National Catholic School of Social Service

 

James R. Zabora, Sc.D.
Dean and Professor

 

   

Phone:  202 319 5454
Email:   zabora@cua.edu

Education:

Sc.D., Social and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University
M.S.W., Social Work, University of Maryland at Baltimore
B.A, Sociology, Loyola College

 

Biographical Information:

     Dr. James Zabora, the Dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service and  Professor of Social Work, came to the Catholic University of America after a 20 year career at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Prior to Johns Hopkins, Dr. Zabora served as Associate Director of the Southeast Baltimore Drug Treatment Program which delivered innovative treatment modalities to narcotic addicts and poly-drug users. At Johns Hopkins, he was an Assistant Professor of Oncology in the School of Medicine with two secondary appointments as an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management. As an administrator, he served as one of the five Associate Directors in the Comprehensive Cancer Center with a special focus on community programs and research. In addition, he was the administrator of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program for low-income women living in Baltimore City. In this role, he was a lead author of the Baltimore City Cancer Plan for Johns Hopkins under the Cigarette Restitution Fund for the State of Maryland. As a result of the success of these initiatives, he was appointed Co-Director of the Baltimore City Cancer Plan, and Co-Director for Community Outreach and Education of the Urban Environmental Health Center in the School of Public Health. Currently, Dr. Zabora’s research continues to focus on cancer prevention and control, psychosocial screening, problem-solving education, and quality of life among cancer patients and their families. Dr. Zabora is the Editor of the Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, and the author of more than 60 papers and book chapters on cancer prevention, psychosocial screening and community program development, quality of life, and problem-solving education. His research has won a number of awards at Johns Hopkins, and recently, his research team received the Annual Quality of Life Research Award from the National Office of the American Cancer Society. Over the past two years, Dr. Zabora has delivered ten keynote addresses at international, national, and regional health care conferences, and over the past twenty years, he has presented over 300 invited lectures across the United States, Canada, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Finally, in March of 2007 at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, Dr. Zabora received the Holland Distinguished Leadership Award ( the highest award that can be received in the field of psychosocial oncology) based on his “outstanding contributions in clinical practice, education, research and leadership.

 

 

Selected Publications:

Zabora JR, BrintzenhofeSzoc K, Jacobsen P, Curbow B, Piantadosi S, Hooker C, Owens A, Derogatis L. A new psychosocial screening instrument for use with cancer patients. Psychosomatics. 42(3): 2001, 241-246.

 

Bucher JA, Loscalzo M, Zabora J, Houts P, et al. Problem-solving cancer care education for patients and caregivers. Cancer Practice. 9(2): 2001, 66-70.

 

Zabora J, BrintzenhofeSzoc K, Curbow B, Hooker C, Piantadosi S. The prevalence of psychological distress by cancer site. Journal of Psycho-Oncology. 10(1): 2001, 19- 28.

 

Zabora JR, Loscalzo MJ, Weber J.  Managing complications in cancer: identifying and responding to the patient's perspective. Semin Oncol Nurs. 2003 Nov;19(4 Suppl 2):1-9.