ACTION Program Publications

On this page, you can keep up with publications from the Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION) Program. Find the latest publications from Nathan L. Vanderford, PhD, MBA, and ACTION students below.

For more information, visit the About page to learn more about the program's goals, plan, outreach efforts and more, as well as additional pages for information on the ACTION Program itself and its cohorts.

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Publications

ACTION Books

# ACTION Personnel

  1. Vanderford NL#, Hudson L, Prichard C# (Editors). The Cancer Crisis in Appalachia: Kentucky Students Take ACTION. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2020. ISBN: 9781950690039.

    25 ACTION student contributors: William Adams, Natalie Barker, Lauren K. Collett, Rachel Collins, Andrew Davison, Holly Dickens, Susanna Goggans, Zachary Hall, Abigal Issacs, Shahid Jabbar, Julie Kiser, Kinley Lewis, Nolan Marcum, Matthew Melton, Alyviah Newby, Katelyn Nigro, Solomon Patton, Brianna Reyes, Megan Schlosser, Kaitlin Schumaker, Spencer Shelton, Haleigh Thompson, Ethan Tiller, Carrigan Wasilchenko, Emory Wilds 
     
  2. Vanderford NL# and Prichard C# (Editors). The Cancer Crisis in Appalachia: Kentucky Students Take ACTION (2nd edition). Louisville, KY: Butler Books, 2022. ISBN: 9781953058461.

    33 ACTION student contributors: Haseeb Ahmad, Ceana Bays, Chezney Boothe, Harley Bowen, Lindsay Bryant, Michael Buoncristiani, Kassidy Burke, Caylee Caudill, Makinna Caudill, Alexander Chang, Alexandra Combs, Karlee Compton, Isabella Dunn, Tyra Gilbert, Emily Halcomb, Gracie Harper, Abby Hill, Nathan Hogg, Caroline Jenkins, Jessica Lamb, Wyatt McCarty, Allisa Pack, Tyce Riddle, Matthew Sanders, Thomas Sanders, Savannah Saylor, Alexia ShamaeiZadeh, John Staton, Madison Tackett, Hanah Whisenant, Zane Whitaker, Carolene Willhoite, Xiaomei Zheng
     
  3. Vanderford NL# and Burke H# (Editors). Cancer in Appalachia: A Collection of Youth-Told Stories. Louisville, KY: Butler Books, 2023. Print ISBN:  9781953058911.
     
    32 ACTION student authors: Cena Bays, Kelci Blair, Chezney Boothe, Katie Anne Brown, Harley Brown, Makinna Caldwell, Caylee Caudill, Makinna Caudill, Peyton Coburn, Karlee Compton, Kaylee Compton, Alexandra Combs, Isabella Dunn, Joshua Griffith, Emily Halcomb, Nathan Hogg, Gracie Harper, Lily-Kate Hubbs, Abigail Knoy, Jessica Lamb, Nolan Marcum, Allisa Pack, Jonathan Ramsey, Matthew Sanders, John Staton, Haleigh Thompson, Olivia Thornsbury, Hannah Whisenant, Zane Whitaker, Emory Wilds, Olivia Wilds, Carolene Willhoite

ACTION Students’ Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

*ACTION students; #ACTION personnel

  1. Al-Attar A, Presnell SR, Clasey JL, Long DE, Walton RG, Sexton M*, Starr ME, Kern PA, Peterson CA, Lutz CT. Human body composition and immunity: Visceral adipose tissue produces IL-15 and muscle strength inversely correlates with NK cell function in elderly humans. Front Immunol 9:440, 2018. PMCID: PMC5845694
     
  2. Stevens PD, Wen YA, Xiong X, Zaytseva YY, Li AT, Wang C, Stevens AT, Farmer TN*, Gan T, Weiss HL, Inagaki M, Marchetto S, Borg JP, Gao T. Erbin Suppresses KSR1-Mediated RAS/RAF Signaling and tumorigenesis in colorectal cancer. Cancer Res 78:4839-4852, 2018. PMCID: PMC6510240
     
  3. Dicken H*, Hensley PJ, Kyprianou N. Prostate tumor neuroendocrine differentiation via EMT: The road less traveled. Asian J Urol 6:82-90, 2019. PMCID: PMC6363600
     
  4. Hensley PJ, Cao Z, Pu H, Dicken H*, He D, Zhou Z, Wang C, Koochekpour S, Kyprianou N. Predictive and targeting value of IGFBP-3 in therapeutically resistant prostate cancer. Am J Clin Exp Urol 7:188-202, 2019. PMCID: PMC6627542
     
  5. Puleo GE, Borger TN, Montgomery D*, Rivera Rivera JN, Burris JL. A qualitative study of smoking-related causal attributions and risk perceptions in cervical cancer survivors. Psychooncol 29:500-506, 2020. PMCID: PMC7054153
     
