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News — Valerie Crabtree, Ph.D., a St. Jude psychologist and leading expert in research on sleep disruptions in children with cancer, has been promoted to chief of Psychosocial Services at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. 

Crabtree arrived at St. Jude in 2007 as a clinical psychologist and joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology in 2010 as director of Clinical Services and Training.  In her new role as chief of Psychosocial Services, Crabtree oversees numerous departments and clinics that address the psychosocial needs of St. Jude patients and families, including the Psychology Clinic, Child Life Services, the St. Jude School Program, Social Work, Spiritual Care, the Resilience Center and the Transition Oncology Program.

Because it is common for children, siblings, parents, and other caregivers to experience a range of emotions and need support related to their child’s treatment, Psychosocial Services at St. Jude includes a wide range of staff—such as psychologists, social workers, chaplains, child life specialists, teachers and resilience workers—who offer support, counseling and intervention to entire families.

“Aligning the psychosocial departments into one group is helping us identify priorities and initiatives that provide the utmost in psychosocial care to our patients and families,” Crabtree said. “Our hope is that this will allow us to lead the way in providing psychosocial care for children with catastrophic diseases and their families.” 

In addition to her clinical and administrative work, Crabtree is a faculty member in the St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and she conducts research on sleep and fatigue in children with cancer. Her work includes a focus on interventions to promote alertness and energy level in children undergoing treatment for cancer and in brain tumor survivors, particularly those who have been treated for craniopharyngioma.  In 2015, Crabtree and her co-author, Lisa Meltzer, Ph.D., published “Pediatric Sleep Problems: A Clinician’s Guide to Behavioral Interventions.”

Crabtree holds an undergraduate degree from Trinity University and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in counseling psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi. Following graduate school, she completed her internship in clinical child/pediatric psychology and fellowships in pediatric psychology and behavioral sleep medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, after which she became certified in behavioral sleep medicine.

About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing and food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. To learn more, visit or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.