Past Postdoctoral Fellows
Sharon Kozachik
Sharon Kozachik, RN, PhD received her Bachelors degree in Nursing from the University
of Michigan-Flint, her Masters degree in Nursing from Michigan State University,
and her PhD from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Kozachik's research interests
include the physical and emotional consequences of cancer and cancer treatment in
cancer patients and their family caregivers. Her dissertation research focused on
elders who were newly diagnosed with breast, colorectal, lung or prostate cancer
and explored the composition and stability of symptom clusters as well as patient,
physical and treatment predictors of patterns of pain, fatigue and insomnia (PFI)
throughout the first year following cancer diagnosis. Prior PFI pattern was consistently
associated with significantly increased risks for subsequent PFI pattern, and clusters
differed by both cancer site and stage of disease. Increased risk for PFI at the
final observation was associated with lung cancer treatment, higher comorbidity
with breast cancer, and late stage colorectal cancer. Advancing age was not associated
with increased risks for PFI patterns. Dr. Kozachik's goals as a Biobehavioral Pain
Postdoctoral Fellow involve transitioning the focus of her research from human subjects
to animals to study: (1) the mechanisms through which chronic insomnia develop,
(b) the effects of disturbed sleep on pain, and (c) the effects of pain on sleep
architecture. Dr. Kozachik is being co-mentored by Dr. Michael Smith, from the School
of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Dr. Gayle Page,
from the School of Nursing.
Publications:
Kozachik, S. L., Wyatt, G., Given, C. W., & Given, B. A. (2006).
Patterns of use of complementary therapies among cancer patients and their family
caregivers. Cancer Nursing, 29(2), 84-94.
Sherwood, P., Given, B. A., Given, C. W., Champion, V. L., Monahan, P. O., Azzouz,
F., Kozachik, S. L., Doorenbos, A., & Wagler-Ziner, K. (2005).
A cognitive behavioral intervention for symptom management in patients with advanced
cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 32(6), 1190 - 1198.
Given, C., Given, B., Rahbar, M., Jeon, S., McCorkle, R., Cimrich, B., Galecki,
A., Kozachik, S., Brady, A., Fisher-Malloy, M. J., Courtney, K.,
& Bowie, E. (2004). Effect of a cognitive behavioral intervention on reducing symptom
severity during chemotherapy. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 22(3), 507-516.