Christine Marie Gunn PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor, General Internal Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Health Law, Policy & Management
801 Massachusetts Ave | (617) 414-1993cgunn@bu.edu
Sections
General Internal Medicine
Centers
Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit
BU-BMC Cancer Center
Center of Excellence in Women’s Health
Biography
Dr. Gunn completed her PhD in Health Services Research in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Women's Health Unit, Section of General Internal Medicine at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. She holds a secondary appointment at the Boston University School of Public Health in the Department of Health Law, Policy and Management.
Dr. Gunn is a health services researcher focused on risk communication, decision-making, and the utilization of evidence-based care. She has conducted an array of research on how patients and providers negotiate the experience of being at risk for cancer and its impact on the utilization of health services. She is particularly interested studying how health literacy impacts health decision-making and behaviors. Dr. Gunn has extensive experience in qualitative research methods, surveys, and mixed methods approaches to studying risk and prevention behaviors.
Dr. Gunn has received funding from AcademyHealth through the New Investigator Small Grant Program to examine women’s perceptions of the Massachusetts breast density notification legislation and its influence on their intentions for future screening. She is the recipient of a K07 career development award from the National Cancer Institute. This award uses community-engaged methods to develop and test a breast cancer screening decision aid in partnership with women with low health literacy. She is also conducting work through the BU-BMC Cancer Center American Cancer Society pilot program that aims to develop patient education to help women understand breast density and has a CTSI pilot award expanding her risk communication work to explore gender and age based differences in risk communication about fentanyl use.
Areas of Interest:
Cancer, Decision-making, Risk communication, Screening and prevention, Breast density, Health services research, health literacy, health disparities
Education
Health Services Research, PhD, Boston University
Kinesiology, MA, University of Western Ontario
Health Science, BSc, University of Western Ontario
Publications
Alas-Pineda C, Tewari Kodali A, Gunn CM, Molinero K, Zaldívar SR, Emond JA, Kennedy LS. Effectiveness of a community-based intervention to improve adolescent reproductive health knowledge and social risk outcomes in rural Honduras: a mixed-methods pre-post evaluation. Sex Health. 2026 Aug 17; 23(4). PMID: 42472701.
Published on 5/29/2026Gunn CM, Boyer N, Sheikh S, Lee JM, Woloshin S, Specht JM, Hubbard RA, Aiello Bowles EJ, Tosteson ANA. Patient- and Physician-Identified Considerations for Clinical Implementation of a New Risk-Based Prediction Tool to Guide Surveillance Mammography in Breast Cancer Survivors. JCO Oncol Pract. 2026 May 29; OP2501048. PMID: 42214050.
Published on 5/26/2026St Angelo M, Moen EL, Beidler LB, Gunn CM. "You're the person for me:" patient perceptions of cancer care team selection and experiences with care coordination within a rural hub-and-spoke health system. Cancer Causes Control. 2026 May 26; 37(6). PMID: 42189271.
Published on 2/17/2026Loo SS, Ogden SN, Ospina J, Khemraj UD, Cole MB, Gunn CM, Buitron de la Vega P, Clark JA. Experiences of Social Risk Screening in the Safety-Net Among Patients with Mental Health Needs. J Gen Intern Med. 2026 Feb 17. PMID: 41703381.
Published on 2/13/2026Iuliano K, Papas S, Greco KJ, Adachi-Mejia AM, Knutzen K, Sykes C, Dionne AR, Purvis L, Romano ME, Gunn CM, Rees JR. A qualitative study exploring barriers and motivators influencing home radon testing decisions and behaviors. Sci Rep. 2026 Feb 13; 16(1). PMID: 41688679.
Published on 12/27/2025St Angelo M, Romano ME, Gallagher L, Gunn CM. Supporting informed decisions about breast cancer screening in communities with known environmental contamination: a pre-post study. Cancer Causes Control. 2025 Dec 27; 37(1):11. PMID: 41455034.
Published on 11/20/2025Bagley SM, Maschke AD, Harris MTH, Walley AY, Johnson S, Hurstak E, Farley J, Keller SG, McMahan VM, Barrett C, Coffin PO, Gunn CM. A qualitative study exploring motivations for participating in research among women who use opioids. PLoS One. 2025; 20(11):e0336061. PMID: 41264582.
Published on 11/11/2025Aliberti GM, Wolfson EA, Gunn CM, Shah SJ, Schonberg MA. Reported Breast MRI Among U.S. Women Undergoing Screening Mammography: a National Cross-Sectional Study. J Gen Intern Med. 2026 Apr; 41(5):1462-1466. PMID: 41217637.
Published on 10/27/2025St Angelo M, Stevens CJ, Beidler LB, Emond JA, Tosteson ANA, Gunn CM. Use of Ecological Momentary Assessment to Measure Affect-Based Feeling States Among Rural Breast Cancer Survivors: A Feasibility Study Guided by the Integrated Screening Action Model. Int J Behav Med. 2025 Oct 27. PMID: 41145781.
Published on 10/21/2025Gunn CM, Boyer N, Sheikh S, Lee JM, Woloshin S, Specht JM, Hubbard RA, Bowles EJA, Su YR, Tosteson ANA. Patient and Physician Perspectives on Using Risk Prediction to Support Breast Cancer Surveillance Decision Making. Med Decis Making. 2026 Jan; 46(1):35-46. PMID: 41117001.
Media Mentions
Published on 1/27/2020
Interactive tool clarifies breast density risks without causing ‘undue anxiety’ after mammogram
Published on 2/14/2019
Breast-density notification letters may be too dense
Published on 10/30/2018
Many native Spanish speakers unaware of breast density information
Published on 10/25/2018
Breast Density’s Effects On Cancer Risk, Detection A ‘Fast-Moving Target’ In Research
Published on 5/15/2018
Communication, education may help reduce confusion about dense breast notifications
View full list of 5 media mentions.