Cancer Experts
Ardith Doorenbos
Expert on: Palliative care and symptom management
Dr. Ardith Doorenbos is the Harriet H. Werley Endowed Chair for Nursing Research and a professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science. Her research focuses on the understanding of pain and symptom management among diverse individuals, families and communities.
Hongjin Li
Expert on: Psychoneurological symptoms and complementary/integrative therapies in cancer symptom management
Dr. Hongjin Li is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development Nursing Science. Dr. Li’s program of research focuses on advancing symptom science and symptom management among breast cancer survivors. Her research focuses on phenotyping, identifying trajectory and predictors (genetic and metabolomic) of the psychoneurological symptom cluster (pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, depression, anxiety) experience by breast cancer survivors, applying multi-omics (metabolomics, microbiome) approaches to understand the biological mechanisms underlying the effects of acupuncture on psychoneurological symptoms, and implementing innovative, non-opioid complementary and integrative health interventions—particularly acupuncture—to reduce cancer-related symptom burden, especially in medically underserved populations. Dr. Li has served as a principal investigator or co-investigator on more than four NIH-funded studies and has published extensively in the areas of cancer symptom science, integrative oncology, and biobehavioral research. Her work aims to integrate precision health strategies into supportive cancer care and improve quality of life among cancer survivors.
Lisa Sharp
Expert on: Improving health of marginalized individuals due to race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status
Dr. Lisa Sharp is a professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science and is associate dean for research, leading the college’s Office of Research Facilitation. She is a behavioral scientist with training in nursing sciences, social psychology, and health psychology. Her research focuses on developing patient-centered behavioral interventions that aim to support people in managing their health and chronic diseases. This work centers the contextualized lives of the individuals with whom she seeks to support which means that the social determinants of health and individual-level health-related social needs are critical.