Catherine Bender, PhD, RN is an assistant professor in the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. She received her bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Akron and her Masters and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. Her entire nursing career has been in the area of oncology care. Dr. Bender has an extensive background in oncology research with a focus on cognitive function during and after treatment for cancer. She is now developing an intervention to help people compensate for the changes in cognitive function they experience with cancer treatment. She is a co-investigator and symptom management consultant for the study.
She has a wonderful daughter and lives in a 120 year old house. She grows roses, loves to read and enjoys movies. [Top]
Sue Hughes, MS, RN, a nurse interventionist for the WRITE symptoms study, and has been a registered nurse since the mid 1970’s. After receiving her BSN from the University of New Mexico, she worked for 8 years as an oncology nurse in Oregon. She earned a MSN from Northern Illinois University in 1986 and was employed in nursing research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since that time. For the past decade Sue worked with Sandy Ward (co-PI) on psycho-educational studies for the management of cancer-related pain. During that time she had the opportunity to talk with many women and men with cancer who were learning to manage their pain.
At home, she lives with her husband, Steve, who is also a nurse, and Gretta, a 7 year old pointer-retriever mix. They have 2 kids, Aaron, a civil engineer in Minneapolis, and Laura, a junior at the University of Minnesota. She loves to garden while in Madison but she and Steve spend every free minute at their place “UpNorth”, in far northern Wisconsin, remodeling an old cabin, canoeing, and loving the wildlife. [Top]
Judy Knapp, PhD, LCSW, project specialist for the WRITE symptoms study, has been an oncology social worker for over 25 years. Most of that time, she worked in gynecologic oncology at Magee Women’s Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, both on an inpatient unit and in the practice of gynecologic oncologists at the hospital. One of the most meaningful experiences of her work has been the Ovarian Cancer Support Group, which she helped to lead for several years. In addition to her time on this research study, she maintains a private psychotherapy practice and is involved with a local community-based cancer support agency that offers support groups throughout western Pennsylvania. Judy’s role on this project is to oversee day-to-day operations. She is grateful for all of these opportunities to keep her hand and heart in cancer care.
At home, she has two cats and one husband, and gets to enjoy the dogs in the neighborhood. Most weekends, she can be found at her little country getaway near a state park and not much else! She likes to hike, read, refinish furniture, cook and, most of all, eat.[Top]
Sandra Ward, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a Helen Denne Schulte Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing. She has been conducting research for over 20 years on how adults cope with cancer. She has had a special emphasis on pain and symptom management, developing educational programs to change patients' negative ideas about using pain medicine, with the ultimate goal of improving pain control for individuals with cancer. She is also the Director of the UW Center for Patient-Centered Interventions, a center that provides support for pre and postdoctoral training for talented young investigators, and support for developing and testing innovative patient-centered interventions.
At home, she is married to Patrick McDonnell with whom she shares love for an elderly but still frisky cat, a daughter who lives in Seattle, and the process of restoring an old home (while living in it). Other hobbies include reading (especially mysteries), cooking, and hiking. [Top]
Susan Sereika, PhD is an associate professor of Nursing, Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. She is a co-Investigator and statistician on this project and is responsible for directing and overseeing the data-analytic phase of the study. [Top]
Paula Sherwood, RN, PhD, CNRN, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing and has a secondary appointment in the Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine. She has worked as a neuroscience/neuro-oncology nurse for over 17 years in a variety of settings, including Honolulu, Hawaii, Iowa City, Iowa, and Flint, Michigan.
Paula received her master’s degree in nursing from the University of Iowa and her PhD from Michigan State University and has functioned in a variety of nursing roles, including staff nurse, supervisor, and clinical nurse specialist. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh and has remained in Pittsburgh to pursue her research interests, helping families of persons with cancer. Paula is dedicated to identifying biological and behavioral markers of distress in family caregivers and planning and implementing interventions to improve the lives of family members and persons with cancer.
Paula spends most of her time outside the office trying to keep up with her two sons, Reese (6 years old) and Gabe (1 year old). The other portion of her time is trying to calm her 81 pound “puppy”, Wolverine (a result of her husband’s obsession with University of Michigan football, hiking and gardening. [Top]
Robert Edwards, MD, is a Professor and Vice Chair, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, UPMC, and the Principal Investigator of the Magee-Women’s Research Institute. He is board certified Gynecologic Oncologist with the expertise in all malignancies of the female genital tract and breast. He has special interest in ovarian cancer, early detection, prevention, and combining biologic and immunologic therapies with traditional therapies in the treatment of women’s cancer, and; intra-peritoneal therapy. [Top]
Michael Spring, PhD is an Associate Professor of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh. His research involves the application of technology to the workplace with particular attention large scale electronic document processing and visualization, intelligent agents, and interface design.
He received his Bachelor's in Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, and his Ph.D. from the School of Education, University of Pittsburgh. For more than a decade prior to joining the Department of Information Science, Dr. Spring served as Associate Director and then Director of the University External Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. [Top]
