New faculty spotlight: Meaghann Shaw Weaver, M.D.

Meaghann Weaver, M.D., is a new faculty member at UNMC.

Dr. Weaver with daughter Bravery Adeline Weaver.

• Name: Meaghann Shaw Weaver, M.D.
• Hometown: Langley, Va. (also happens to be home of the CIA)
• New title and department at UNMC: Assistant professor, UNMC Department of Pediatrics, Division of Palliative Care, Division of Oncology

Research Interests:

• Supportive care and symptom management
• Global health
• Patient-provider communication
• Integrative and complementary therapies
• Pediatric hospice
• Spirituality in health care
• Caregiver resilience
• Advanced care planning
• Implementation science
• Ethnic disparities in health care access
• Health care outcomes

How I fell in love with palliative care:
Palliative care represents a dynamic, synergistic, interdisciplinary team approach, not just to the physical domains of human suffering but also the psychosocial, spiritual/existential, financial, and relational realms. I respect the early integration of palliative care (ideally at time of diagnosis) through to end of life (whether home, hospice, telehealth or hospital-based).

Palliative care offers academic challenge as the seemingly young field matures into an increasingly evidence-based science with attentiveness to aggressive symptom management and impeccable goals-directed frameworks.

Palliative care is progressive (and refreshing!) in that the field honors not just physical wellness and interventions for distressing symptoms but also recognizes whole-person, whole-family, whole-community care as critical components of healing.

Degrees:

• B.S., African Studies and Theology, Summa Cum Laude, Creighton University, Omaha,
• M.D., UNMC College of Medicine, Omaha
• M.P.H., Global Health and Epidemiology, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
• Residency, pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughter, Norfolk, Va.
• Fellowship, Pediatric Hematology, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
• Fellowship, Pediatric Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.
• Fellowship, Palliative Care and Hospice, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
• Post-Doc Clinical Research Scholar, highest honors, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.

Memberships:

• Alpha Omega Alpha
• American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
• American Academy of Pediatrics — Section on Pediatric Palliative Care
• American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology — Palliative Care Working Group
• Association of Clinicians for the Underserved
• International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research
• International Society of Pediatric Oncology — chair of Palliative Care Committee
• National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
• World Child Cancer

Three things people may not know about me:

• I paint murals and recently completed an oil-based series called “the hands of hospice” — caregiver hand portraiture.
• I listen to NPR — compulsively.
• I love autumn and spring — the transitional seasons.