Mollie A. Ruben, PhD

Research Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Ruben earned her PhD in psychology at Northeastern University where she developed a strong background in doctor-patient communication, measuring and quantifying nonverbal behavior, creating standardized tests to evaluate physicians’ interpersonal skill, and meta-analysis. Dr. Ruben is a certified and reliable Facial Action Coding System (FACS) and Roter Interaction Analysis (RIAS) coder. Dr. Ruben uses these coding systems to examine the impact of providers’ communication style on patient health outcomes, with a particular interest in ameliorating the physical pain experience for patients. Additionally, Dr. Ruben is interested in doctor-patient communication among sexual minorities or LGBT patients.

Publications

  • Published 6/2/2026

    Stosic MD, Weaver AE, Fujiwara K, Vicaria IM, Isaacowitz DM, Ruben MA. A Multimethod Assessment of Spontaneous Behavioral Synchrony in Race- and Age-Concordant Versus Discordant Dyads. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2026 Jun 02; 1461672261449338. PMID: 42231611.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/19/2026

    Batchelder AW, Glynn T, Witkower Z, Ruben M, Traeger L, Schaefer HS, Jenny Shin HJ, Tracy J, O'Cleirigh C, Moskowitz JT. Multi-modal measurement of shame in relation to perceived stress and avoidance coping in the context of recent HIV diagnosis. J Health Psychol. 2026 May 19; 13591053261449651. PMID: 42157552.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/7/2026

    Kenyon EA, Stage MA, Kiefer R, Ruben MA, Livingston NA, Berke DS, Shipherd JC. Associations between health care access and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among rural and urban lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adults. J Trauma Stress. 2026 Feb 07. PMID: 41653090.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/8/2025

    Ruben MA, Blanch-Hartigan D, Hall JA. What is Artificial Intelligence (AI) "Empathy"? A Study Comparing ChatGPT and Physician Responses on an Online Forum. J Gen Intern Med. 2026 Apr; 41(5):1304-1311. PMID: 41359230.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/1/2025

    Stosic MD, Ruben MA, Weaver AE, Blanch-Hartigan D, Sanders JJ, Schwartz R, Jeong S, Lam RX, Hall JA, Duong F, Meyer EC, Waisel D, Blum RH. What Is Clinical Empathy in Anesthesiology? Perspectives From Practicing Anesthesiologists. A A Pract. 2025 Sep 01; 19(9):e02045. PMID: 40911041.

    Read at: PubMed

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Websites

Education

  • Northeastern University, PhD
  • Northeastern University, MA
  • Franklin & Marshall College, BA

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