New faculty spotlight: Laura Tenner, MD

Laura Tenner, MD, is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Laura Tenner, MD
• Hometown: Lubbock, Texas
• Title and department: Associate professor, UNMC Department of Internal Medicine-Oncology/Hematology; medical oncology physician, Nebraska Medicine

Professional and medical interests

• I’m board certified in both internal medicine and medical oncology with a focus in gastrointestinal cancers.
  
• I have served nationally on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Board of Ethics as well as the ASCO Cancer Prevention Committee. I currently serve on the ASCO Government Relations Committee.

• My research includes using principles of ethics to help inform health services research, cancer care delivery and health policy.

How did you fall in love with science and oncology: I fell in love with science in sixth grade while taking a molecular biology class. I found the intricate workings of the human cell to be dynamic and miraculous. I felt a calling to care for cancer patients in college after reading the play Wit by Margaret Edson: “You cannot imagine how time . . . can be . . . so still. It hangs. It weighs. And yet there is so little of it. It goes so slowly, and yet it is so scarce.”

Education:

• MD, Texas A&M University Health Science, Bryan, Texas
• Residency, internal medicine, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
• Fellowship, hematology/oncology, Indiana University

Memberships:

• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
• Phi Beta Kappa Liberal Arts Honor Society

Three things people don’t know about me:

• I enjoy traveling when I get the opportunity.
• I’m a big fan and supporter of PBS. I love “Downton Abbey,” the historical documentaries and “The Great British Baking Show.”
• I enjoy nature walks and a good soccer game.

Locations: Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and Cancer Center at Village Pointe Health Center

Appointments and referrals: 402-559-6500