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Niki Jurbergs, PhD
Niki Jurbergs, PhD

Niki Jurbergs, PhD

Member, St. Jude Faculty

  • Clinic Director

Departments

Education

Postdoctoral Fellowship – St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
Internship – Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL
PhD – Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
MA – Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
BA – University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

Clinical Interests

  • Psychological adaptation to pediatric illness
  • Procedural distress
  • Behavioral interventions for a variety of treatment related and other difficulties

Research Interests

  • Cognitive and psychological impact of pediatric cancer

Selected Publications

Willard VW, Brasher S, Harman JL, Jurbergs N. Virtual group activities as a new platform for socialization in children with pediatric cancer: A case series from the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol 2022.

Jones AM, Browne EK, Adams K, Potter BS, Crabtree VM, Jurbergs N, Heidelberg RE, Webster RT. The toll of transition: Caregiver perceptions of family adjustment during the transition off pediatric cancer therapy. Psycho-Oncology 31: 985-994, 2022.

Jurbergs N, Elliott D, Browne E, Sirrine E, Brasher S, Leigh L, Powell B, Crabtree VM. How I approach: Defining the scope of psychosocial care across disciplines in pediatric hematology-oncology. Pediatr Blood Cancer 69, 2022.

Klein S, Byford N, Ellison S, Jurbergs N. Support for community school personnel working with pediatric cancer patients: A quality improvement initiative. Continuity in Education 3:1-12, 2021. 

Jurbergs N, Sellers J, Brown M, Canavera K, Crabtree VM. Voices from the front line: Supporting staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Psychosocial Onc 39:320-323, 2021.

Harman JL, Scott A, Jurbergs N. Pill-swallowing training in very young children with cancer: A case series and developmental considerations. J Pediatr Onc Nursing 38: 61-63, 2021.

Howard Sharp KM*, Jurbergs N*, Ouma A, Harrison L, Gerhardt E, Taylor L, Hamilton K, McGee RB, Nuccio R, Quinn E, Hines-McDowell S, Kesserwan C, Sunkara A, Gattuso J, Pritchard M, Mandrell B, Relling MV, Haidar CE, Kang G, Johnson L, Nichols KE. Predicting families who decline participation in a pediatric oncology next generation sequencing study. JCO Precision Oncology 4: 202-211, 2020.

Jurbergs N, Harman, JL, Kenney, AE, Semenkovich, K., Molnar, AE Jr, Willard, VW. Cognitive development in young children with brain tumors: Observations from a clinical sample. Children 6, 128, 2019.

Parris KR, Harman JL, Jurbergs N, Allen JM, Canavera KE. Beyond clinical practice in pediatric psychology: Illustrative experiences in influencing practice changes, public opinion, and governmental policies. Psychological Services, Advance online publication, 2019.

Allen JM, Jurbergs N, Crabtree VM, Russel K, Harman J. Changing parental responses to pediatric hematology/oncology pain with a single session, operant-based group intervention. Pediatr Pain Letter 20: 33-37, 2018.

Willard VW, Cox LE, Russell KM, Kenney A, Jurbergs N, Molnar AE, Harman JL. Cognitive and psychosocial functioning of preschool-aged children with cancer. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics 38:638-645, 2017.

Willard VW, Parris K, Jurbergs N, Crabtree VM, Ehrentraut JH. Brief group therapy for chronic pain in adolescents [Commentary]. Ped Pain Letter 17(3):40-46, 2015.

Clawson A, Jurbergs N, Lindwall J, Phipps S. Concordance of parent proxy report and child self-report of posttraumatic stress in children with cancer and healthy children: Influence of parental posttraumatic stress. Psycho-oncology 2:2593-2600, 2013.

Jurbergs N, Palcic J, Kelley ML.  Daily behavior report cards with and without home-based consequences: Improving classroom behavior in low-income, African-American children with ADHD. Child and Family Behavior Therapy 32:177-195, 2010.

Phipps S, Jurbergs N, Long A. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress in children with cancer: Does personality trump health status? Psycho-Oncology 18:992-1002, 2009.

Jurbergs N, Long A, Ticona L, Phipps S. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress in parents of children with cancer: Are they elevated relative to parents of healthy children? Journal of Pediatric Psychology 34:4-13, 2009.

Jurbergs N, Russell KM, Long A, Phipps S. Adaptive style and differences in parent and child-report of health-related quality of life in children with cancer. Psycho-Oncology 17:83-90, 2008.

Jurbergs N, Long A, Hudson M, Phipps S. Self-report of somatic symptoms in survivors of childhood cancer: Effects of adaptive style. Pediatric Blood and Cancer49:84-89, 2007.

Jurbergs N, Palcic J, Kelley ML. School-home notes with and without response cost: Increasing attention and academic performance in low-income children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. School Psychology Quarterly 22:358-379, 2007.

Last update: October 2022

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