Speakers

Dr. William Redd has more than 35 years of  research on psychosocial-oncology and cancer prevention and control. He is credited for introducing behavioral psychology and behavioral medicine to research and clinical practice in cancer supportive care. The most recent research on controlling cancer-related fatigue has drawn considerable attention, including invitations to present at international meetings; the most recent being the 3rd Biotechnology World Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the 16th World Congress of Psycho-Oncology and Psychosocial Academy, Washington D.C. In the last three years he has lectured at eleven universities and/or medical centers. In 2010, he received the Research Mentorship Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine, in 2012, the Holland Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psycho-Oncology Society and, in 2015, the Arthur M. Sutherland Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Psycho-Oncology Society. For 40 years he has had NIH research support and a series of five NIH K-05 Research Scientist Awards. His current research examines: 1) the contribution of circadian rhythm disruption in cancer-related somatic and behavioral problems and 2) the role of systematic light exposure to ameliorate negative sequela of cancer and its treatment. His mission is to apply behavioral principles to understand and treat negative sequela of cancer and its treatment.

Dr. Ben Brewer is an Associate Professor in the University of Colorado Department of Medicine and is the Director of Clinical Psychology and Counseling for the Division of Hematology. He is a clinical health psychologist with clinical, teaching and research responsibilities. His clinical role involves providing evidence-based psychological intervention and assessment to oncology patients, particularly patients with hematological disorders including allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplant recipients and their caregivers. In his research role he has lead and co-lead novel teaching and education initiatives as well as served as Co-investigator on PCORI and Industry funded RCT studies to test the use of digital and telehealth tools for cancer patients and caregivers. He has participated in 2 prior R25’s and multiple other nationally focused trainings for cancer clinicians and has taken a leadership role in Redd’s prior R25 over many years.

Dr. Susan Moore is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health (CBH) at the Colorado School of Public Health, the Director of the mHealth Impact Lab in the Colorado School of Public Health, the Director of the mHealth and Informatics methods core for the Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS), and the Research Program Director (Innovation) in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her ongoing research interests include consumer health informatics, clinical decision support, and the use of mobile and digital health technology to deliver patient-centered care, promote health behavior change, and improve health outcomes.

Terrence Burke is an award-winning cinematographer and talented collaborator who excels at visual storytelling. Burke has lensed numerous projects including the seventh season of House of Payne for CBS; the first seasons of Assisted Living; Young Dylan; and Ruthless, Bruh, The Oval and Sistas for BET. He also shot the seventh and eighth seasons of The Have and the Have Nots and the fifth season of If Loving You Is Wrong for OWN. His feature work includes the recent Netflix thriller A Fall From Grace; political thriller Price for Freedom and the drama Girl on the Ledge. His work on the short film Red Rider earned him a 2013 Los Angles Independent Film Festival Award for Best Cinematography. Based on his extensive experience, Burke will teach participants about how to arrange the workspace using standard equipment such as lights, cameras, and microphones to make it easier to communicate with patients.

Matt Loscalzo will present a webinar on the use of technology in screening and a workshop on the use of technology in oncology specific interventions for pain. Loscalzo is a pioneer and innovator, seeing to the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social needs of patients, their loved ones and their caregivers. Loscalzo has brought this philosophy of compassionate expertise to every institution he has served. At New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center he specialized in the psychological management of pain, mentoring physicians, psychologists, social workers, health educators and others. At Johns Hopkins University, he created the school’s first cross-discipline postgraduate institute focused on supportive care and the country’s first supportive care screening program. At City of Hope since 2007, Loscalzo has built a world-class supportive care team that puts all of our resources at every patient’s disposal, from pain and palliative care to psychiatry and psychology, social work, spiritual care, family and community education, child life and much more. To help make it all work, he and his team designed the unique Support Screen touchscreen program for patients and their families. Loscalzo has won a long list of awards and is a sought-after speaker and writer. He authored many peer-reviewed articles and the popular book, “For the Women We Love: A Breast Cancer Action Plan and Caregiver’s Guide for Men.”

Dr. Frank Penedo is the associate director for cancer survivorship & translational behavioral sciences and the director for the cancer survivorship program for the Sylvester comprehensive cancer center at the University of Miami. His work evaluates the role of sociocultural, biobehavioral, and psychosocial mechanisms underlying disease activity and health outcomes, and the efficacy of evidence-based psychosocial interventions in promoting optimal chronic disease management and health outcomes in cancer. His work also involves translational research evaluating the impact of symptom and toxicities monitoring and management in ambulatory oncology, the patient reported outcomes (PROs) in survivorship care, precision oncology, and phase-1 trials, as well as the implementation of evidence-based behavioral interventions delivered within health systems and the community to improve patient and system level outcomes.

