Supportive Care in Cancer

Pictured: Nikesha Gilmore, Ph.D. and AnnaLynn Williams, Ph.D.

Faculty Listing:

Michelle Janelsins, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor and Chief, Division of Supportive Care in Cancer

Evelyn Arana, M.S., Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Surgery

Javier Baustia, M.S., M.B.A., Senior Research Associate of Surgery

Eva Culakova, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Surgery

Umang Gada, M.S., Senior Associate

Nikesha Gilmore, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Surgery

Abdi Gudina, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Surgery

Joe Guido, M.S., Senior Research Associate of Surgery

Charles Kamen, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Surgery

Lee Kehoe, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Surgery

Po-Ju Lin, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Surgery

Jeremy McGuire, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor

Gary R. Morrow Ph.D., M.S., Benefactor Distinguished Professor and Past Chief, Division of Supportive Care in Cancer

Karen Mustian, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor of Surgery

Luke Peppone, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Surgery

Hongying Sun, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery

AnnaLynn Williams, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery

Sule Yilmaz, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor of Surgery

For over 35 years, Supportive Care in Cancer has conducted cancer control and cancer care delivery research locally and nationally investigating the etiology, prevention and management of side effects from cancer and its treatments. Our faculty research members are internationally known for their outstanding contributions to the field of supportive care and survivorship, for training new supportive care researchers, and fostering multidisciplinary collaborations. Our motto is “to help good people through lousy times” by working with cancer patients and survivors, their families, and their friends to alleviate their cancer-related toxicities and side effects in order to ultimately improve their quality of care and quality of life.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant challenges for us as a research operation. We had to adapt several of our studies to include remote research procedures, both locally and nationwide as part of our NCI Clinical Oncology Research Program (NCORP) trials. Despite a brief shut-down of research activities, both our PEAK Human Performance Lab and Cancer Control and Psychoneuroimmunology labs (CCPL) continued to support researchers on-site within the Division as well as the Department and Wilmot Cancer Institute at large. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, our team achieved a notable goal in 2021 with each tenure-track faculty holding an R01 or R01 equivalent grant award. We also maintain a vibrant, active pipeline of pilot investigations. Additionally, our world-renowned T32 program in cancer control research training continues to produce several successful early career investigators with career development awards and other pilot grants. Five of our faculty (Drs. Morrow, Mustian, Kamen, Janelsins, and Lin) hold leadership roles within WCI’s effort for CCSG designation. In Jan, 2022, Dr. Janelsins was appointed Chief of Supportive Care in Cancer following Dr. Morrow’s decision to step down from the role.Selected Highlights (Jan, 2020 - June, 2022)

• Dr. Charles Kamen and Dr. Song Yao of Roswell Park received a $13M grant from NCI for their UG3/UH3 project titled “Disparities in Results of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment (DIRECT): A Prospective Cohort Study of Cancer Survivors Treated with anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 Agents in a Community Oncology Setting.”

• Drs. Michelle Janelsins, Karen Mustian and Supriya Mohile received a $3.85M grant from NCI for their MPI R01 titled, “Geriatric Evaluation and Management for Older Adult Survivors of Cancer.”

• Dr. Luke Peppone was awarded an NCI RO1 titled, “High-dose Vitamin D Supplementation for ADT-Induced Bone Loss in Older Prostate Cancer Patients.”

• Dr. Gilmore received a supplement to Dr. Janelsins’ R01 titled, “Using Epigenetic Markers of Aging to Predict Frailty Trajectories in Survivors of Breast Cancer.”

• Dr. Ian Kleckner and Dr. Po-Ju Lin were awarded an MPI NCI R21 titled, “Assessing the Role of the Interoceptive Brain System in the Pathophysiology and Treatment of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy.”

We continue to grow our Division, having almost doubled our funding over the last few years. We are now focused on our T32 and NCORP grant renewals this year, and development of an NCI P01 focused in cancer and aging to further our research in cancer control behavioral interventions, symptom science and health disparities. We will also continue training a diverse cadre of faculty with unique expertise and experience. We are excited about the recent recruitment of two new tenure-track faculty who began their appointments in 2022 (pictured in the banner): Dr. Nikesha Gilmore who studies interventions for frailty as part of a KL2 award, and Dr. AnnaLynn Williams, who studies the trajectory and biomechanisms of cancer-related side effects in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors as part of an NCI K99/R00 award.

We continue to invest considerable time supporting each other through these very tough times and have become an even stronger and more impactful team as a result.

Michelle Janelsins, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of Supportive Care in Cancer