Dr. Scott is interested in characterizing cancer therapy-related cardiovascular toxicity and evaluating the efficacy and mechanisms of exercise therapy to mitigate or reverse cardiovascular toxicity. Her current study will evaluate whether increasing aerobic training length and/or dose beyond conventional exercise prescription guidelines improves cardiorespiratory fitness response rates in post-treatment breast cancer patients. Findings from this study will identify the aerobic training regimen that maximizes cardiorespiratory fitness response rate and other clinically relevant endpoints to inform definitive phase II/III trials and ultimately standard clinical care for patients with early-stage breast cancer.

Dr. Scott first explored toxicity in the extreme setting of spaceflight at NASA Johnson Space Center. While at NASA, she collaborated with exercise-oncology researchers to characterize cancer therapy-related cardiovascular toxicity using cardiorespiratory fitness, an integrative assessment of global cardiovascular function. This research highlighted the remarkable similarities in multisystem toxicity between astronauts and cancer patients. Since joining Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Scott has initiated a program of work applying a NASA-modeled approach to the characterization and mitigation of cardiovascular toxicity in the oncology setting.