Danielle Chammas, MD
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Her academic interests center on integrating psychotherapeutic frameworks into serious illness communication, with the goal of helping clinicians more effectively support patients and families facing complex medical circumstances.

She is also engaged in medical humanities–based education and programming through the UCSF MERI Center for Humanity in Healthcare, including the development of initiatives that use narrative and poetry to foster reflection, connection, and resilience among clinicians and patients.

• Stuck in Despair: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Informed Communication for Serious Illness Care.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2026 Gamble A, Chammas D, Brenner KO, Temple S
• Ketamine for Depression in Serious Illness: Evidence, Safety, and Practical Approaches.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2026 Noufi P, Borris JB, Chammas D, McDermott CL, Ufere NN, Webb JA, Shalev D
• Dying for sex: Why we need to consider sex and pleasure as part of palliative care.
  Palliative medicine 2026 Eastham R, Owolabi OO, Chammas D, Philpott A
• Psychostimulants for Depression in Serious Illness: Limited Evidence, Select Indications.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2026 Sadowska K, Chammas D, Pattillo M, McDermott CL, Ufere NN, Webb JA, Shalev D
• Psychotherapeutically Informed Serious Illness Communication: Series Introduction.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2026 Chammas D, Brenner KO
• Second-Generation Antipsychotics for Depression in Serious Illness: A First-Line Augmentation Strategy.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2026 Robbins-Welty G, Pattillo M, Chammas D, Sadowska K, McDermott CL, Ufere N, Webb JA, Shalev D
• Avoidance: Exposure Therapy Informed Communication for Serious Illness Care.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2026 Chammas D, Jackson V, Brenner KO
• Overwhelming Uncertainty: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Informed Communication for Serious Illness Care.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2026 Williamson B, Merrill G, Slomoff T, Brenner KO, Gamble A, Chammas D
• Process Rounds to Elevate Psychological Skills in Palliative Care.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2026 Chammas D, Rosenberg LB, Moment A, Shalev D, Brenner K
• Her Defiance.
  JAMA oncology 2026 Chammas D
• Where Do I Put This?
  The New England journal of medicine 2025 Chammas D
• Remembering the Way.
  JAMA internal medicine 2025 Chammas D
• I Hear Your Laugh.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2025 Chammas D
• Do No Harm.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2025 Chammas D
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Supporting Coping in Serious Illness.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2025 Chammas D, Moment A, Leff V, Buxton D, Rosa WE, Brenner K
• Primary Mental Health Competencies for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Physicians: A Delphi Study.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2025 Podgurski L, Chammas D, Brenner KO, Rosenberg LB, Goyal NG, Lapid MI, Morris SE, Pirl WF, Sumser B, Thompson BW, Wright L, Shalev D
• Integrating Psychotherapeutic Concepts to Enhance Serious Illness Communication: Assessment of a Model Curriculum.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2025 Chammas D, Brenner K, Moment A, Byrne-Martelli SE, Rosenberg LB, Shalev D
• One Size Fits … Some.
  The New England journal of medicine 2025 Chammas D
• Wishing for a No-Show.
  Annals of internal medicine 2025 Chammas D
• Do You Work Here?
  Neurology 2024 Chammas D
• Realizing the Imperative: The Future of Mental Health and Palliative Care Integration.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Shalev D, Brenner KO, Fitzgerald Jones K, Kozlov E, Portz JD, Rosenberg LB, Ufere NN, Wallace CL, Webb JA, Chammas D
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Addressing Patient Sexuality and Intimacy in Serious Illness.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Chammas D, Shindel AW, Rowen TS, Schanche K, Wittmann D, Shalev D, D'Addario J, Wisniewski R, Scheel T, Nelson CJ, Ratner ES, Rosa WE, Rabow MW
• Facing Illness Together: Understanding the Role of the Couple in Palliative Care.
  The American journal of hospice & palliative care 2024 Chammas D, Fishel A, Cramer M, Brenner KO, Rosenberg LB
• Formulation in Palliative Care: Elevating Our Potential for Therapeutic Communication.
  The American journal of hospice & palliative care 2024 Chammas D, Moment A, Rosenberg L, Shalev D, Brenner KO
• Shades of Loneliness.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2024 Chammas D
• Dancing with Dyads: Supporting Relationships Through Serious Illness.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Chammas D
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Applying Key Psychotherapy Concepts in Practice.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Chammas D, Williamson B, Scheel T, Goyal N, Rosenberg LB, Shalev D, Gamble A, Polisso M, Rosa WE, Brenner KO
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Diagnosing, Categorizing, and Addressing Fatigue.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Robbins-Welty GA, Chammas D, Silverman EJ, Lowry MF, Hale E, Martinez C, Nakatani MM, Shalev D, Noufi P, Riordan PA, Brenner KO, Rosa WE, Jones CA
• Mind the Gap: Understanding Palliative Care Clinician Attitudes Toward Mental Health Training.
  The American journal of hospice & palliative care 2024 Shalev D, Chammas D, Brenner KO, Moxley JH, Reid MC, Rosenberg LB
• Should I Laugh at That? Coping in the Setting of Serious Illness.
  The New England journal of medicine 2024 Chammas D
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About the Psychiatric Manifestations of Nonpsychiatric Serious Illness and Treatments.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Robbins-Welty GA, Riordan PA, Shalev D, Chammas D, Noufi P, Brenner KO, Briscoe J, Rosa WE, Webb JA
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About the Physical Manifestations of Psychiatric Illness and Treatment.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Robbins-Welty GA, Shalev D, Riordan PA, Noufi P, Webb JA, Brenner KO, Rosa WE, Chammas D
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Attending to the Existential Experience.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Tarbi EC, Moore CM, Wallace CL, Beaussant Y, Broden EG, Chammas D, Galchutt P, Gilchrist D, Hayden A, Morgan B, Rosenberg LB, Sager Z, Solomon S, Rosa WE, Chochinov HM
• Letter to the Editor: Advancing the Psychological Elements of Palliative Care: From Theory to Teaching.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2024 Shalev D, Chammas D, Brenner K, Rosenberg L
• There Is No Floor: The Myth of Certainty.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2024 Chammas D
• Palliative Care Psychiatry: Building Synergy Across the Spectrum.
  Current psychiatry reports 2024 Shalev D, Brenner K, Carlson RL, Chammas D, Levitt S, Noufi PE, Robbins-Welty G, Webb JA
• Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About the Psychological Aspects of Palliative Care Encounters.
  Journal of palliative medicine 2023 Chammas D, Brenner KO, Gamble A, Buxton D, Byrne-Martelli S, Polisso M, Shalev D, Rosenberg LB
• The Stories We Tell Ourselves.
  JAMA 2023 Chammas D
• Different Than Me.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2023 Chammas D
• Speaking the Unspoken.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2023 Chammas D
• Seeing With My Ears.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2020 Chammas D