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Elaine Wittenberg-Lyles (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma, 2004) joined the faculty at UNT as an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies in 2007. Her research focuses on interdisciplinary communication and collaboration among hospice and palliative care teams. Prior to arriving at UNT she was at the University of Texas, San Antonio where she remains an active faculty member with the interdisciplinary Geriatric Palliative Care Consultation Service at the local V.A. hospital. For the past five years she has been a member of the Telehospice Project, an international, interdisciplinary research team of academics (social work, bioinformatics, and communication) focused on developing interventions in hospice care (www.telehospice-project.org). This research team recently finished data collection on a NIH funded pilot project which enabled patient/family participation in hospice interdisciplinary teams through the use of videophone technology. The preliminary success of this pilot study suggests that future interventions will incorporate additional training elements, particularly with regard to interdisciplinary communication, and with the use of technology. The team has recently prepared a NIH grant application to fund a randomized clinical trial to further explore the cost and feasibility of this intervention as well as its applicability to nursing home environments.