Last Updated: 5/26/2009

Noel T Brewer, PhD Assistant Professor Cancer Prevention and Control

Research Interests
The psychology of medical decision making is my primary area of research. Examples of my research include risk perception and risk communication in the context of vaccination decisions as well as the effects of false positive medical tests.

With support of a five year grant from the American Cancer Society, my research group is examining how to communicate with women about new genomic tests that assess breast cancer recurrence risk. About 40% of women receiving chemotherapy for early stage breast cancer may not need it. We are examining the optimal way to communicate the test results to aid decision making about chemotherapy.

Another major focus of my work is HPV vaccination decision making. We are currently studying parents of adolescent girls in the US and Botswana as well as heterosexual and homosexual men.

For more on my research, visit: http://www.unc.edu/~ntbrewer/

Recent Accomplishments and Honors
Editorial boards of Annals of Behavioral medicine and Health Psychology

Publications
GENOMIC TESTING
Brewer, N. T., Edwards, A.*, O’Neill, S. C., Tzeng, J. P.*, Peppercorn, J. M., & Rimer, B. K. (in press). When genomic and standard test results diverge: implications for breast cancer patients' preference for chemotherapy. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Brewer, N. T., Tzeng, J. P.*, Lillie, S. E.*, Edwards, A.*, Peppercorn, J. M., & Rimer, B. K. (2009). Health literacy and cancer risk perception: Implications for genomic risk communication. Medical Decision Making, 29, 157-166.

O’Neill, S. C., Brewer, N. T., Lillie, S. E.*, Morrill, E. F.*, Carey, L. A., Dees, E. C., & Rimer, B. K. (2007). Women’s interest in gene expression analysis for breast cancer recurrence risk. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 25, 4628-4634.

Lillie, S. E.*, Brewer, N. T., O’Neill, S. C., Morrill, E. F.*, Dees, E. C., Carey, L. A., & Rimer, B. K. (2007). Retention and use of breast cancer recurrence risk information from genomic tests: The role of health literacy. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 16, 249-255.

CANCER SCREENING & TREATMENT
Salz, T.*, & Brewer, N. T. (in press). Offering chemotherapy and hospice jointly: One solution to hospice underuse among lung cancer patients. Medical Decision Making.

O’Neill, S. C., Bowling, M. J., Brewer, N. T., Lipkus, I. M., Skinner, C. S., Strigo, T. S., & Rimer, B. K. (2008). Intentions to maintain adherence to mammography. Journal of Women’s Health, 17, 133-1141.

Morrill, E. F.*, Brewer, N. T., O’Neill, S. C., Lillie, S. E.*, Dees, E. C., Carey, L. A, & Rimer, B. K. (2008). The interaction of posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress symptoms in predicting depressive symptoms and quality of life. Psycho-Oncology, 17, 948-953.

Brewer, N. T., Salz, T.*, & Lillie, S. E.* (2007). The long-term effects of false-positive mammograms: A systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine, 146, 502-510.

HPV VACCINATION
Reiter, P. L., Brewer, N. T., Gottlieb, S. L., McRee, A. L.*, & Smith, J. S. (in press). Parents’ health beliefs and HPV vaccination of their adolescent daughters. Social Science & Medicine.

Gottlieb, S. L., Brewer, N. T., Sternberg, M. R., Smith, J. S., Ziarnowski, K.*, Liddon, N., & Markowitz, L. E. (in press). HPV vaccine initiation in North Carolina communities with high rates of cervical cancer. Journal of Adolescent Health.

Chang, Y.*, Brewer, N. T., Rinas, A., Schmidt, K., & Smith, J. S. (in press). Evaluating the impact of the human papillomavirus vaccine. Vaccine.

Ziarnowski, K.*, Brewer, N. T., & Weber, B. Present choices, future outcomes: Anticipated regret and HPV vaccination. Preventive Medicine.

Cates, J. R., Brewer, N. T., Fazekas, K. I.*, Mitchell, C. E.*, & Smith, J. S. (2009). Racial differences in HPV knowledge, HPV vaccine acceptability, and related beliefs among rural Southern women. Journal of Rural Health, 25, 93-97.

Hughes, J.*, Cates, J. R., Liddon, N., Smith, J. S., Gottlieb, S. L., & Brewer, N. T. (2009). Disparities in how parents are learning about the HPV vaccine. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 18, 363-372.

Keating, K.*, Brewer, N. T., Gottlieb, S., Liddon, N., Ludema, C.*, & Smith, J. S. (2008). Potential barriers to HPV vaccine provision among medical practices in an area with high rates of cervical cancer. Journal of Adolescent Health, 43, S61-S67.

Fazekas, K. I.*, Brewer, N. T., & Smith, J. S. (2008). HPV vaccine acceptability in a rural, Southern area. Journal of Women’s Health, 17, 539-548.

Sperber, N. R.*, Brewer, N. T., & Smith, J. S. (2008). Influence of parent characteristics and disease outcome framing on HPV vaccine acceptability among rural, Southern women. Cancer Causes & Control, 19, 115-118.

Brewer, N. T., & Fazekas, K. I.* (2007). Predictors of HPV vaccine acceptability: A theory-informed systematic review. Preventive Medicine, 45, 107-114.

Oppenheimer, D. M., LeBoeuf, R. A., & Brewer, N. T. (2008). Anchors aweigh: A demonstration of cross-modality anchoring. Cognition, 206, 13–26.


RISK PERCEPTION
Brewer, N. T., Weinstein, N. D., Cuite, C. L., & Herrington, J. (2007). Risk compensation and vaccination: Can getting vaccinated cause people to engage in risky behaviors? Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 34, 95-99.

Brewer, N. T., Chapman, G. B., Gibbons, F. X., Gerard, M., McCaul, K. D., & Weinstein, N. D. (2007). Meta-analysis of the relationship between risk perception and health behavior: The example of vaccination. Health Psychology, 26, 136-145.

Brewer, N. T., & Hallman, W. K. (2006). Subjective and objective risk as predictors of influenza vaccination during the vaccine shortage of 2004-2005. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 43, 1379-1386.

Brewer, N. T., Weinstein, N. D., Cuite, C. L., & Herrington, J. (2004). Risk perceptions and their relation to risk behavior. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 27, 125-130.

E-mail: ntb1@unc.edu
Telephone: 919-966-3282
FAX: 919-966-2921
Address: 325 Rosenau Hall CB7440 Chapel Hill, NC 27599
URL: www.unc.edu/~ntbrewer

Click here to update this profile