Research Knowledgebase

Biobehavioral Oncology Program

Program Leader(s)

For a list of all the program participants and related research, click here.

Description of Program

The Biobehavioral Oncology Program is composed of members who work together in four inter-related program themes:

• Theme 1: Psychosocial Intervention, Biobehavioral Processes, and Quality of Life (QOL) in Cancer Patients
• Theme 2: Translation of Behavioral and Psychosocial Intervention to the Community
• Theme 3: Health Behavior Change and Biobehavioral Mechanisms in Persons at Risk for and Diagnosed with Cancer
• Theme 4: Predictors of QOL and Late Effects of Cancer Treatment and Intervening to Prevent Them

The Biobehavioral Oncology Program evolved from what was previously known as the Biobehavioral Oncology and Cancer Epidemiology Program. With the recruitment of additional key investigators, efforts were expanded in social and molecular epidemiology, early detection, prevention and cancer health disparities, resulting in the strengthening of the cancer epidemiology arm of the program. The research associated with cancer epidemiology now falls under a newly developed program known as Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention . Efforts focused on biobehavioral oncology research have led to the successful funding of individual and multi-investigator NCI-funded grants for psycho-oncology research, which have resulted in a significant number of intra- and inter-programmatic collaborative projects among Cancer Center members.

Partnership with the NCI-funded Coastal Cancer Information Service, the Southeast Collaborative of the Florida Comprehensive Cancer Control Initiative, and the NIH-funded Hispanic Community Health Study, further expands the program’s outreach strategies to the ethnically and racially diverse populations in southeast Florida and the United States.

Goals of Program

The overall goal of the Biobehavioral Oncology Program is to improve quality of life and health outcomes in cancer patients comprising the Cancer Center’s diverse population base, by identifying specific biobehavioral processes and intervening on them. Specific research goals include:

• Identifying and intervening on psychosocial and biobehavioral processes to improve quality of life, health outcomes and survival in cancer patients and their families
• Understanding and overcoming ethnic/racial and cultural disparities in quality of life and health outcomes after diagnosis and treatment for cancer
• Developing interventions to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors (healthy diet, exercise, cancer screening, and smoking cessation) among cancer survivors and their family and friends
• Studying delayed and late adverse effects of cancer therapy in children and adults and intervening to prevent them

Participants

Bonnie Blomberg, Ph.D.
Margaret M. Byrne, Ph.D.
Charles Carver, Ph.D.
Youngmee Kim, Ph.D.
Suzanne C. Lechner, Ph.D.
Steven E. Lipshultz, M.D.
Frank Penedo, Ph.D.
Neil Schneiderman, Ph.D.
Hosanna Soler-Vilá, Ph.D.
Monica S. Webb, Ph.D.


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