Assistant Professor (Partner), UBC Department of Psychiatry
Staff Psychologist, Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), Organ Transplant Clinic
Email: andrea.vodermaier@ubc.ca
Short Biography
Dr. Andrea Vodermaier joined the UBC Department of Psychiatry as an Assistant Professor (Partner) in 2026, and is a Staff Psychologist at Vancouver General Hospital’s Organ Transplant Clinic. She completed her PhD in Health Psychology at Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychiatry and UBC’s Department of Psychology. She also holds a Habilitation in Medical Psychology from Ludwig Maximilian University and an MA in Cognitive Behavior Therapy from the University of Hagen.
Dr. Vodermaier has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals including the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Journal of Affective Disorders, British Journal of Cancer, and Supportive Care in Cancer. She is a Registered Psychologist with the College of Psychologists of British Columbia and a member of the Canadian Psychological Association, Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies, and German Society for Psychology.
Research Focus
Dr. Vodermaier’s research in psycho-oncology examines emotional distress in cancer patients and its implications for clinical outcomes. Her work on distress screening has provided evidence-based recommendations for selecting assessment instruments in routine cancer care, while her population-based cohort studies have identified associations between anxiety, depression, and survival outcomes in breast and lung cancer patients. She has also contributed to the development and evaluation of decision aids to support shared decision-making for breast cancer treatment and prophylactic surgery in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers.
Publications
Significant Accomplishments & Professional Contribution
- 2012 UBC Postdoctoral Fellow Travel Award. Paper presentation at the American Psychosomatic Medicine Society (APS) Conference in Athens, Greece
- 2005 Dr. Werner Jackstädt-Foundation. Scholarship awarded for research at the University of California, Los Angeles
- 2004 Best Poster Award. Joint Congress of the German Society of Medical Psychology and the German Society of Medical Sociology in Bochum, Germany
- 2003 Best Poster Award. Second German Congress for Health Services Research in Hamburg, Germany