Research: Cancer Population Sciences
Cancer population sciences is focused on understanding and reducing cancer risk and occurrence, and improving health outcomes.
Research members are focused on tobacco science, cancer prevention and screening, and caregivers and survivorship, with cross-cutting themes in healthcare delivery and rural disparities, to address the burden of cancer across the catchment area.
Theme One
Reduce tobacco use in vulnerable populations and provide evidence to guide tobacco policy.
Theme Two
Develop and evaluate cancer screening strategies that maximize benefits while minimizing harms.
Theme Three
Develop interventions to improve the health and quality of life of cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers.
in grant funding awarded in 2024.
Program Impact
Marc Feinstein, a clinical psychology graduate student in the lab of Elias Klemperer, Ph.D.
Cancer Center Trainee Conducts Policy Relevant Tobacco Research
In a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse T32, Marc Feinstein -- a clinical psychology graduate student in the lab of Elias Klemperer, PhD -- used an experimental tobacco marketplace to analyze how people’s tobacco product use patterns change based on altering the unit price of nicotine in certain products. His findings could inform national policies that seek to limit nicotine levels in cigarettes to the point where they are no longer detectable.
New Study: Cumulative-Risk Model Documents Persistent Disparities in Adolescent Cigarette Smoking
New research from Tyler Erath, Ph.D., Fang Fang Chen, Ph.D., and Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, indicates that adolescent smoking risk increases corresponding to the cumulative number of psychosocial and health risks experienced in their cumulative-risk model. Erath and colleagues highlight the utility of a cumulative-risk model in predicting smoking prevalence in adolescents, indicating the need to prioritize treatment and prevention efforts in populations with higher cumulative-risk burden.
New Study in Radiology Shows Benefit of Ultrasound Screening for Some Women with Dense Breasts
UVM Cancer Center investigators Brian Sprague, Ph.D.; Sally Herschorn, M.D.; Hannah Perry, M.D.; and Donald Weaver, M.D., found that supplemental ultrasound screening has favorable outcomes among women with dense breast tissue (about 40% of women undergoing mammography) who also have other breast cancer risk factors. Their work was published in the journal Radiology.
Study Highlights the Need for Increased Caregiver Support
What kinds of resources can best support caregivers as they help cancer patients? In a study published in PEC Innovation and Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Maija Reblin, Ph.D., along with Cancer Center members Drs. Nancy Gell, Kelly Melekis, and Sarah Nowak, and UVM colleagues, found that although caregivers' situations vary, only 15% of those surveyed said they didn't need services, and a third reported needing more than one type of support.
Karlyn Martin, M.D.; and Jay Garvey, Ph.D.
UVMCC Cancer Population Science Announces Pilot Award Grantees
The Cancer Population Science research program at the University of Vermont Cancer Center recently announced the winners of its pilot awards: Karlyn Martin, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, who will focus on anticoagulation treatment in newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer patients; and Jay Garvey, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Education, who will study cancer-related health disparities among sexual and gender minority populations in rural Vermont. The pilot awards are a unique philanthropy-funded mechanisms to support members conducting population-based research.
Jason Garvey Ph.D., M.A.
Executive Director, Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, Friedman-Hipps Green and Gold Associate Professor of Education
Susan Ashley Speckhart, M.D.
Public Health and General Preventive Medicine, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Pediatrics, Maine Health
Emily Hallgren Ph.D., M.A.
Assistant Professor, Hematology/Oncology Division
