. Working with trainees and students is also deeply meaningful.
Q: How does your work change what clinicians do?
A: We translate research into practical solutions clinicians and health systems can adopt to improve access to timely palliative care for patients with serious illness.
Q: Who do you collaborate with?
A: Our partners include the Department of Veterans Affairs and Yale New Haven Health System, along with collaborators from the Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Our work is intentionally interdisciplinary.
Q: How do students get involved?
A: Students can contact the lab through pecil.yale.edu and assist with recruitment, data analysis, and scholarship, often contributing to papers and conference abstracts.
Q: What keeps you motivated?
A: I love seeing a study idea move from grant application to research to publication to practice change.
Q: What advice would you give?
A: Don’t give up. Research is challenging, but remembering the goal—to improve the end-of-life experience for patients—helps me push through difficult days.