# Deborah Watkins Bruner

Source: https://onco.cc/people/deborah-bruner/  
OnCo record `deborah-bruner` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Nurse scientist who put patient-reported outcomes into cooperative group radiation trials.

## Summary

Deborah Watkins Bruner is Senior Vice President for Research at Emory University and Vice Chair of NRG Oncology. A nurse scientist specialising in patient-reported outcomes and radiation oncology nursing, she pioneered integrating patient-reported outcomes and quality of life measures into NRG and RTOG trials, notably in prostate and head and neck cancer. Her papers include a Journal of Clinical Oncology analysis of the issues in integrating patient-reported outcomes into National Cancer Institute network trials and a JAMA Oncology phase 3 comparison of quality of life with hypofractionated versus conventional radiotherapy in low-risk prostate cancer. She continues to shape trial design in cooperative group research.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Role: Senior Vice President for Research, Emory University; NRG Oncology Vice Chair
- Specialisms: Patient-reported outcomes; Radiation oncology nursing; Trial design

## Sources

- NRG Oncology: https://www.nrgoncology.org
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Bruner%20DW%5BAuthor%5D
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Deborah%20Watkins%20Bruner

## Connected records

- cancers: [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/)
- companies: [NRG Oncology](https://onco.cc/companies/nrg-oncology/)
- terms: [Real-world evidence](https://onco.cc/terms/real-world-evidence/)
- journals: [JAMA Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/jama-oncology/)
- institutions: [Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University](https://onco.cc/institutions/emory-winship/)

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