The emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and biological consequences of cancer risk; the contribution of biobehavioral factors to side effects of cancer treatments (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) and interventions that may ameliorate those effects; psychosocial and experiential influences on cancer screening decisions; impact of psychological stress on DNA damage and repair; effects of lifestyle intervention on oxidative stress and telomere length.

Representative Publications

Jenkins FJ, Van Houten B, Bovbjerg DH. Effects on DNA damage and/or repair processes as biological mechanisms linking psychological stress to cancer risk. J Appl Biobehav Res. 2014 Feb1;19(1):3-23. PubMed PMCID: PMC4039216

Montgomery GH, David D, Kangas M, Green S, Sucala M, Bovbjerg DH, Hallquist MN, Schnur JB. Randomized controlled trial of a cognitive-behavioral therapy plus hypnosis intervention to control fatigue in patients undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2014 Feb;32(6):557-63. PubMed PMCID: PMC3918539

Linkov F, Burke LE, Komaroff M, Edwards RP, Lokshin A, Styn MA, Tseytlin E, Freese K, Bovbjerg DH. An exploratory investigation of links between changes in adipokines and quality of life in individuals undergoing weight loss interventions: possible implications for cancer research. Gynecol Oncol. 2014 Apr;133(1):67-72. PubMed PMCID: PMC4340612

Vin-Raviv N, Akinyemiju TF, Galea S, Bovbjerg DH. Depression and anxiety disorders among hospitalized women with breast cancer. PLOS ONE. 2015 Jun 2;10(6):e0129169. PubMed PMCID: PMC4452789.

Posluszny DM, Dougall AL, Johnson JT, Argiris A, Ferris RL, Baum A, Bovbjerg DH, Dew MA. Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in newly diagnosed patients with head and neck cancer and their partners. Head Neck. 2015 Sep;37(9):1282-9. doi: 10.1002/hed.23760. Epub 2014 Sep 17. PMID: 24817018

Low CA, Bovbjerg DH, Ahrendt S, Alhelo S, Choudry H, Holtzman M, Jones HL, Pingpank JF Jr, Ramalingam L, Zeh HJ 3rd, Zureikat AH, Bartlett DL. Depressive symptoms in patients scheduled for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy with cytoreductive surgery: Prospective associations with morbidity and mortality. J Clin Oncol. 2016 Apr 10;34(11):1217-22. PubMed PMCID: PMC4872322. [Available 2017-02-10]

Hershman DL, Kushi LH, Hillyer GC, Coromilas E, Buono D, Lamerato L, Bovbjerg DH, Mandelblatt JS, Tsai WY, Zhong X, Jacobson JS, Wright JD, Neugut AI. Psychosocial factors related to non-persistence with adjuvant endocrine therapy among women with breast cancer: the Breast Cancer Quality of Care Study (BQUAL). Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2016 May;157(1):133-43. PubMed PMCID: PMC4867255. [Available 2017-05-01]

Edmond SN, Shelby RA, Keefe FJ, Fisher HM, Schmidt J, Soo MS, Skinner CS, Ahrendt GM, Manculich J, Sumkin JH, Zuley ML, Bovbjerg DH. Persistent breast pain among women with histories of breast conserving surgery for breast cancer compared to women without histories of breast surgery or cancer. Clin J Pain. 2017 Jan;33(1):51-56. PubMed PMCID: PMC5144924.

Muthuswamy R, Okada NJ, Jenkins FJ, McGuire K, McAuliffe PF, Zeh HJ, Bartlett DL, Wallace C, Watkins S, Henning JD, Bovbjerg DH, Kalinski P. Epinephrine promotes COX-2-dependent immune suppression in myeloid cells and cancer tissues. Brain Behav Immun. 2017 May;62:78-86. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2017.02.008. Epub 2017 Feb 16. PMID: 28212885