- Email: [email protected]
Author Bio Sketch
Jeff A. Sloan, PhD, is Professor of Biostatistics and Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Sloan is also the Chair of the Quality of Life Research Initiative at the Mayo Clinic and the QOL Research Committee for the North Central Treatment Group. Dr. Sloan was trained as a mathematical statistician, obtaining his doctorate from the University of Manitoba, Canada in 1991. He held appointments in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Manitoba for 10 years before coming to the Mayo Clinic in 1995. He has over 20 years of experience as a statistical consultant and researcher into measurement issues and clinical trials. Dr. Sloan is also the lead statistician for the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) Cancer Control Program. Other areas of research emphasis have included phase I clinical trials, pediatric oncology, and lung cancer. Widely published, Dr. Sloan has focused recent research activities on methods of assessing quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients and determining a clinically meaningful difference in these measures. Amylou Dueck, PhD, is a Research Associate at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She earned her doctorate in mathematics with an emphasis in statistics from Arizona State University in 2005. At the Mayo Clinic, she is a lead statistician for the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) Cancer Control/Quality of Life (QOL) and Breast Cancer Programs. She has been collaborating on issues in QOL with the Mayo Clinic QOL team since 2003 including issues in clinical significance. Marlene H. Frost, RN, PhD, AOCN姞, is a Professional Associate in Research for Mayo Clinic Women’s Cancer Program. Dr. Frost received her undergraduate nursing degrees from Rochester Community College, Rochester, MN and Mankato State University, Mankato, MN. Her master’s degree with a major in nursing is from the University of Minnesota and her doctorate with a major in nursing is from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Frost’s research is in the areas of women’s cancers, individuals at increased risk for cancer and those at increased risk for poor psychosocial adjustment. Specific foci include quality of life, satisfaction and psychosocial function following prophylactic mastectomy, issues surrounding stress and coping in women with breast and gynecologic cancers, and interventions to promote adjustment to a diagnosis of cancer. 238
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Michele Y. Halyard, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Oncology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. She is chair-emeritus of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic Arizona and is currently the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Radiation Oncology. She serves as the Scientific Coordinator for Radiation Oncology for the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) Breast Committee, and the Quality of Life Liaison for the NCCTG Breast Committee. She leads the Quality of Life research interest group at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Dr. Halyard has held appointments at Mayo Clinic since 1989. Her clinical focus is on the treatment of head and neck and breast cancer patients. Her research areas of focus include the real time use of quality of life data by clinicians, and symptom control in head and neck and breast cancer patients. Pamela J. Atherton, MS, is a statistician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Ms. Atherton joined Mayo Clinic in February 1996 after receiving Bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics, Community Health and School Health from Mankato State University, Mankato, Minnesota. She has been a member of the Quality of Life Research Initiative in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) since receiving a Master’s degree in Mathematical Statistics in 1998. Other areas of emphasis have included Phase I and NCCTG Cancer Control clinical trials. Kelli Burger, BS, is a Statistical Programmer Analyst at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She graduated with a degree in Actuarial Science-Statistics from the University of Nebraska in 1999. She has been involved in QOL research for over 3 years. Cynthia Chauhan is a volunteer patient advocate who is cochair of the NCCTG Patient Advocacy Committee. She also facilitates art support groups for cancer patients and is active in promoting kidney cancer patient education and community awareness. Cynthia was diagnosed with clear cell renal cell carcinoma in 1998 and ductal carcinoma in situ in 2001. Wayland Eppard is a volunteer patient advocate who is co chair of the NCCTG Patient Advocacy Committee. He is also a consumer advocate in the NCI CARRA (Consumer Advocates in Research and other Related Activities). Further he is the patient advocate for the NCI Nanotechnology Alliance. He was first diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1989, had 11 recurrences Curr Probl Cancer, November/December 2006
