Anny T.H.R Fenton, PhD

Faculty Scientist

Research Interests

  • Caregiving
  • Communication
  • Disparities

Dr. Fenton is a medical sociologist. She received her PhD in sociology from Harvard University and completed a postdoctoral NCI T32 at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. She is the 2022 recipient of the Sidney Farber Scholar Award.

Dr. Fenton’s lab is devoted to supporting the vital role and experiences of family caregivers and their impact on patients with a focus on communication and social support. Starting from the ground up, Dr. Fenton’s lab prioritizes implementation and dissemination, using mixed-methods and community engagement approaches to identify and understand the problem and ultimately iteratively build and test sustainable interventions. Her lab primarily focuses on three caregiving populations: (1) adult-children caring for a parent with advanced cancer, a vastly understudied population that constitutes the largest group of United States cancer caregivers, and often must balance caregiving with careers and young families; (2) Low-income caregivers and caregivers of color, who face greater financial burdens and discrimination than other caregivers; and (3) those caring for rural patients who must navigate scarce and distant healthcare resources.

Fenton AT, Blashill B, Revette AC, Mann A, Reblin M, Enzinger AC, Ornstein KA, Jain S, Manz CR, Tulsky JA, Wright AA. “You Want to Shield Your Kids”: Patients’ and Their Adult-Children’s Serious Illness Conversations. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2025 May 1;69(5):435-43.

Fenton AT, Charewycz N, Kanwal Z, Durieux BN, Pollack KI, Tulsky JA, Wright AA, Lindvall CJ. Using Large Language Models to Analyze Symptom Discussions and Recommendations in Clinical Encounters. Journal of Palliative Medicine. 2025 Nov 1;28(12):1586-94.

Fenton AT, Ornstein KA, Kent EE, Miller-Sonet E, Wright AA, Dionne-Odom JN. A comparison of adult-child and spousal cancer caregivers’ participation in medical decisions. PloS one. 2024 Jun 13;19(6):e0300450.

Fenton AT, Ornstein KA, Dilworth-Anderson P, Keating NL, Kent EE, Litzelman K, Enzinger AC, Rowland JH, Wright AA. Racial and ethnic disparities in cancer caregiver burden and potential sociocultural mediators. Supportive Care in Cancer. 2022 Nov;30(11):9625-33.

Fenton AT, Keating NL, Ornstein KA, Kent EE, Litzelman K, Rowland JH, Wright AA. Comparing adult‐child and spousal caregiver burden and potential contributors. Cancer. 2022 May 15;128(10):2015-24.