Behavioral Scientist

Shawna Doerksen, PhD

Throughout my career, I have conducted research on motivation for behavior change. I started out in academia, but crossed over to industry, which provides me a unique perspective. I have worked with several companies ranging from mobile health start-ups to major corporations. In 2016 I joined the innovative team at Coeus Health as their Senior Scientist and Program Director and led an NIH-funded clinical trial of a digital weight loss program. More recently, I have been working as the Director of Operations for the Oncology, Nutrition, and Exercise (ONE) Group at the Penn State Cancer Institute. I have published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on health behaviors, outcomes, and behavior change. I have my Ph.D. in Kinesiology and Community Health and thrive on applying my research experience in different industries.