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between 1992 and 1995 and had his bladder removed in 1995. He has had no cancer recurrences since the removal of his bladder. Jef Huntington, BS, is currently seeking a master’s in public health at the University of Utah. He was previously a Statistical Programmer Analyst at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. He graduated with a BS in statistics from Brigham Young University in 2002. Jef has over three years experience in SAS programming, data analyses, and QOL research. Mashele Huschka, RN, BS, is a Statistical Programmer Analyst in the Department of Health Sciences Research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Ms. Huschka was trained at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse in Mathematical Statistics and Pre-professional Medicine. She has worked in QOL research for over 4 years, and has led a research project involving the comparison of single-item versus multiple item QOL assessments in lung cancer. Celia Kamath, PhD, is a Research Associate at Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN. She received an interdisciplinary PhD from the University of Minnesota in Organization Theory, Organizational Economics and Industrial Psychology with a special emphasis on healthcare organizations. She has been involved in cancer– related and other healthcare outcomes research including the clinical significance of QOL, CAM applications for symptom relief in cancer, economics of healthcare interventions and improving healthcare access. She is currently involved in a series of systematic reviews of evidence from clinical trials in the area of patient adherence to treatment in pediatric populations as well as research on the implementation of guidelines and innovations in healthcare delivery. Sumithra J. Mandrekar, PhD, is Senior Research Associate and Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN. Dr. Mandrekar joined Mayo Clinic in January 2003, having completed her interdisciplinary PhD in Biostatistics, Psychology, Internal Medicine and Biomedical Engineering from the Ohio State University, Columbus OH in December 2002. Dr. Mandrekar is the Lead Statistician for the Mayo Clinic Phase I Cancer Therapy Program, the North Central Treatment Group Lung Cancer Program and the Phase II chemoprevention network and an active member of the Mayo Clinic Quality of life 240
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research team. Her primary research interests are in clinical trial design, meta-analysis and quality of life assessment. Paul J. Novotny, MS, is an MS level biostatistician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. He earned his BA in mathematics from the University of Minnesota-Morris and an MS in statistics from the University of Iowa. He worked as a Mathematical Statistician at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, D.C. for 6 years and for 2 years as a Biostatistician/ Programmer with the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland. Since 1992, he has been a biostatistician at the Mayo Clinic working in QOL and cancer control, and has analyzed over 100 clinical trials. Denise Smith, BS, graduated with a degree in Statistics from Virginia Tech and is currently a Statistical Programmer Analyst at the Mayo Clinic Rochester with over 3 years experience in data analyses and SAS programming for the Quality of Life team. She has specific expertise in web-based statistical applications. Angelina D. Tan, BS, is a Statistical Programmer Analyst in the Department of Health Sciences Research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She graduated with a degree in Management Information Systems from Winona State University, Minnesota and currently completing her degree in Mathematics and Statistics. She has been involved in QOL research for about 1.5 years. Cathy (Xinghua) Zhao, MS, is a Statistical Programmer Analyst in the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota. She obtained her Master’s degree in Survey Research and Methodology from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 2002. She worked as a Research Assistant from 2000-2002 in Gallup Research Center, Lincoln NE. She has been involved in quality of life (QOL) research of cancer patients since 2002. She has worked on numerous research projects including the relationship between QOL and genetic markers, the impact of smoking on QOL in lung cancer patients, and surveys on the QOL of medical oncologists.
