Barbara Given is a University Distinguished Professor in the College of Nursing. Dr. Given has been actively involved in research in long-term care, home care, chronic illness and family care for over 29 years with funding from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Mental Health, National Institute for Nursing Research, National Institute on Aging, Walther Cancer Foundation, Michigan Department of Community Health, and the American Cancer Society to explore these issues. Topics of research center around functional outcomes, symptom control, patterns of care, utilization of care, and formal and informal cost of care for the chronically ill and their family caregivers, especially those with cancer. She is a reviewer for numerous professional journals and currently serves on the Editorial Board for Research in Nursing and Health, and Cancer Nursing. She has served as a grant reviewer for AHCPR, Psychosocial Research for the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, NINR, Department of Defense, National Institute of Aging, California Cancer Research Program, and the Alzheimer’s Association of Canada. Barbara Given testified to the President’s Breast Cancer Commission and the President’s Cancer Panel for Older Populations in 1997 and served on the Institute of Medicine’s Department of Defense Panel to decide on priorities for breast cancer research funding. She served on the Breast Cancer Integrating Panel for the Department of Defense and the psychosocial outcomes committee for NSABP. She also served on the Blue Ribbon Panel for ACS to set direction for research for Behavioral and Psychosocial Research. She served on the Institute of Medicine to examine cancer care outcomes in Georgia. Recently she presented on Family Caregivers of the Elderly to the Cancer Policy Panel.

She recently participated in the State of the Science on Family Caregivers sponsored by AARP, Hartford and ANA. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Behavioral Cooperative Oncology Group of the Walther Cancer Foundation. In 1994, she was the American Nursing Foundation Distinguished Researcher Award Recipient and in 1995, the ONS Distinguished Researcher and the Michigan Association of Governing Boards Distinguished Faculty Award recipient. In 2000, she received the College of Nursing Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award at Michigan State University. In 2001, she received the University Distinguished Professor award, the Sigma Theta Tau Elizabeth Williams Miller Award for Excellence in Research and the Friends of the National Institute for Nursing Research Pathfinder Distinguished Researcher Award. In 2005, she received the Oncology Nursing Outstanding Service Award. Dr. Given is currently involved with the Honorary Degree Committee at Michigan State University and received the Oncology Nursing Society Distinguished Service Award in 2006. Dr. Given was named the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Martha Rivers Ingram Visiting Professor in the spring of 2008. She presented to the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine on Caregiving in Elderly Cancer Patients in October 2006. She is currently a member of the Caregiving National Advisory Committee of the AARP and the Council on Social Work Education.

SELECTED REFERENCES:
1. Jeon, S., Given, C. Sikorskii, A. and Given, B. (2009). Do Interference Based Cut-points Differentiate Mild, Moderate, and Severe Levels of 16 Cancer-Related Symptoms Over Time? Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 37(2), 220-232. NIHMSID: NIHMS97442
2. Given, C.W., Sikorskii, A., Tamkus, D., Given, B., You, M., McCorkle, R., Champion, V. and Decker, D. (2008). Managing Symptoms Among Breast Cancer Patients During Chemotherapy: Results of a Two Arm Behavioral Trial. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 26(36), 5855-5862. PMC In Process
3. Given, B., Given, C.W., Sikorskii, A., Jeon, S., McCorkle, R., Champion, V., Decker, D. (2008). Establishing mild, moderate, and severe scores for cancer related symptoms: How consistent and clinically meaningful are interference-based severity cut-points? Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 35(2), 126-135. (Impact Factor is 2.324). NIHMS 40473 PMCID: PMC2635012
4. Sikorskii, A., Given, C., Given, B., Jeon, S., Decker, V., Decker, D., Champion, V., McCorkle, R. (2007). Symptom management for cancer patients: A trial comparing two multimodal interventions. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 34(3), 253-264. (Impact Factor is 2.437).

NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR) Grand Rounds is a weekly lecture series addressing current research in clinical and molecular oncology. Speakers are leading national and international researchers and clinicians proposed by members of the CCR Grand Rounds Planning Committee and others within the CCR community and approved by the CCR Office of the Director. Lectures occur every Tuesday from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater in the