Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series

With increases in early detection and improved cancer treatments, we can now celebrate that many survivors can lead a full and healthy life after completing treatment. But we also know that the cancer journey can be stressful from diagnosis onward and well into survivorship. A major area of stress is finances, such as stress from increased medical costs and possibly reduced income and work productivity. The impact of “financial toxicity” on patient well-being is an emerging area of research.

Among Dr. Martin’s projects, she is multiple principal investigator of the Emotional Well-Being and Economic Burden Research Network (EMOT-ECON), a new initiative to advance research and generate new knowledge about the impact of the economic burden of disease on emotional well-being. Based upon her background in cancer survivorship, she will also present an overview of the cancer survivorship journey and identify where there are needs to better understand (1) patients’ and survivors’ experiences of cancer and (2) how the economic burden of disease can affect the well-being of survivors. Projects and interventions from the speaker’s work and others will be highlighted.

Biosketch
At the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Dr. Michelle Y. Martin is co-director of the Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute, professor in the College of Medicine’s Department of Preventive Medicine, and founding director of the Center for Innovation in Health Equity Research: A Community Cancer Alliance for Transformative Change. Dr. Martin holds a Ph.D. in clinical (medical) psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and completed postgraduate training at West Virginia University and UAB. She is co-chair of the American College of Sports Medicine Strategic Health Initiative Behavioral Strategies Committee, a member of the NIH/NCCIH Emotional Well-Being Steering Committee, and a grant reviewer for NIH study sections. The NIH funders of her research include NCCIH, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Martin is the author of more than 115 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

About the Series
This lecture is the second in the spring 2022 season of the Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series. Information on the third lecture (in June 2022) will be posted as soon as it is available. The series provides overviews of the current state of research and practice involving complementary health approaches and explores perspectives on integrative health. To find out more, visit https://nccih.nih.gov/news/events/imlectures.

For more information go to https://www.nccih.nih.gov/news/events/well-being-and-the-economic-burden-of-disease-what-are-we-learning-from-cancer-survivors