University of Illinois Cancer Center trainee Sydney Dejonge, a PhD student in Kinesiology and Nutrition, has been awarded a National Cancer Institute (NCI) F31 grant to examine cognition, vascular function and physical activity in colorectal cancer survivors. The two-year grant has total funding of $90,000.
The study is part of the Integrative Physiology Lab directed by DeJonge’s advisor Robert Motl, PhD, a Cancer Center member who is part of the center’s Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Research Program. Motl is Professor of Kinesiology and Nutrition in the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences. Lisa Tussing-Humphreys, co-leader of CPC at the Cancer Center and a Professor of Kinesiology and Nutrition, is faculty at the Integrative Physiology Lab.
Colorectal cancer survivors can experience cognitive impairments and arterial stiffness following a diagnosis and treatment, and it is known that physical activity is associated with improvements in cognition and better outcomes of arterial stiffness.
In her research project, DeJonge plans to recruit participants using electronic health records and through the Cancer Center with help from Gastrointestinal (GI) Team Navigators. Colorectal cancer survivors and a control group of people without colorectal cancer will be recruited for the study and will participate in one data collection visit plus seven days of physical activity monitoring at home with an accelerometer.
DeJonge expects her study will highlight the importance of levels and associations among cognition, vascular function, and physical activity in colorectal cancer survivors, as well as lay a foundation for future research on physical activity behavioral interventions in this population.