The GTRL was happy to welcome Krystal Morris, a fellow of the NIH/NIDDK Step-Up program to UTA for the summer of 2009. Krystal worked with Dr. Newcomb on the WalkAbout study of children with asthma. Krystal distributed recruitment materials to community organizations, assisted with screening interviews in subject homes, and collected saliva and analyzed it for the presence or absence of selected gene deletions.  She also coached participants on spirometer technique to enhance the accuracy of pulmonary function measurement.  Krystal commented regarding clinical research, “Challenges include parents who won’t return phone calls, rescheduling appointments, children getting sick/injured, and rejection. It is not as simple as going into the lab, testing your samples and drawing a conclusion.”  We have to agree.

GTRL member Patricia Kelly, MS, RN, CNS, AOCN was selected as one of 15 scholarship recipients for the Spring 2009 City of Hope Clinical Cancer Genetics Intensive Program. The Clinical Cancer Genetics Intensive Course is a multi-modal NCI grant-funded year-long program for physicians, physician assistants, genetic counselors, and PhD genetics and advanced practice oncology nurses. The course combines interactive case conferencing, an on-campus genetics workshop, and continuous Web-based learning to prepare participants for an advanced practice role in clinical cancer genetics and research collaboration. 

Pat will use this training to develop advanced practice cancer risk assessment skills for nurses in the community and promote research relating to hereditary cancer syndromes