Dr. Christine Rini is a Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences. She is also Program Leader of Cancer Control and Survivorship and Director of the Cancer Survivorship Institute at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. She is a social/health psychologist who conducts research to understand factors influencing patients’ behavioral and psychosocial responses to health-related challenges, especially those related to cancer and chronic conditions. One of her long-standing interests involves interpersonal processes through which partners, family members, and peers can influence patients’ health decisions, behaviors, and outcomes. She studies effects of these interpersonal factors in conjunction with patients’ medical status, dispositional factors, and broader social context (e.g., socioeconomic status and cultural factors). She is also committed to translating research findings into behavioral and psychosocial interventions, including those delivered using technology (e.g., “mHealth interventions) to optimize their cost-effectiveness, scalability, and accessibility. Her current NIH-funded projects include: four projects funded by the NIH HEAL Initiative to evaluate use of an automated web-based pain coping skills training program (painTRAINER) to reduce persistent pain in people with cancer and other conditions, a project funded by an NCI R01 to investigate use of the “expressive helping” intervention in people with cancer who are undergoing treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplant, and the NCGENES project, funded as part of the Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER) Consortium by NHGRI, NCI, and NIMHD. Her research is enriched by specific training in research methods and theories, measurement and psychometrics, statistical techniques, and the conduct of randomized controlled trials. She is currently a member of the NIH Biobehavioral Medicine and Health Outcomes (BMHO) study section and she is a Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research in addition to being a member of the Editorial Board for the Annals of Behavioral Medicine and an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Dr. Amy Sheon joined the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in June, 2011 as the founding Executive Director of the Urban Health Initiative. Her 25+ years’ experience in government, academia and the non-profit sectors are being used to leverage the assets of CWRU in making an impact on the health of people living in Cleveland. She recently completed the Childhood Obesity Prevention Mission Project, which she co-directed at the non-profit Altarum Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Prior to returning to Ohio, Sheon was instrumental in the establishment of three different centers at the University of Michigan, focused on clinical research, ethical issues in the life sciences, and on improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged youth. Dr. Sheon also worked at the National Institutes of Health on maternal-infant HIV transmission, HIV prevention studies, and cancer genetics. She earned an MPH at the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Virginia Sun had 17 years of experience as an oncology nurse and four years of experience as an oncology nurse practitioner before becoming a full-time nurse scientist. Sun’s research program is focused on cancer surgery and cancer survivorship populations, with a specific interest in thoracic, gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary malignancies. The goal of her research program is to develop and test interventions to improve patient- and family-centered care and outcomes. There are two overarching aims in this research program: 1) To assess and identify patient and family caregivers’ quality-of-life concerns and needs from perioperative/postoperative care and through long-term survivorship 2) To develop and test innovative, telehealth/technology-driven interventions to improve patient/family centered outcomes.

Dr. Sharla Wells-Di Gregorio is a clinical psychologist specializing in outpatient psychosocial oncology and palliative medicine whose research focuses broadly on symptom management and communication for patients and families living with advanced cancer. Her lab’s primary goal is to improve methods for screening oncology-related physical symptoms as well as emotional, practical, cognitive and spiritual needs. Their second goal is to translate what is known about effective interventions for symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, depression, fatigue and pain in the general population into interventions that are accessible and effective for patients with significant illness, limited energy and multiple appointments. This includes training oncology providers to enhance symptom management, communication, and decision-making, particularly for patients at the end of life.

Dr. Finly Zachariah is recognized as a compassionate and highly skilled supportive medicine physician, providing symptom management, pain control and palliative care for adult and pediatric patients. He is board certified in Family Medicine, Hospice & Palliative Medicine, and Clinical Informatics. After earning

his medical degree from Chicago Medical School, he completed a Family Medicine/Tropical Medicine residency in Whittier at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Hospice & Palliative Medicine atKaiser in Los Angeles. Combining his training in tropical medicine with his humanitarian values, Dr. Zachariah has volunteered significant time in underserved parts of the world teaching palliative care and helping patients in Cameroon, Zambia, India and Ethiopia.

He also serves as an Associate Chief Medical Information Officer, supporting his colleagues in the adoption of clinical technologies and refining the Electronic Health Record System to improve care delivery. His programmatic and academic focus includes tailoring patient care to individual values and goals, advance care planning, and leveraging technology to enhance the coordination and delivery of patient-centered medical care in serious illness.