Grantee: Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, MPH

Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, MPH

Organization:

• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Current Title
Professor, Cancer Prevention Program, Public Health Sciences and Clinical Research Divisions

Describe your scientific identity.
I am a cancer prevention scientist and translational epidemiologist. Much of my research focuses on understanding how best to support cancer survivors in making and sustaining healthy lifestyle choices after a cancer diagnosis, with a focus on underserved populations.

What are your research interests?
Right now, much of my research is focused on designing, delivering, and testing nutrition, physical activity, and weight management interventions using our Cook for Your Life website. Our digital platform reaches a diverse population of people interested in cancer prevention, managing the side effects of cancer treatment with nutrition, and improving cancer survivorship.

What is the significance of your current research project?
My research team is currently working on the ¡Vida! trial, also known as "Using a SMART design to evaluate remotely delivered, culturally tailored weight loss interventions among Latina breast cancer survivors." In this study we are culturally tailoring the Diabetes Prevention Program to Latina breast cancer survivors and testing the adaptations using a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) design.

Our goal is to identify the most effective ways to support women in achieving healthy weight loss in a culturally congruent manner. The study includes participants from Washington State and California, and all activities are conducted remotely. This approach enables us to involve a diverse group of women. If the curriculum proves effective, it can be adapted for use with other groups.

What motivated you to work in health behaviors research?
Every day in the clinic, I receive questions from patients and their family members about what they should eat, what is the best form of physical activity, and whether they should take dietary supplements. My research program focuses on answering some of these questions for patients and their families. The goal is to provide them with tools to make it easier to make healthy choices that have the potential to improve their clinical outcomes.

Describe something that had a profound influence on your program of research or scientific interests (an "ah-ha!" moment).
In 2009, while living in New York City, I met Ann Ogden Gaffney, who was then a two-time cancer survivor. She had left her job in the fashion industry and founded a non-profit called Cook for Your Life where she was conducting nutrition and cooking classes for Latina breast cancer survivors. Recognizing our shared interests, we applied to NCI for funding to test her program. We were awarded an R21 to develop and test a standardized curriculum. That 12-week program increased intake of fruits and vegetables by 2 servings per day - a significant improvement! The pilot data enabled us to secure larger grants from NCI.

Ann eventually launched a website called Cook for Your Life so that she could disseminate recipes and cooking tips for cancer prevention and survivorship. When Ann retired in 2018, we integrated the website into my lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Ann is now a three time cancer survivor and continues to advise our work.

Cookforyourlife.org is now a cornerstone of our research where we test innovative ways of delivering digital nutrition and cooking tools to improve cancer prevention and survivorship. The website is in English and Spanish and reaches over 2 million unique users per year, and it continues to grow.

Selected training, awards, and honors:

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cancer Prevention, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 2001-2003
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cancer Prevention and Control, Columbia University, 2004-2007
• Inaugural Washington State Distinguished Cancer Research Award, 2017
• Excellence in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship Award, UNESCO Washington, 2023
• Inaugural Fellow, Society for Integrative Oncology, 2024

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