Identifying Health Behaviors That Impact Cancer Prognosis, Survival, & Quality of Life
The Ulrich group‘s research in cancer prognosis, survivorship and pharmacogenetics is dedicated to identifying health behaviors that impact cancer prognosis, survival, and quality of life.
In addition, the ColoCare Study has been designed to develop new biomarkers of colorectal cancer recurrence, in order to help target therapies for cancer patients. Several studies in the area of physical activity and cancer have tested the impact of physical therapy and strength training on cancer patients‘ quality of life, biomarkers of cancer progression, clinical endpoints, and treatment-associated costs.
Finally, the Ulrich group has also made discoveries in the field of folate pharmacogenetics, testing the impact of genetic polymorphisms on commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs such as 5-fluorouracil and methotrexate. The Ulrich group uses both observational cohort designs and randomized controlled trials to advance our knowledge in the area of cancer prognosis and survivorship.
Overall, the development of personalized, comprehensive guidelines for cancer patients and clinicians is our major goal.
Research Areas
Some of the many research areas in this group are:
- Identification of biomarkers of recurrence in colorectal cancer to personalize treatment decisions (precision medicine)
- Pharmacogenetics in cancer treatment
- Folate status, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and vitamin D status the tertiary prevention of colorectal cancer
- Aerobic exercise and strength training as an adjuvant therapy in cancer treatment
- Diet and dietary supplements after a cancer diagnosis, changes over time and associations with quality of life
- Analysis of intestinal flora and intestinal metabolism (microbiome and metabolome) in relation to cancer prognosis
- Adipose tissue characteristics (e.g., metabolomics, gene expression) and influence as a tumor microenvironment
- Molecular biomarkers and colorectal cancer prognosis (including epigenetics, gene expression and miRNA)
Neli Ulrich, MS, PhD
Executive Director,
Comprehensive Cancer Center,
Principal Investigator
neli.ulrich@hci.utah.edu