Dr. Peoples is an Assistant Professor on Research Track in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Utah and an Associate Member in the Cancer Control and Population Sciences at Huntsman Cancer Institute. She received her PhD in the multidisciplinary field of Biophysics with a focus in basic radiation science involving the adverse effects of ionizing radiation on DNA and proteins leading to cancer. Her postdoctoral trainings, NCI-funded R25 Cancer Control Clinical Research Training and the NIH/NCATS TL1 Population Health Research Fellowship, has been in the areas of behavioral outcomes and cancer symptom science.
Dr. Peoples is a clinical and translational researcher with a strong background and training in cancer control and survivorship, behavioral medicine, and radiation sciences. To date, her research has included observational studies and clinical trials with focus on quality of life, survival, and cancer- and treatment-related adverse health outcomes and symptoms, such as sleep disturbance and depression. At the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Dr. Peoples is currently involved with leading the research on sleep disturbance and associated symptoms in colorectal cancer patients from the ColoCare Study, an international, multisite, prospective cohort study. She is also involved with leading a research initiative of examining health outcomes and treatment toxicities in head and neck cancer patients receiving different types of radiation treatment including proton therapy. Further, Dr. Peoples is investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on socioeconomic factors, healthcare delivery, lifestyle factors, psychosocial outcomes, and quality of life in cancer patients with specific focus on vulnerable groups such as rural patients and early-onset and geriatric patients.