Susan Frayne

Susan Frayne, MD, MPH, is Professor of Medicine (General Medical Discipline) in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health at Stanford University School of Medicine. She holds key leadership positions at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, including Director of the Women's Health Evaluation Initiative since 2009, Director of the VA Women's Health Practice-Based Research Network Coordinating Center since 2010, Research Associate at the Center for Health Care Evaluation since 2002, Faculty Member at Sierra-Pacific MIRECC since 2004, and Associate Director for Development at the Women's Health Center since 2004. Previously, she served as Acting Director of the Center for Health Care Evaluation (2009-2010), Medical Director of the MOVE TIME obesity clinic (2008-2010), and Co-Director of the Ambulatory Medicine Clerkship at Stanford (2005-2008). Her work contributes to national VA initiatives on women's health, mental health integration, substance use disorders, and chronic conditions among veterans.

Frayne earned a BA summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Pomona College in 1982, MD from UC San Diego School of Medicine in 1986, Internal Medicine residency at University of California, Irvine in 1989, MPH in Public Health from Boston University in 1992, and General Internal Medicine fellowship from Boston University in 1992. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine since 1989, recipient of VA HSR&D Career Development Award (1999), Advanced Research Career Development Award (2001), elected Fellow of the American College of Physicians (2003), and Outstanding VA Health Services Quality Research Award (2006). Her research specializations encompass women veterans' health care, high-quality primary care for patients with mental illness such as PTSD, obesity management, health disparities, care coordination, and comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, hepatitis C, atrial fibrillation, and substance use disorders. Key publications include 'Functioning and Disability Consequences of Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Diabetes in Vietnam Era Men and Women Veterans' (Health Psychology, 2025), 'Posttraumatic stress disorder and hypertension in older adult Vietnam Era male and female veterans' (Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2025), 'Associations between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Diabetes in Vietnam-Era Women Veterans' (Journal of Women's Health, 2024), 'Organizational Climate Related to Patient-Perpetrated Sexual Harassment: VA Primary Care Provider Perceptions' (Medical Care, 2024), and 'The Veterans Health Administration and Military Sexual Trauma' (American Journal of Public Health, 2007). With over 150 publications, her contributions have advanced VA women's health services, integrated care models, and veteran inclusion in clinical trials.