  6. Gan T, Stevens AT, Xiong X, Wen YA, Farmer TN*, Li AT, Stevens PD, Golshani S, Weiss HL, Evers BM, Gao T. Inhibition of protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type F suppresses Wnt signaling in colorectal cancer. Oncogene 39:6789-6801, 2020. PMCID: PMC7606795
     
  7. Xiong X, Wen YA, Fairchild R*, Zaytseva YY, Weiss HL, Evers BM, Gao T. Upregulation of CPT1A is essential for the tumor-promoting effect of adipocytes in colon cancer. Cell Death Dis 11:736, 2020. PMCID: PMC7484798
     
  8. Haney MG, Moore LH*, Blackburn JS. Drug screening of primary patient derived tumor xenografts in zebrafish. J Vis Exp (158):10.3791/60996, 2020. PMCID: PMC9351626
     
  9. Edward JS, Rayens MK, Zheng X*, Vanderpool RC. The association of health insurance literacy and numeracy with financial toxicity and hardships among colorectal cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer 29:5673-5680, 2021. PMCID: PMC8368090
     
  10. Chow Z, Johnson J, Chauhan A, Izumi T, Cavnar M, Weiss H, Townsend CM, Jr., Anthony L, Wasilchenko C*, Melton ML*, Schrader J, Evers BM, Rychahou P. PI3K/mTOR dual inhibitor PF-04691502 is a schedule-dependent radiosensitizer for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Cells 10:1261, 2021. PMCID: PMC8160730
     
  11. Hudson L, Samons KM*, Dicken HE*, Prichard C#, Weiss LT, Edward J, Vanderpool RC, Vanderford NL#. A brief educational intervention enhances basic cancer literacy among Kentucky middle and high school students. J Cancer Educ 36:735-740, 2021. PMCID: PMC7388006
     
  12. Ryan RT, Havrylyuk D, Stevens KC, Moore LH*, Parkin S, Blackburn JS, Heidary DK, Selegue JP, Glazer EC. Biological investigations of Ru(II) complexes with diverse β-diketone ligands. Eur J Inorg Chem 2021:3611-3621, 2021. PMCID: PMC8447810.
     
  13. Lutz CT, Livas L, Presnell SR, Sexton M*, Wang P. Gender differences in urothelial bladder cancer: Effects of natural killer lymphocyte immunity. J Clin Med 10:5163, 2021. PMCID: PMC8584838
     
  14. Weber SJ, Shearer E, Mulvaney SA, Schmidt D, Thompson C, Jones J, Ahmad H*, Coe M, Hull PC. Prioritization of Features for Mobile Apps for Families in a Federal Nutrition Program for Low-Income Women, Infants, and Children: User-Centered Design Approach. JMIR Form Res 5(7):e30450, 2021. PMCID: PMC8367138
     
  15. Borger TN, Puleo GE, Rivera Rivera JN, Montgomery D*, Bowling WR, Burris JL. A descriptive study of cervical cancer survivors' persistent smoking behavior and perceived barriers to quitting. Psychol Addict Behav 36:109-116, 2022. PMCID: PMC8463620
     
  16. Conroy LR, Chang JE, Sun Q, Clarke HA, Buoncristiani MD*, Young LEA, McDonald RJ, Liu J, Gentry MS, Allison DB, Sun RC. High-dimensionality reduction clustering of complex carbohydrates to study lung cancer metabolic heterogeneity. Adv Cancer Res 154:227-251, 2022. PMCID: PMC9273336
     
  17. Collett, LK*, Hudson, L., Prichard, C#, & Vanderford, NL#. Using Culturally Focused Storytelling to Empower Appalachian Kentucky Youth to Understand and Address Cancer Disparities in Their Communities. Journal of cancer education 38(2), 513–521, 2023.
     
  18. Juras JA, Webb MB, Young LEA, Markussen KH, Hawkinson TR, Buoncristiani MD*, Bolton KE, Coburn PT*, Williams MI, Sun LPY, Sanders WC, Bruntz RC, Conroy LR, Wang C, Gentry MS, Smith BN, Sun RC. In situ microwave fixation provides an instantaneous snapshot of the brain metabolome. Cell Rep Methods 3:100455, 2023. PMCID: PMC10163000
     
  19. Al-Hamaly MA, Turner LT*, Rivera-Martinez A, Rodriguez A, Blackburn JS. Zebrafish Cancer Avatars: A Translational Platform for Analyzing Tumor Heterogeneity and Predicting Patient Outcomes. Int J Mol Sci 24(3):2288, 2023. PMCID: PMC9916713
     
  20. Edward J, Brown KA*, Caldwell M*, Ruschman EA, Fariduddin H, Northrip KD, D'Orazio JA. Two Case Reports on Financial Toxicity and Healthcare Transitions in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors. Clinical journal of oncology nursing 28(2), 227–231, 2024.

