News and Congratulations
Congratulations to CTSC KL2 Scholar alumna, Danielle Novetsky Friedman, MD, MS, for achieving an R01 research grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
This grant will support her research, a 12-month randomized controlled trial of time-restricted eating (or ‘intermittent fasting’) in adult survivors of childhood cancer who are overweight or obese and previously treated with radiation therapy to the chest, abdomen, or total body. The study aims to recruit from a national sample of survivors through the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.
As a KL2 Career Development Award Scholar (2014-2016), Danielle conducted research on insulin sensitivity and diabetes risk within childhood cancer survivors. The R01 research study builds on her KL2 research and will leverage novel mHealth technology to deliver a fully remote, theoretically grounded behavioral intervention to reduce cardiometabolic risk and thereby address the burdens of cancer and its treatment among adult-aged survivors of childhood cancer. Time-restricted eating may represent a sustainable intervention to improve long-term outcomes in a highly morbid survivor cohort.
The impact of the study is to determine how time-restricted eating impacts measures of weight status and other weight-related outcomes (waist circumference, percent body fat); (2) Assess the impact of time- restricted eating on cardiometabolic risk profile (blood pressure, glycemic control, insulin resistance, adipokines, markers of inflammation); (3) Identify moderating and mediating factors, as well as barriers and facilitators, associated with adherence to the intervention and weight loss, with the goal of informing future implementation efforts.
Reflecting on the impact of CTSC training and support, Dr. Novetsky Friedman remarked:
“I am deeply grateful to the CTSC for providing me with critical support and foundational skills to build an academic career that integrates clinical and translational research. The comprehensive coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, genetics & molecular biology, and survey methodology in the K30/Master’s program, as well as the protected research time, mentorship, and grant-writing support provided by the KL2, gave me with the requisite tools to build an independent research program. My advice to future applicants is to pursue as many opportunities afforded by the CTSC as possible and take full advantage of those programs; the CTSC staff will support your vision, refine your science, and help you find resources to transition to the next stage of your career. I would not be where I am today without CTSC training and support.”
Dr. Danielle Novetsky Friedman, a pediatrician trained in survivorship care at the CTSC partner institution Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, received her doctoral degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine (2007) and subsequently pursued a Master’s Degree in Clinical Translational Investigation (2016). Her mentors during the KL2 award included Kevin Oeffinger, MD, now at Duke University; Zoltan Antal, MD, Pediatric Endocrinology at Weill Cornell Medicine; and Chaya Moskowitz, PhD, Attending Biostatistician at MSKCC.
The CTSC KL2 Career Development Scholar Program supports junior faculty and senior residents and fellows by providing salary support, protected time, advanced degree training, and practical skills necessary to conduct interdisciplinary Clinical Translational Investigation within a team research environment.