Cancer Prevention & Control (CPC) Research Program

Theme 2: Survivorship, symptom science

Aim 3

Identify genetic, biological, social, and pharmacogenomic risk factors associated with cancer symptoms and treatment-related toxicities.

Aim 4

Develop and test interventions to reduce treatment-related symptoms and enhance survivorship for cancer patients and their families.

Team Science: Shelly Johns, PsyD, ABPP

  • Inaugural Walther Scholar in Psycho-Oncology at the cancer center’s new Supportive Oncology Center of Excellence
  • Research focuses on developing and testing mind-body interventions to improve the physical health and psychological well-being of adults with cancer
  • $2.6 million NCI grant for a clinical trial to support breast cancer survivors struggling with fear of cancer recurrence

Meet Dr. Johns

Target: Stopping HPV-associated cancers

Inside the lab of pediatrician Rachel Katzenellenbogen, MD, the spotlight is on the fundamental way human papillomavirus, or HPV, drives cancer development and progression.

Dr. Katzenellenbogen, the Chuck and Tina Pagano Scholar in Cancer Research, and her team are uncovering unique means of detection and disruption to intervene early in treatment.

She and her colleague Katy Head, PhD, are co-directors of the IUPUI Center for HPV Research, a multidisciplinary group of researchers from medicine, public health policy and community engagement, health communication, psychology, and epidemiology.

Target: Cognitive dysfunction after chemotherapy

Cancer survivors call it “chemobrain”—continued difficulty in learning new tasks, remembering words or doing things as efficiently or quickly as they once did.

In collaboration with a colleague at the University of Pittsburgh, CPC researcher Brenna McDonald, PsyD, recently received a $3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study this frustrating phenomenon.

During a recent Simon Says Expert Series webinar, Dr. McDonald discussed how her research seeks to help survivors identify their challenges and apply strategies to mitigate memory problems.

Press Release Meet Dr. McDonald

#ResearchCuresCancer

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