Nancy Borstelmann

Nancy Borstelmann is a senior director in the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, and chief of the Division of Social Work at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She has been at Dana-Farber since 1997 and in this role since 2013. She received her Master’s in Public Health from Yale, her Master’s in Social Work from the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, and her PhD in Social Work from Simmons College. As a clinical and administrative leader, her scope includes accountability for clinical social work practice at Dana-Farber, its satellites, and partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital for inpatient oncology social work. Her oversight also includes a broad spectrum of cancer support and educational programs for patients and families. Dr. Borstelmann has over 30 years of experience in interdisciplinary cancer and behavioral health care, including inpatient and ambulatory individual, couples, and family-focused social work practice in oncology and psychiatry, support group leadership, patient navigation, and clinical research related to the life-changing impact of cancer on patients and their families. Her special interests are caregivers’ stress, couples’ adjustment, cancer survivorship, and children’s coping when a parent has cancer. Dr. Borstelmann has been an investigator in quality of life and outcomes studies in cancer patients and their caregivers and is committed to addressing psychosocial needs through an interdisciplinary and evidence-informed clinical lens. She is currently co-leading an Institute-wide initiative on screening for patient psychosocial distress and unmet needs and establishing mechanisms to ensure access to timely, targeted cancer-related support.