Project Background
Population-level data has previously offered invaluable insight on increased risks of disorders among cancer survivors compared to a general population cohort. The undergraduate student will work on a study aiming to investigate whether breast cancer survivors have a higher risk of metabolic diseases compared to women who have never had breast cancer. The study design is a cohort study based in Utah. The data is available to be analyzed, and the student will be trained in a statistical program (e.g., STATA or SAS).
This project is funded by the Research Experiences to Advance the Careers of HBCU Undergraduates at the University of Utah (REACH U2) program, which is co-directed by Dr. Kola Okuyemi of University of Utah and Dr. Ray Samuel of North Carolina A&T. Applicants must be North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University students.
Student Role
The primary role of the student will be writing summary of previous literature on breast cancer survivors and disparities in depression risk, and analyzing SEER-Medicare data.
Student Learning Outcomes and Benefits
Students will learn valuable skills as a scientific writer and be included as an author on any scientific publications to which the student contributes work. Those interested in pursuing a career in medicine will also be provided with exposure and time to explore clinical aspects of the field.
Mia Hashibe
Dr. Hashibe is the Chair of the Research Mentor Program for junior faculty in her department at the University of Utah (Department of Family and Preventive Medicine). The program provides formalized matching of mentor/mentee, planning of quarterly one-to-one mentoring with mentor tools, peer mentoring across the four divisions, and mentor/mentee training. She has mentored 8 postdoctoral fellows, all of whom hold faculty or research scientist positions at universities such as UCLA, National Taiwan University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai and the University of Maryland. She currently mentors two postdoctoral fellows and three junior faculty members. Dr. Hashibe will work with the participating student to understand their goals and develop a plan to help them achieve those goals. Dr. Hashibe will meet bi-weekly with the student to review results and how things are going. The student will work closely with Dr. Hashibe’s team of highly skilled researchers and professionals; they will have the opportunity of becoming an integrated team member of this research team.