Dr. Rachel Vogel is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. As a cancer epidemiologist, Dr. Vogel and her team focus on understanding the short- and long-term physical, emotional, and social effects of cancer. Her research follows a systematic approach, moving from descriptive and observational studies to creating and testing interventions designed to improve the lives of cancer survivors.

The time demands of cancer and its treatments are significant and take away from other activities important to individuals with cancer. Cancer-related demands on patients' time and stress have multiple sources: time spent on care itself (appointments, taking medication), travel and wait times, and other activities such as scheduling, paperwork, dealing with bills and insurance, and organizing one's schedule in order to accommodate time for these activities. The goal of this NCI R01 is to describe the time requirements of cancer care and identify who is at greatest risk of negative effects. Using automated sensor data, we will measure objective cancer-related time use among individuals receiving treatment for cancer, augmented by self-reported specific cancer activities, well-being, and quality of life to develop a scoring system of cancer-related time burden. This work is significant because easy, accurate, and feasible measurement of the time burden of cancer care is a necessary first step for identifying potential mitigation strategies. Not only will the data we collect be foundational to develop these interventions, it will also be crucial for measuring the efficacy of future interventions designed to address "time toxicity."