About Veronica Cardenas, Ph.D.

My mission in life is to help those struggling with cancer.

To the degree you feel comfortable, I want you to tell your story as I listen and provide support. I want to come alongside people and help reduce the struggles during and after cancer. I aim to provide comfort, insights, education, guidance, motivation, and empowerment.

From the moment I worked with my first cancer patient, I felt like I had “arrived home” professionally. I know and feel this is a genuine calling because I awake in the morning feeling like I can’t wait to get to work. I enjoy it and feel fulfilled. I feel honored and privileged to do this work. It does not feel like a “job.”

As a result of this rewarding work, I devoted over a decade to my profession working in a nationally recognized cancer center. As a result, I feel inspired to create this center that will be an added source of support for cancer patients and their loved ones.

Since taking on this work, I have had several family members diagnosed with cancer and have had to step in to provide care. Providing that care has given me first-hand experience of what it’s like to be up close to cancer on a personal level.

Here’s information about my professional training.

Since 2007, I have been a Licensed Clinical Psychologist by the California Board of Psychology. In addition, I am a Leader, Speaker, Educator, Researcher, Innovator, and Published Author specializing in psycho-oncology.

I completed an NIH Predoctoral Clinical Research Fellowship at Stanford University and an NIH Postdoctoral Geriatric Psychiatry Research Fellowship at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). I am a Professor and former Health Sciences Medical Director at UCSD’s Department of Psychiatry and Moores Cancer Center’s Psychiatry and Psychology Services.

In 2011, I joined the UCSD faculty. I became Co-Director for Psycho-Oncology Education and Training at UCSD Moores Cancer Center and served as a clinician educator for psychology trainees, interns, and medical students. In this role, I served as an integral member of the Moores Cancer Center clinical team, offering a range of psychological services addressing depression, anxiety, insomnia, stress, grief, and other related challenges that either stem from the cancer experience or can hinder cancer treatment.

My expertise also includes helping patients with cancer, advanced cancer, cancer survivorship, and palliative care. My research focuses on developing, testing, and implementing psychosocial treatment interventions and improving end-of-life and advanced care planning conversations with cancer patients and their families.

I am now CEO of the Center for Psycho-Oncology Care.

Here are a few extras.

I received awards for research funding from the NIH National Cancer Institute, UCSD Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion, and the American Cancer Society.

My academic achievements, clinical activities, teaching, and community involvement have earned me numerous accolades and national and international recognition, including most recently being honored by the American Psychological Association (APA) in Washington, DC, for my dedication to expanding the field of clinical psychology.