Team Highlights

Dr. Belcher and her team are continuing their work through an R01 grant, recently funded by the National Cancer Institute. This study is grounded in a framework that integrates both health equity and medication adherence theories and processes to characterize oral anticancer medication adherence phases and to identify multi-level factors that increase risk for poor adherence and resulting poor health outcomes in diverse patients with multiple myeloma, chronic myeloid leukemia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. 

In November 2024, Dr. Belcher attended the ESPACOMP Conference in Naples, Italy. ESPACOMP is a non-profit organization primarily concerned with medication adherence research. Dr. Belcher presented IMPACT Study qualitative findings from their exploration of patient perspectives of healthcare system factors affecting medication adherence among patients with multiple myeloma. A comprehensive list of the poster presentation abstracts can be found here.

On November 8, 2024, Pittsburgh's School of Nursing held their first annual Research Day to highlight the plethora of diverse research being conducted within the SON. Both Sarah Belcher and Abigail Lustyik presented poster presentations for their research abstracts. Belcher (top) presented her poster on her abstract titled, "Patterns and Predictors of Electronically Monitored Oral Anticancer Medication Adherence Among Patients with Multiple Myeloma," informing on data from the IMPACT Study. Lustyik (bottom) presented her poster on her abstract titled, "Higher neighborhood deprivation is associated with higher symptom severity and burden ​among survivors of multiple primary cancers." Lustyik's abstract was a secondary analysis of LAMP Study data.

Nominated by her colleagues, Drs. Marci Nilsen and Teresa Thomas, Dr. Belcher was awarded the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center 2024 Emerging Scholar Award for meritorious Population Science Cancer Research.

On September 6th, 2024, Dr. Belcher served as a Grand Rounds presenter for Rush University's Gerontology and Palliative Care Department. Her presentation highlighted the IMPACT Study findings. 

The National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) is an annual student conference dedicated to promoting undergraduate research. Hosted in Long Beach, California for the 2024 conference, two of our students, Abigail Lustyik (left) and Alexandria Snyder (right), presented their research abstracts. Lustyik presented her oral presentation on her abstract titled, "Higher neighborhood deprivation is associated with higher symptom severity and burden ​among survivors of multiple primary cancers." This was a secondary analysis of the LAMP Study data, which continues to inform the work of Dr. Belcher and her team. Snyder presented her oral presentation on her abstract titled, "Higher depression is associated with lower self-reported adherence among patients with multiple myeloma taking oral anticancer medications," which was a secondary analysis of IMPACT Study data. 

Lustyik (left) and Snyder (right)

In collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau- Eta Chapter, hosted Sigma Scholar's Night, a celebration and dissemination of faculty and student-led research presentations. Both Abigail Lustyik and Alexandria Snyder presented poster presentations for their research abstracts. Lustyik (top) presented her poster on her abstract titled, "Higher neighborhood deprivation is associated with higher symptom severity and burden ​among survivors of multiple primary cancers." Snyder (bottom) presented her poster on her abstract titled, "Higher depression is associated with lower self-reported adherence among patients with multiple myeloma taking oral anticancer medications." Lustyik's abstract was a secondary analysis of LAMP Study data and Snyder's abstract was a secondary analysis of IMPACT Study data.

From 2022-2023, MD student Chelsea Green was mentored by Dr. Belcher and Dr. Kimberly Curseen at Emory University as part of the Gleitsman Student Diversity in Palliative Care Program to create a secondary analysis of COPE Study data. This prestigious program provided mentored palliative care research experience to first-year medical students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine. 

"This award was created to address the lack of racial diversity in the field of palliative care and provide an opportunity for students attending medical schools without a palliative specialization program to learn more about the field." In 2022, medical student Chelsea Green, mentored by Dr. Belcher, received the Gleitsman award. "Her project focused on patient-provider communication and financial hardship in the context of serious illness." Her full interview for this award can be found here.

In 2021, Dr. Belcher became a recipient of the NIH Loan Repayment Program award, which exists to help support scientific discoveries. 

"The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The escalating costs of advanced education and training in medicine and clinical specialties are forcing some scientists to abandon their research careers for higher-paying private industry or private practice careers.

The LRPs counteract that financial pressure by repaying up to $50,000 annually of a researcher's qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research. Since tomorrow's medical breakthroughs will be made by investigators starting in their research careers today, the LRPs represent an important investment by NIH in the future of health discovery and the wellbeing of the Nation." (NIH Division of Loan Repayment)