An introduction to today’s cancer researchers – from the perspective of primary care / general internal medicine
[Cross posted to the blog at Talking To Your Doctor.]
On the webpage of the Society of General Internal Medicine, I am starting a series of blog posts to introduce internists/primary care doctors, and any other interested parties, to cancer research from the perspective of general internal medicine (GIM). Much of this research is interested in health care services – how health care is delivered, and how to optimize the quality, accesssibilty, equity, and cost of care. Below is the first post – keep your eye out for more!
Cancer Researcher in Focus: Larissa Nekhlyudov, MD, MPH
Dr. Nekhlyudov is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and a general internist at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. Her work, which has generated numerous publications, centers on the quality of life and quality of care of cancer survivors. One recent paper published this year highlights the use of integrated healthcare delivery systems as platforms for cancer survivorship research. Another reports on patients’ communication experiences during cancer care and provides a foundation for the design and testing of patient reporting systems.
Dr. Nekhlyudov is particularly interested in the interplay between primary care and oncology providers in the care of cancer survivors. In addition to research, she is leading efforts to promote the education and training of providers caring for cancer survivors. She has built an impressive online collection of resources for primary care providers caring for survivors. These include links to guidelines of care, educational programs, resources for patients and families and links to granting organizations. This year, she served as a key contributor to the development of a cancer survivorship curriculum for primary care providers, a program of the National Cancer Survivorship Research Center (https://cancersurvivorshipcentereducation.org).
Two questions for Dr. Nekhlyudov
What is a research question that currently interests you?
How do we improve the care of cancer survivors in oncology and primary care settings?
What are the difficulties in researching this question?
Cancer is not a single disease. There are different types of cancers, stages, and treatments. It is therefore difficult to study the impact of any intervention and make generalizable conclusions.
