Research
Dr. LeBrett studies how doctors treat digestive disease, and where that care falls short of the evidence.
Before medicine, she studied economics and worked as an economic consultant, and her research still uses those tools: national prescribing records, physician surveys, and cost analysis. Most of it was done at UCLA with Dr. Lin Chang. Her newest work turns to digital health.
Her papers on PubMedScientific communication and digital health
How doctors can share medical science on social media responsibly, and what consumer wearables can reveal about IBS.
Step count and sleep measured by wearable device are associated with improved symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome
Step counts and sleep tracked by a wearable device were linked to improved symptoms in people with IBS.
Commercially available wearable devices identify sex- and bowel habit subtype-specific autonomic and circadian patterns in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Consumer wearables picked up patterns in nervous-system activity and daily body rhythms in people with IBS that differed by sex and by IBS type.
A framework for ethical and legal social media use among gastroenterologists
A guide for gastroenterologists who post on social media: protecting patient privacy, keeping general information from becoming medical advice, disclosing paid partnerships, and avoiding misinformation.
Opioids and pain
How often opioids are prescribed for digestive disease, by whom, and to which patients.
Opioid prescription patterns among US gastroenterologists from 2013 to 2017
The share of gastroenterologists prescribing any opioid to Medicare patients fell from 75% in 2013 to 59% in 2017.
Increasing rates of opioid prescriptions for gastrointestinal diseases in the United States
About one in ten US outpatient visits for a digestive condition ended with an opioid prescription, and that rate rose from 2006 to 2016, in the middle of the opioid crisis.
High opioid prescribing profiles among gastroenterologists: a nationwide analysis
One in ten opioid-prescribing gastroenterologists wrote more than half of the specialty's opioid prescriptions for Medicare patients, every year from 2013 to 2017.
Opioid prescription patterns and disparities during ambulatory encounters in patients with cirrhosis
One in five outpatient visits by people with cirrhosis ended with an opioid prescription, two-thirds of them with no pain diagnosis on record. Older, male, and Black patients were more likely to get one.
Opioid and nonopioid analgesic prescribing patterns of hepatologists for Medicare beneficiaries
Liver specialists prescribed fewer opioids to Medicare patients from 2013 to 2017, but tramadol remained their most prescribed pain medication, and use of non-opioid alternatives did not grow.
Gut-brain and motility disorders
How IBS, gastroparesis, and related conditions are treated, with medication and with diet.
Nutritional approaches for gastroparesis
A review of diet for gastroparesis, in which the stomach empties too slowly: what to change about meals, when to step up to liquid or tube feeding, and how thin the evidence for each still is.
A survey of gastroenterologists in the United States on the use of central neuromodulators for treating irritable bowel syndrome
Most of the 525 gastroenterologists surveyed called gut-brain medications, such as low-dose antidepressants, important for IBS, yet prescribed them to only about a quarter of their IBS patients.
Prescription pain medications for disorders of gut-brain interaction: comparing usage patterns with clinical practice recommendations
A review of how pain in IBS and other gut-brain disorders is actually treated, from opioids to behavioral therapy, measured against what clinical guidelines recommend.
End-of-life care
Her research in medical school, at UC San Diego: what palliative care changes for people with advanced cancer, and what it costs.
Effect of palliative care on aggressiveness of end-of-life care among patients with advanced cancer
Among 6,580 Medicare patients with advanced cancer, those who saw a palliative care team were afterward about half as likely to be hospitalized, have invasive procedures, or receive chemotherapy.
Cost savings associated with palliative care among older adults with advanced cancer
For Medicare patients with advanced cancer, a palliative care consultation cut health care costs at the end of life by a quarter, and consultations weeks before death saved the most.
Presentations
Talks and posters at scientific meetings.
2025
How to fight fake news in medicine?
2024
Implementation of a standardized order panel for gastrointestinal bleeding admissions
Implementation of a standardized order panel for gastrointestinal bleeding admissions: a gastroenterology fellow-led, informatics-based quality improvement initiative
Racial and ethnic disparities in patterns of care and healthcare costs among adults with irritable bowel syndrome in the United States
2023
Irritable bowel syndrome with constipation: a case-based presentation
Co-management of psychiatric comorbidities during outpatient visits for gastrointestinal disease: a nationwide analysis
Diagnosis of arterial-enteric fistula using video capsule endoscopy
Myxedema ascites: an uncommon presentation of hypothyroidism
2022
Abdominal pain and constipation in a patient with fibromyalgia
Determinants of outpatient opioid prescriptions for patients with cirrhosis in the United States
The Visceral Sensitivity Index for inflammatory bowel disease (VSI-IBD): a novel measure of GI symptom-specific anxiety in patients with IBD
2021
High opioid prescribing profiles among gastroenterologists: a nationwide analysis
Opioid and analgesic prescribing patterns of hepatologists for Medicare beneficiaries from 2013 to 2017
2020
Enteral nutrition therapy is associated with fewer readmissions and deaths among malnourished inpatients with inflammatory bowel disease
Enteral nutrition therapy is associated with improved post-hospitalization outcome in inflammatory bowel disease patients
Association of fecal microbiome with resilience in irritable bowel syndrome patients compared to healthy controls
Factors affecting central neuromodulator use by gastroenterologists in the treatment of IBS: results of a national survey
Gastroenterologists' prescribing patterns and comfort level vary across different classes of central neuromodulators for treatment of IBS
Work limitation among adults with inflammatory bowel disease in the United States using a national sample representative of 2.5 million individuals
2019
Opioid and neuromodulator prescription patterns among US gastroenterologists
2018
The financial burden of healthcare: patient perspectives on the impact of cost of care
2017
Economic impact of palliative care among elderly cancer patients
Transient regional osteoporosis: a rare cause of hip pain
Grants and honors
- 2023
- Fellowship Research Seed Grant, UCLA Division of Digestive Diseases
- 2021
- Poster of Distinction, Digestive Disease Week
- 2018
- Selma Silagi Award for Excellence in Aging Research, UC San Diego Stein Institute for Research on Aging
- 2015
- Medical Student Training in Aging Research grant, American Federation for Aging Research and National Institute on Aging
- 2009
- John G. Sobieski Award for Creative Thinking in Honors Research, Stanford Department of Economics