The University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Survivorship Pilot Project Award Program is generously supported by the Schiff Family Foundation Cancer Survivorship Research Fund. Two $50,000 awards are granted annually for a two-year period to support research related to cancer survivorship.

The goals of the Survivorship Pilot Project Award Program are to:

Beyond the Cure: Vascular Health in Pediatric Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Survivors

Zahra Hudda, MD Associate Research Member, Pediatrics Research Program University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a curative procedure for high-risk blood cancers, marrow failures and immune disorders during which a patient receives healthy blood-forming stem cells from a matched donor. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative treatment for children, adolescents and young adults with high-risk cancers, and advances in transplant care have led to more survivors over time.

However, individuals who undergo allo-HSCT face a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and dying from CVD-related causes. This increased risk is thought to result from cumulative damage to the endothelium — the inner lining of blood vessels — caused by conditioning chemotherapy, transplant-related complications, disruptions in metabolism, such as changes in blood sugar or lipids, and ongoing chronic inflammation.

Damage to the endothelium is a key biological process that connects allo-HSCT exposure to long-term problems with blood vessel function. Despite this known risk, current follow-up care for survivors is not well equipped to detect early changes in vascular health or endothelial function before clinical disease develops.

Non-invasive vascular testing methods provide sensitive ways to identify early, subclinical signs of cardiovascular risk. For example, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and pulse wave analysis (PWA) measure arterial stiffness and how blood flows through the central circulation, while laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) assesses small blood vessel (microvascular) function by measuring nitric oxide (NO)-mediated vasodilation. Although these tools have been useful in predicting cardiovascular risk in other high-risk pediatric populations, they have not yet been consistently applied to monitor allo-HSCT survivors over time.

Zahra Hudda, MD, associate member of the Pediatrics Research Program at the Cancer Center, and her team hypothesize that allo-HSCT survivors are therefore at an increased risk for systemic vascular damage, and that this damage can be predicted, tracked and potentially prevented by monitoring clinical measures and biomarkers of arterial stiffness over time.

“To address this gap, we propose a prospective pilot study that combines non-invasive assessments of both large (macrovascular) and small (microvascular) blood vessel function with proteomic biomarkers that indicate vascular injury,” explained Hudda. “The goal is to create a more complete and accurate method for assessing cardiovascular risk in pediatric and young adult allo-HSCT survivors. This approach is designed to detect early signs of vascular dysfunction and support the development of more targeted, long-term cardiovascular monitoring strategies for this vulnerable population.”

To do this, Hudda and her team will follow 100 pediatric and young adult allo-HSCT patients over a two-year period to better understand how cardiovascular risk develops after transplant. Half of the participants will be followed from before transplant through one year after, allowing researchers to track changes over time. The other half will include long-term survivors who are more than one year post-transplant and will help validate the study’s findings.

First, researchers will use non-invasive tests to measure how well large and small blood vessels are functioning at several time points before and after transplant. This helps detect early, symptom-free signs of cardiovascular risk and identify patients who may need closer monitoring.

Second, the study will identify blood-based biomarkers of vascular injury. By comparing patients with normal and abnormal vascular function, researchers will pinpoint key proteins linked to damage and then track the most promising markers over time. This approach could enable earlier detection, better risk prediction, and more timely intervention.

“By combining vascular testing with biomarker discovery, we aim to create a more comprehensive and proactive approach to cardiovascular care in allo-HSCT survivors,” shared Hudda. “Ultimately, the goal is to move from reactive care, i.e. treating the disease after it develops, to preventive care that identifies risk early and improves long-term health outcomes.”

Equitable Survivorship: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study of Survivorship Care Utilization and Need Among Underserved Women with Gynecologic and Breast Cancers Within UC Health

Lucrecia Mena-Meléndez, PhDAssociate Research Member, Population Science & Cancer Control Research Program University of Cincinnati Cancer Center Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Women from underserved populations with gynecologic and breast cancers experience persistent gaps in survivorship care, including inconsistent follow-up, unmet symptom management needs and limited access to supportive services. While advances in treatment have improved long-term survival, survivorship care delivery remains uneven and often does not fully address the unique needs of underserved populations.

“We aim to examine how gynecologic and breast cancer survivors experience care after treatment, with a focus on identifying barriers to and gaps within survivorship care, especially among underserved patients,” explained Lucrecia Mena-Meléndez, PhD, associate member of the Population Science & Cancer Control Research Program at the Cancer Center. “While more people are surviving cancer, we still know relatively little about how patients navigate care after their cancer treatment ends, and this project endeavors to fill that gap by examining both patterns of care and patients’ lived experiences.”

This study uses a mixed-methods approach to examine survivorship care among women with gynecologic and breast cancers. First, Mena-Meléndez and her team will analyze registry data, supplemented with electronic health record information, to evaluate care utilization, establish baseline metrics and identify gaps and unmet needs — particularly across underserved groups.

Second, the study will incorporate patient perspectives through focus groups and a survey with survivors to better understand care needs, barriers and factors that support follow-up care. All analyses will be conducted in collaboration with the University of Cincinnati Evaluation Services Center, with oversight from the principal investigator.

As a new faculty member and early-career investigator, receiving this award marks an important milestone in both Mena-Meléndez’s research trajectory and her integration into the University of Cincinnati’s research community.

“As an early-career investigator and someone who only recently joined the University of Cincinnati, this award is incredibly meaningful for me,” she shared. “This award provides an important opportunity to deepen my focus in cancer research, particularly survivorship, and to establish a new line of work in this area. It also supports the development of strong collaborations with researchers, clinicians and trainees across the institution. The award also enables continued mentorship from Leeya F. Pinder, MD, MPH, which is invaluable to my growth as an independent investigator. This pilot will generate preliminary data to support future NIH/NCI funding and help strengthen population science–focused cancer prevention, control and treatment efforts at the Cancer Center.”

Mena-Meléndez also noted how the collaborative environment within the Cancer Center has been instrumental in helping her build the partnerships needed to move this work forward and establish a strong foundation for future research.

“My Cancer Center membership has played a key role in fostering the collaborations that make this project possible, bringing together clinical, evaluation and biomedical informatics expertise,” she said. “I met many of my co-investigators through Cancer Center initiatives, particularly the Population Science & Cancer Control Research Program, which has been invaluable in connecting me with collaborators aligned with my interests. Since joining UC in October 2025, I have quickly integrated into a multidisciplinary research environment and begun establishing a focused cancer research program. These partnerships are essential for advancing research in underserved populations and for building the infrastructure needed for long-term growth and future NCI-designation.”

Mena-Meléndez’s key partnerships include work with her co-investigators, Melinda Butsch Kovacic, PhD, MPH; Alique G. Topalian, PhD, MPH and Sunni Wenson, MPH as well as collaborators across the Evaluation Services Center, the Center for Health Informatics and the Division of Survivorship and Supportive Services in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.