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Michele Y. Halyard, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Oncology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. She is chair-emeritus of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic Arizona and is currently the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Radiation Oncology. She serves as the Scientific Coordinator for Radiation Oncology for the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) Breast Committee, and the Quality of Life Liaison for the NCCTG Breast Committee. She leads the Quality of Life research interest group at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Dr. Halyard has held appointments at Mayo Clinic since 1989. Her clinical focus is on the treatment of head and neck and breast cancer patients. Her research areas of focus include the real time use of quality of life data by clinicians, and symptom control in head and neck and breast cancer patients. Pamela J. Atherton, MS, is a statistician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Ms. Atherton joined Mayo Clinic in February 1996 after receiving Bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics, Community Health and School Health from Mankato State University, Mankato, Minnesota. She has been a member of the Quality of Life Research Initiative in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) since receiving a Master’s degree in Mathematical Statistics in 1998. Other areas of emphasis have included Phase I and NCCTG Cancer Control clinical trials. Kelli Burger, BS, is a Statistical Programmer Analyst at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She graduated with a degree in Actuarial Science-Statistics from the University of Nebraska in 1999. She has been involved in QOL research for over 3 years. Cynthia Chauhan is a volunteer patient advocate who is cochair of the NCCTG Patient Advocacy Committee. She also facilitates art support groups for cancer patients and is active in promoting kidney cancer patient education and community awareness. Cynthia was diagnosed with clear cell renal cell carcinoma in 1998 and ductal carcinoma in situ in 2001. Wayland Eppard is a volunteer patient advocate who is co chair of the NCCTG Patient Advocacy Committee. He is also a consumer advocate in the NCI CARRA (Consumer Advocates in Research and other Related Activities). Further he is the patient advocate for the NCI Nanotechnology Alliance. He was first diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1989, had 11 recurrences Curr Probl Cancer, November/December 2006
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between 1992 and 1995 and had his bladder removed in 1995. He has had no cancer recurrences since the removal of his bladder. Jef Huntington, BS, is currently seeking a master’s in public health at the University of Utah. He was previously a Statistical Programmer Analyst at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. He graduated with a BS in statistics from Brigham Young University in 2002. Jef has over three years experience in SAS programming, data analyses, and QOL research. Mashele Huschka, RN, BS, is a Statistical Programmer Analyst in the Department of Health Sciences Research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Ms. Huschka was trained at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse in Mathematical Statistics and Pre-professional Medicine. She has worked in QOL research for over 4 years, and has led a research project involving the comparison of single-item versus multiple item QOL assessments in lung cancer. Celia Kamath, PhD, is a Research Associate at Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN. She received an interdisciplinary PhD from the University of Minnesota in Organization Theory, Organizational Economics and Industrial Psychology with a special emphasis on healthcare organizations. She has been involved in cancer– related and other healthcare outcomes research including the clinical significance of QOL, CAM applications for symptom relief in cancer, economics of healthcare interventions and improving healthcare access. She is currently involved in a series of systematic reviews of evidence from clinical trials in the area of patient adherence to treatment in pediatric populations as well as research on the implementation of guidelines and innovations in healthcare delivery. Sumithra J. Mandrekar, PhD, is Senior Research Associate and Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN. Dr. Mandrekar joined Mayo Clinic in January 2003, having completed her interdisciplinary PhD in Biostatistics, Psychology, Internal Medicine and Biomedical Engineering from the Ohio State University, Columbus OH in December 2002. Dr. Mandrekar is the Lead Statistician for the Mayo Clinic Phase I Cancer Therapy Program, the North Central Treatment Group Lung Cancer Program and the Phase II chemoprevention network and an active member of the Mayo Clinic Quality of life 240
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research team. Her primary research interests are in clinical trial design, meta-analysis and quality of life assessment. Paul J. Novotny, MS, is an MS level biostatistician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. He earned his BA in mathematics from the University of Minnesota-Morris and an MS in statistics from the University of Iowa. He worked as a Mathematical Statistician at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, D.C. for 6 years and for 2 years as a Biostatistician/ Programmer with the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland. Since 1992, he has been a biostatistician at the Mayo Clinic working in QOL and cancer control, and has analyzed over 100 clinical trials. Denise Smith, BS, graduated with a degree in Statistics from Virginia Tech and is currently a Statistical Programmer Analyst at the Mayo Clinic Rochester with over 3 years experience in data analyses and SAS programming for the Quality of Life team. She has specific expertise in web-based statistical applications. Angelina D. Tan, BS, is a Statistical Programmer Analyst in the Department of Health Sciences Research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She graduated with a degree in Management Information Systems from Winona State University, Minnesota and currently completing her degree in Mathematics and Statistics. She has been involved in QOL research for about 1.5 years. Cathy (Xinghua) Zhao, MS, is a Statistical Programmer Analyst in the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota. She obtained her Master’s degree in Survey Research and Methodology from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 2002. She worked as a Research Assistant from 2000-2002 in Gallup Research Center, Lincoln NE. She has been involved in quality of life (QOL) research of cancer patients since 2002. She has worked on numerous research projects including the relationship between QOL and genetic markers, the impact of smoking on QOL in lung cancer patients, and surveys on the QOL of medical oncologists.
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