Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, AOCN

2008-2009 BCRF Project:
Fatigue is a common and debilitating problem for cancer survivors. Fatigue often exists during treatment, but can persist long after treatment is over. There is only one proven treatment for this symptom to date, namely, exercise.

In order to develop new treatments, there is a better need to understand the cause of fatigue. We have some information about the way the body responds to being stressed and how this response is different in fatigued individuals after breast cancer. This project will collect blood and saliva to further explore how bodies function after cancer when fatigued. The blood and saliva will be collected as part of a large study evaluating a possible helpful treatment, Wisconsin ginseng. The study will examine markers of inflammation (cytokines) and cortisol, a substance made by the body to regulate stress and other body functions. The goal is to find new interventions for fatigue as well as to determine whether biomarkers, like cortisol, can be used to measure successful symptom management therapies.

Bio:
Debra Barton is an Associate Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She also serves as program coordinator for the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) Research Base of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group, where she is a clinical investigator. Dr. Barton is a full member of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and part of the leadership team for Cancer Prevention and Control.

Dr. Barton received her doctoral degree from Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis. Dr. Barton has developed clinical trials to improve the health-related quality of life of cancer survivors in several areas including cognitive function, fatigue, sleep, hot flashes, neuropathy, sexual health, and nausea and vomiting. Her greatest contributions include the generation and dissemination of nursing knowledge which has transformed practice for cancer survivors in non-hormonal alternatives for hot flash management, sexual health and complementary therapies.

Dr. Barton is being inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in November, 2008. She is a member of Mayo Clinic's Institutional Review Board and is on the faculty at Mayo’s Graduate School in Clinical and Translational Sciences. Dr. Barton serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, is a Director at Large for the Society of Integrative Oncology, and serves as liaison from the National Cancer Institute Symptom Management/Quality of Life steering committee to the Investigational Drug Development Steering Committee. She also is a member of review committees for the National Institute of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and takes an active role in committees and projects with her national specialty organization, the Oncology Nursing Society.