Laura Vater, MD
Pinnacle Conference 2025 Speaker
Oncology Specialist, Wellness Advocate, Writer
Laura B. Vater, MD, MPH, is a gastrointestinal oncologist at the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. She’s also a writer, TEDx and commencement speaker, and advocate for the well-being of healthcare workers.
Dr Vater’s decision to pursue a career in oncology was shaped early on, inspired by the experience of her childhood coach and close friend, Kim, who was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in her early forties.
Today, Dr Vater specialises in treating patients with gastrointestinal cancers—the same type Kim faced. She is the Founding Director of the Young-Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. This is the first initiative of its kind in Indiana, created specifically to support patients under the age of 50.
Dr. Vater has developed a wellness behavioral tool for patients and clinicians (the SMILE Scale) and has published several narrative medicine essays and peer-reviewed publications. Dr Vater began writing during medical school as a way to navigate the emotional weight of caring for seriously ill patients. While pregnant and on her obstetrics rotation, she experienced the profound loss of a child under her care—an event she processed through journaling. She later reflected on this deeply personal moment in her essay Papaya, which explores the complexities of grief and caregiving.
Writing remains an essential part of her life. She now pens essays, narratives, and novels, and is committed to fostering wellness through storytelling. Dr Vater co-founded Writing for Wellness, a support and creative writing group for clinicians at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She is also a member of the Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford University.
She earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Doctor of Medicine from Indiana University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Oncology at Indiana University. In 2018, she was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society.
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