American Cancer Society Awards Large Research Grant to Medical University of South Carolina Researcher

CHARLESTON, S.C.  - Dr. Katherine Sterba was awarded a five-year extramural research grant totaling $729,000 from the American Cancer Society at a reception on February 6, 2013, at the Medical University of South Carolina Department of Public Health Sciences, where she is an assistant professor.

Dr. Sterba is a behavioral scientist affiliated with the Hollings Cancer Center's Cancer Prevention and Control section. Her research focuses on the development and testing of survivorship interventions to improve outcomes for individuals with head and neck cancer and their family caregivers. Her mentored research scholar grant is entitled “Transitions After Treatment in Head and Neck Cancer Patient-Caregiver Dyads.”

"This is a shining example of the research grants that the American Cancer Society funds every year across the nation in order to save lives from cancer and to improve the quality of life for survivors and their caregivers," stated Mary Nesbitt, senior vice president-field operations for the American Cancer Society. "It is only through the tremendous generosity of our donors that we are able to invest in research like Dr. Sterba's that will have such an incredible impact in the lives of head and neck cancer patients and their caregivers."

American Cancer Society representatives who attended the reception included Nesbitt and Ashley Cashon, mission delivery director for South Carolina. Dr. G. Fred Worsham, chief medical officer of Charleston Pathology, P.A., an award-winning leadership volunteer who has served on the Society’s national board and as chief medical officer for its South Atlantic Division, presented the award.

Dr. Sterba's project will include training in the area of health services research and organizational change and she will lead the development and testing of a clinic survivorship care planning intervention for head and neck cancer survivors and their caregivers. Dr. Jane Zapka, professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, is the primary mentor for the grant. Dr. Terry Day, professor, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and director of the Head and Neck Tumor Program, Hollings Cancer Center; Dr. Elizabeth Garrett-Mayer, director of Biostatistics, Hollings Cancer Center; and Dr. Keisuke Shirai, assistant professor, Hematology-Oncology, are co-mentors.

The American Cancer Society research grants program is the nation’s largest private, not-for-profit source of funds for scientists studying cancer and the needs of cancer patients and their caregivers. The Society focuses its funding on cutting-edge investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed proposals. Grant applications are ranked on the basis of merit by a Peer Review Committee of 12-25 scientific advisors, peers and experts in their fields. Forty-six researchers receiving American Cancer Society funds have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. Because the American Cancer Society research program is exceptionally competitive, this award for research is a tremendous honor for Dr. Sterba, her colleagues and the Medical University of South Carolina.

Photo caption: Dr. Katherine Sterba of Medical University of South Carolina receives a grant for cancer research from the American Cancer Socity. Pictured L to R: Jane Zapka, ScD, MUSC professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Hollings Cancer Center, Prevention and Control Member; Katherine Sterba, PhD, MUSC assistant professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Hollings Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention and Control Program Member; G. Fred Worsham, MD, chief medical officer, Charleston Pathology, former chief medical officer, South Atlantic Division, American Cancer Society; Mary Nesbitt, senior vice president-Field Operations, South Atlantic Division, American Cancer Society.