Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
I am a psychiatrist and clinical researcher with advanced training in psycho-oncology and a career focus to improve cognitive outcomes in patients with cancer. My research has rigorously evaluated objectively measured and patient-reported outcomes of cognition, enhanced understanding of how psychosocial and biological variables impact cognition, and provided insights into successful strategies for testing pharmacological interventions to prevent or treat cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). As a critical step in achieving my long-term career goals, I am currently conducting a pilot study, supported by an institutional K12 award, investigating the use of the NMDA-receptor antagonist memantine to mitigate cognitive decline due to chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.
I have devoted a second line of research to delirium and was the Co-PI of a recently completed randomized controlled trial of high dose intravenous thiamine for prevention of delirium during hospitalization for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This multi-year trial has provided valuable information regarding potential risk factors for delirium in HSCT and investigated more long-term cognitive outcomes in these patients.
As an early career clinical investigator, my research has also examined several other areas of psycho-oncology aiming to improve the lives of patients with cancer and their caregivers. These include projects related to mood and anxiety symptoms in patients with breast cancer, quality-of-life in patients with advanced cancer, and bereavement outcomes in widowed fathers who have lost a spouse due to cancer.
I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Anticipating Mental Health Needs in Breast Cancer Survivors Using Patient-reported Symptom Screening
Friday, November 12, 2021
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM US Eastern Time