Sheri Fehnel, PhD

Vice President, Patient-Centered Outcomes Assessment

PhD, Quantitative Psychology
MA, Clinical Psychology
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

BS, Mathematics and Psychology
Duke University, Durham, NC

Sheri Fehnel, PhD, is a Vice President of Patient-Centered Outcomes Assessment in RTI-HS. Since joining the RTI staff in 1988, she has combined the study of clinical psychology and psychometrics with practical research and clinical experience. She specializes in the development and evaluation of questionnaires designed to measure health-related quality of life, functional status, patient satisfaction, resource utilization, and other patient-reported outcomes. This work has involved a wide range of therapeutic areas, including dermatology (e.g., psoriasis, eczema, acne), psychiatry (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia), urology (e.g., urinary incontinence, nocturia, erectile dysfunction), gastroenterology (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation, gastroparesis), oncology, cardiovascular disease, women's health (e.g., endometriosis, uterine fibroids, menopause), diabetes, respiratory (e.g., asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis), sexual dysfunction (male and female), obesity, chronic pain, and sexually transmitted diseases (e.g., herpes, human papillomavirus, HIV/AIDS). As part of the questionnaire-development process, Dr. Fehnel has moderated countless focus groups, conducted cognitive interviews with a wide variety of patient and professional populations, and assessed potential sources of measurement error through cognitive forms appraisal. She has also evaluated the psychometric properties of many survey and clinical instruments using techniques such as factor analysis, structural equations modeling, and item response theory.

Dr. Fehnel routinely supports clients through negotiations with the Food and Drug Administration's Clinical Outcome Assessment team and various medical reviewing divisions. She has also published widely in peer-reviewed journals and presented research at numerous professional conferences. In addition, she recently completed a 4-year term as a co-editor for Value in Health and currently serves as a peer reviewer for numerous scientific journals.