“What we found
is that individuals who were socially isolated tend to experience more extreme
side effects of cancer treatment,” said DeVries. “We’re trying to determine why
that occurs and if there is a way we can minimize that outcome.”
DeVries
believes her research can eventually enhance cancer treatment on a global scale.
“The long-term
goal is to move what we’ve learned in the lab into the clinics,” she continued.
“Then, we can improve cancer outcomes for people in West Virginia, the United
States, and around the world.”
The John T. and
June R. Chambers Chair of Oncology Research was established in 2011 after Cisco Systems CEO and WVU alumnus John T. Chambers
donated $750,000 to create an endowed chair in cancer research.
The chair is
named after Chambers’ parents, who both graduated from WVU and had successful
careers in the medial profession.
Private funding
expands the overall research doctors like DeVries can pursue in the early
stages, as opposed to government and other forms of public funding.
“I am very
grateful for the funds provided along with this chair,” she said. “It provides
us the flexibility and the opportunity to pursue questions that are innovative
and high payoff.”
WVU is
currently ranked as an R1 institution – the most-elite category for
researched-focused schools. Only 130 of the country’s 4,500 colleges attain R1
status – something even more enticing for DeVries when offered the chair at WVU.
“I am very
proud of the fact that WVU has recently become an R1 Institution,” she said.
“It was this growing interest in research that made WVU so appealing to me a
year ago when I was offered this position.”
DeVries also
serves as a professor in the Section of Hematology/Oncology in the WVU School
of Medicine and is the assistant vice president for faculty mentoring as part
of the Office of Research and Graduate Education team.
Watch the video
above for more on DeVries and consider making your own impact on WVU’s cancer research.