Rachel Eckford is a Research Associate at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), where she has worked since 2019. With a background in applied behavioral health research, her work centers on exploring the socioeconomic impact (SEI) of cancer from the patient’s perspective. She contributes to a multinational task force developing SEI assessment tools specifically designed for European healthcare systems. Her research also includes studying the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer patients in Germany, with a focus on psychosocial and financial outcomes.
Before joining DKFZ, Ms. Eckford spent 15 years as a researcher at the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit – Europe, a forward-deployed research laboratory of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). There, she focused on developing psychological screening instruments to identify soldiers in need of mental health evaluation and on tracking mental health outcomes over time. She also contributed to studies evaluating the effectiveness of resilience training programs.
Ms. Eckford holds a Master of Human Relations (M.H.R.) from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Memphis. In addition to her research, she has taught English as a second language.
Selected publications:
M. Schlander, W. van Harten, V. P. Retèl, P. D. Pham, J. M. Vancoppenolle, … & R. D. Eckford:
The socioeconomic impact of cancer on patients and their relatives: Organisation of European Cancer Institute’s task force consensus recommendations on conceptual framework, taxonomy, and research directions.
The Lancet. Oncology, 2024: 25 (4) e152–e163.
DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00636-8
R. D. Eckford, A. Gaisser, V. Arndt, M. Baumann, E. Kludt, K. Mehlis, J. Ubels, E. C. Winkler, S. Weg-Remers, M. Schlander:
The COVID-19 pandemic and cancer patients in Germany: impact on treatment, follow-up and psychological burden.
Frontiers in Public Health, published online 2022 Feb 9: Article 788598.
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.788598.
P.D. Pham, J. Ubels, R. Eckford, M. Schlander:
Measuring the Socioeconomic Impact of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Standardized Assessment of Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Instruments.
Pharmacoecon Open. Published online April 4, 2025.
DOI: 10.1007/s41669-025-00568-0