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Getting to Know Goldy George, Ph.D.
Born in Calcutta, India, Dr. Goldy George enjoys seeing things from different angles, be it a global, educational and/or research perspective. “That said, I have always been fascinated with cells and science, and how nutrition can affect physiology and molecular entities,” she proclaims. She studied nutrition in India, where she earned her BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics and MSc in Foods and Nutrition from the University of Madras. She completed a Graduate Fellowship in Molecular and Cell Biology at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, and earned her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. She then completed an NCI R25-Funded Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Prevention and Control, Epidemiology and Public Health, at The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston.
When she joined M.D. Anderson in 2011, she served as a Clinical Research Scientist and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics. She also began a study examining the relationship between diet and clinical outcomes in patients with advanced cancer on early-phase clinical trials. She conducted cognitive testing with patients in early phase 1 clinical trials, and examined the different symptoms and toxicities patients experience from cancer treatment.
Since 2016, she has served as an Instructor, Department of Symptom Research, Division of Internal Medicine, and facilitates an interdepartmental collaboration between the Departments of Symptom Research and Investigational Cancer Therapeutics. Recently, she has focused on sleep quality and its association with fatigue, symptom burden and mood in patients with advanced cancer in a clinic for early-phase oncology clinical trials.
“256 patients from the phase 1 clinic completed a well-validated sleep questionnaire, called the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and over 60% of patients had poor sleep quality, that was associated with greater fatigue, higher symptom burden and greater mood disturbances. Nearly one-third of these patients took sleep meds three or more times a week. This study was among the first to examine poor sleep quality among patients with advanced cancer in an early-phase clinical trials clinic,” she adds. Also, recent guidelines from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network state that good sleep hygiene, physical activity, diet control and cognitive behavioral therapy may be very helpful to improve sleep patterns for cancer patients and survivors.”
Dr. George is becoming an expert investigator in certain issues facing patients with advanced cancer. “I am very interested in examining relationships between nutrition and dietary behavior, sleep quality and clinical outcomes in cancer patients and survivors, and I am grateful to be able to play a role in research that would benefit patients.” With her many talents, knowledge and skills, there is no doubt, she will make a difference.
Center for Energy Balance's Newsletter
The Third Expert Report
In May 2018, the World Cancer Research Fund International and American Institute for Cancer Research launched their The Third Expert Report - Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer: a Global Perspective. This report summarizes past decades of cancer prevention research, providing reliable cancer advice and updated Cancer Prevention Recommendations. It highlights new findings, including five additional cancers linked to obesity and strengthened evidence that specific food or nutrients are not single factors causing or protecting against cancer. Instead, a combination of diet and physical activity throughout life combine to make you more or less vulnerable to cancer.
A few of the chapters are:
- Cancer Process
- