Jiayun Xu PhD, RN

Jiayun Xu is a nurse scientist with the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders team at the OHSU Neurology Clinic. She doesn't practice clinically but conducts quality improvement projects and research in movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Huntington's disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).

Xu is a nurse with a Ph.D, which means she is a scientist with a nursing background. She has had the privilege of working with patients and families with various chronic illnesses for over a decade. Her research focuses on improving or maintaining quality of life for patients and their families through social-behavioral interventions. This includes reducing the burden of family caregivers, improving patient-family relationships, and increasing communication about future care planning earlier in the disease trajectory.

Xu's professional and personal experiences in medical care have been the main drivers for her research. She has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Foundations such as the American Nurses Foundation. She is completing a career development award through NIH titled "Preparing patient-caregiver dyads with Parkinson's disease for end-of-life decision-making."