Kelly Irwin

Kelly Irwin is a psychiatrist and health services researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She investigates health disparities in individuals with serious mental illness and cancer. Irwin is the director of the Collaborative Care and Community Engagement Program at the Mass General Cancer Center, a clinical and research initiative dedicated to closing the cancer mortality gap and improving outcomes for individuals who are affected by cancer and mental illness and their caregivers.

At Radcliffe, Irwin is examining the narratives of patients, caregivers, and clinicians who participated in the first randomized trial targeting individuals with mental illness and new cancers. She will apply qualitative research methods to highlight the strengths and dignity of a population that is frequently excluded from cancer care and clinical research. She aims to think creatively about how narrative can be utilized to promote dignity, decrease shame, and mitigate discrimination in healthcare and clinical trials.

Irwin earned an MD at Harvard Medical School and an MPH at Harvard School of Public Health. Her research has been funded by the American Cancer Society, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, the National Cancer Institute, and multiple foundations. Irwin is cofounder and director of ENGAGE (the Cancer and Mental Health Collaborative), a multi-sector coalition that aims to ensure that mental illness is never a barrier to cancer care, research, or the human right to health. Irwin is also the president of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society.