Collaborative Studies
Resiliency among older adults receiving lung cancer treatment (ROAR-LCT)
Dr. Wells-Di Gregorio has collaborated with Carolyn Presley, MD, in Thoracic Medical Oncology on the ROAR-LCT studies (1R03AG064374-01). These studies are designed for older adults living with advanced lung cancer. Newer treatments, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and combination therapies have a significant impact on functional status. Symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and poor quality of life are common and contribute to whether patients are able to recover functional status (resiliency) during treatment. Dr. Presley’s research is focused on understanding the problem of functional disability following cancer diagnosis and testing strategies to prevent the loss of functional status and promote resiliency for older adults with advanced lung cancer. The ROAR study evaluates the combination of virtual physical therapy and progressive muscle relaxation on patient function and resiliency.
Selected Publications
Presley, C. J., Grogan, M., Compston, A., Hock, K., Knauss, B., Redder, E., ... & Andersen, B. L. (2024). Resiliency among older adults receiving lung cancer treatment (ROAR-LCT): A novel supportive care intervention for older adults with advanced lung cancer. Journal of Geriatric Oncology, 15(7), 101844. Read it Here!
Farid, S., Grogan, M. M., Compton, A., Hock, K., Knauss, B., Arrato, N., ... & Presley, C. J. (2023). P2. 25-02 Resiliency among Older Adults Receiving Lung Cancer Treatment (ROAR-LCT): A Novel Pilot Supportive Care Intervention Study. Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 18(11), S398. Read it Here!
Wells-Di Gregorio, S., Grogan, M., Arrato, N., Lo, S., Svensson, A., Kowaleski, S., ... & Presley, C. (2024). SIOG2024-4-P-162 Resiliency among older adults receiving lung cancer treatment (ROAR-LCT): a physical therapy (PT) and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) intervention for patients with advanced lung cancer. Journal of Geriatric Oncology, 15(7), 102034. Read it Here!
Quality of life for patients post-surgery for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers
We have collaborated with Jordan Cloyd, MD on projects focused on optimizing cancer care delivery and improving quality of life post-surgery for people diagnosed with GI cancers. This includes qualitative studies examining patient experience following aborted cancer surgery, anxiety associated with scans after curative-intent surgery, and whether early palliative care for symptom management is feasible and acceptable to patients. Drs. Wells-Di Gregorio and Cloyd have recently proposed a study to examine the addition of a structured telehealth psychosocial intervention combined with pre-habilitation during neoadjuvant treatment for pancreatic cancer patients.
Selected Publications
Stevens, L., Wells-Di Gregorio, S., Lopez-Aguiar, A. G., Khatri, R., Ejaz, A., Pawlik, T. M., ... & Cloyd, J. M. (2023). Patient experiences after aborted cancer surgery: a qualitative study. Annals of Surgical Oncology, 30(11), 6844-6851. Read it Here!
Cloyd, J. M., Khatri, R., Sarna, A., Stevens, L., Heh, V., Dillhoff, M., ... & Kale, S. S. (2024). Early Palliative Care Following Aborted Cancer Surgery: Results of a Prospective Feasibility Trial. Annals of Surgery Open, 5(4), e520. Read it Here!
Khatri, R., Quinn, P. L., Wells-Di Gregorio, S., Pawlik, T. M., & Cloyd, J. M. (2025). Surveillance-associated anxiety after curative-intent cancer surgery: a systematic review. Annals of Surgical Oncology, 32(1), 47-62. Read it Here!
Palliative-Centered Research
Dr. Wells-Di Gregorio has worked for the past 20 years with the Palliative Medicine team at Ohio State. As part of this Division, she has collaborated with several physicians on projects training physicians to communicate with patients with serious illness. We developed the James Supportive Care Screening which is one of three nationally recommended tools for comprehensive palliative screening. She has also worked with this team to develop a model of harm reduction to more safely manage risk for patients with co-occuring substance use disorder and cancer-related pain as well as a model of cancer-related suicide risk management.
Selected Publications
Lockwood, B. J., Gustin, J., Verbeck, N., Rossfeld, K., Norton, K., Barrett, T., ... & Holliday, S. (2022). Training to promote empathic communication in graduate medical education: a shared learning intervention in internal medicine and general surgery. Palliative Medicine Reports, 3(1), 26-35.
Gustin, J. L., Way, D. P., Wells-Di Gregorio, S., & McCallister, J. W. (2016). Validation of the family meeting behavioral skills checklist. An instrument to assess fellows’ communication skills. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 13(8), 1388-1393. Read it Here!
McCallister, J. W., Gustin, J. L., Wells-Di Gregorio, S., Way, D. P., & Mastronarde, J. G. (2015). Communication skills training curriculum for pulmonary and critical care fellows. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 12(4), 520-525. Read it Here!
Wells-Di Gregorio, S. (2008). Family end-of-life decision making. In Decision Making near the End of Life (pp. 247-279). Routledge. Read it Here!
Wells‐Di Gregorio, S., Porensky, E. K., Minotti, M., Brown, S., Snapp, J., Taylor, R. M., ... & Andersen, B. L. (2013). The James Supportive Care Screening: integrating science and practice to meet the NCCN guidelines for distress management at a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Psycho‐oncology, 22(9), 2001-2008. Read it Here!
Wells-Di Gregorio, S., Ehrman, S., Bartle-Haring, S., Polder, J., Marks, D., Probst, D. R., ... & Taylor, R. (2022). Prospective study of a novel risk stratification process for opioid-related harm reduction in cancer patients seen in an outpatient palliative care clinic. Journal of palliative medicine, 25(5), 783-792.
Banyasz, A., & Wells‐Di Gregorio, S. M. (2018). Cancer‐related suicide: a biopsychosocial‐existential approach to risk management. Psycho‐Oncology, 27(11), 2661-2664. Read it Here!
Head and Neck Cancer Collaboration
In collaboration with Ted Teknos, MD and Stephen Kang, MD, we examined the most common and distressing symptoms for people with head and neck cancers referred to palliative medicine helping to define the supportive care services needed by this population. Read it Here!
Selected Publication
Lin, C., Kang, S. Y., Donermeyer, S., Teknos, T. N., & Wells-Di Gregorio, S. M. (2020). Supportive care needs of patients with head and neck cancer referred to palliative medicine. Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, 163(2), 356-363. Read it Here!