ACTION Programmatic Publications

*ACTION Student; #ACTION Personnel; †Also listed in Student Publications

  1. Hudson L, Prichard C#, Weiss LT, Vanderford NL#. Evidence for cancer literacy knowledge retention among Kentucky middle and high school students after a brief educational intervention. South Med J 113: 541-548, 2020. PMCID: PMC8268063
     
  2. Hudson L, Sharp K, Alameh S, Prichard C#, Ickes MJ, Vanderford NL#. Cancer curriculum for Appalachian Kentucky middle and high schools. J Appalach Health 3: 43-55, 2021. PMCID: PMC8830599
     
  3. Hudson L, Prichard C#, Weiss LT, Ickes MJ, Vanderford NL#. Training Appalachian Kentucky youth cancer advocates. South Med J 114: 356-360, 2021. PMCID: PMC8274365
     
  4. McConnell Parsons JR, Hanley C, Prichard C#, Vanderford NL#. The Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION) Program: Preparing Appalachian Kentucky high school and undergraduate students for cancer careers. J STEM Outreach 4: 1-14, 2021. doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v4i1.15 PMCID: PMC9373832
     
  5. †Hudson L, Samons KM*, Dicken HE*, Prichard C#, Weiss LT, Edward J, Vanderpool RC, Vanderford NL#. A brief educational intervention enhances cancer literacy among Kentucky middle and high school students. J Cancer Educ 36: 735-740, 2021. PMCID: PMC7388006
     
  6. Ickes MJ, Zidzik O, Vanderford NL#. Engaging rural high school youth in e-cigarette prevention and advocacy. Online J Interprof Health Promot 3: 1-16, 2021. PMCID: PMC9256968
     
  7. Gaines K, Martin C, Prichard C#, Vanderford NL#. Through the lens: Youth experiences with cancer in rural Appalachian Kentucky using photovoice. Int J Environ Res Public Health 19: 205, 2022. PMCID: PMC8750356
     
  8. Hanley CD, Ho J, Prichard C#, Vanderford NL#. The use of virtual research experiences for Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION) Program high school participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. J STEM Outreach 5: 1-12, 2022. doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v5i2.03. NIHMS ID:  1801435
     
  9. Hanley CD, Prichard C#, Vanderford NL#. The impact of the Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION) Program on high school participants. J STEM Outreach 5: 1-11, 2022. doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v5i2.04. NIHMS ID: 1829834
     
  10. Hanley CD, Hudson L, Prichard C#, Vanderford NL#. Impact of the Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION) Program on undergraduate participants. J Cancer Educ. 38(2): 476-484, 2023.
     
  11. Collett LK, Hudson L, Prichard C# and Vanderford NL#. Using Culturally Focused Storytelling to Empower Appalachian Kentucky Youth to Understand and Address Cancer Disparities in Their Communities. Journal of Cancer Education. 38(2): 513-521, 2023.
     
  12. Miller CC, Xiao M, Lay DJ, Miley SN, Vanderford NL# and Ickes MJ. The Impact of a Virtual Tobacco Prevention and Advocacy Training Among Youth in Appalachian Kentucky Communities. Tobacco Use Insights. 16: 1-9, 2023.
     
  13. Allran O and Vanderford NL#. A Qualitative Study of Participant Perspectives of a Cancer Research Education Program. Journal of Cancer Education. 38(6):  1853-1860, 2023.
     
  14. Hudson-Rose L, Weiss LT and Vanderford NL#. Impact of a Cancer Education Curriculum on Appalachian Kentucky Middle and High School Students. Journal of Cancer Education. 38(6):  1887-1893, 2023.

Collaborative Publications with Other Youth Enjoy Science Programs

#ACTION Personnel

  1. Rookwood AC1, Hudson L2, Junk DJ3, Berger NA3, Vanderford NL2#. Early cancer research education experiences for underserved middle school students: A case study of experiences from Youth Enjoy Science Programs. J STEM Outreach 5: 1-12, 2022. doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v5i2.13. NIHMS ID: 1829862

    Collaborating YES Institutions: 1University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Public Health, Omaha, NE; 2University of Kentucky, Markey Cancer Center and the Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, Lexington, KY; 3Case Western Reserve University, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland, OH.
     
  2. Mekinda MA1, Chaudary S2, Vanderford NL3#, Burns White K4, Kennedy L5, Marriott LK6. Approaches for Measuring Inclusive Demographics Across Youth Enjoy Science Cancer Research Training Programs. Journal of STEM Outreach. 5(2): 1-14, 2022.

    Collaborating YES Institutions: 1University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chicago, IL; 2Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Department of Surgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; 3University of Kentucky, Markey Cancer Center and the Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, Lexington, KY; 4Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Boston, MA; 5Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH; 6Oregon Health and Science University-Portland State University, School of Public Health, Portland, OR.
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