Associate Professor

Dr. Laura Schoenherr is a palliative care physician who treats patients with serious illness in the inpatient setting. Together with the other members of the transdisciplinary inpatient palliative care team, she helps maximize patients' quality of life through symptom management, advance care planning, and emotional and psychosocial support. Dr. Schoenherr also participates in educational efforts to improve the primary palliative care skillsets of non-specialty trained providers and conducts quality improvement and health systems research focused on optimizing the practice and delivery of palliative care.

Dr. Schoenherr earned her medical degree from UCSF, where she also completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine.

Dr. Schoenherr is a member of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

In her free time, Dr. Schoenherr enjoys travel, yoga, going on walks with her dog, and spending time with her family.
Education
2019 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California, San Francisco
2019 - Lean and Continuous Improvement Training, University of California, San Francisco
2018 - Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship, University of California, San Francisco
2017 - Internal Medicine Residency, University of California, San Francisco
MD, 2014 - , University of California, San Francisco
AB, 2008 - Chemistry, Public Health, Harvard College
Honors and Awards
  • Great Experience Award, University of California, San Francisco, 2020
  • Health Research Poster Award, AAHPM, 2019
  • UCSF Health Lean Champion, University of California, San Francisco, 2019
Publications

  1. Brown CK, Schoenherr LA, Pantilat SZ, Wallace CL, Sumser B, Peck S, O'Riordan DL. Psychosocial Screening by Inpatient Palliative Care Teams: Patient Characteristics and Outcomes. 2025. PMID: 40366206


  2. Schoenherr L, Heidler J, Kluckner M, Lobenwein D, Pesta D, Frese JP, Wipper SH, Gratl A. A Randomized Control Trial Investigating the Effect of Different Treatment Strategies on Mitochondrial Function in Peripheral Arterial Disease-A Study Protocol. 2025. PMID: 39987612


  3. Schoenherr LA, Goto Y, Sharpless J, O'Riordan DL, Pantilat SZ. A Validated Electronic Medical Record-Based Algorithm to Identify Hospitalized Patients with Serious Illness. 2024. PMID: 39607739


  4. Huber MT, Ling DY, Rozen AS, Terauchi SY, Sharma P, Fleischer-Black J, Schoenherr LA, Hutchinson RN, Lindvall C, Jones CA, Guerry RT, Berlin A. Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Leveraging the Electronic Health Record for Data Collection and Quality Improvement. 2022. PMID: 36525521


  5. Schoenherr LA, Cook A, Peck S, Humphreys J, Goto Y, Saks NT, Huddleston L, Elia G, Pantilat SZ. Proactive Identification of Palliative Care Needs Among Patients With COVID-19 in the ICU. 2020. PMID: 32544647


  6. Brown C, Peck S, Humphreys J, Schoenherr L, Saks NT, Sumser B, Elia G. COVID-19 Lessons: The Alignment of Palliative Medicine and Trauma-Informed Care. 2020. PMID: 32439516


  7. Humphreys J, Schoenherr L, Elia G, Saks NT, Brown C, Barbour S, Pantilat SZ. Rapid Implementation of Inpatient Telepalliative Medicine Consultations During COVID-19 Pandemic. 2020. PMID: 32283219


  8. Schoenherr LA, Bischoff KE, Marks AK, O'Riordan DL, Pantilat SZ. Trends in Hospital-Based Specialty Palliative Care in the United States From 2013 to 2017. 2019. PMID: 31808926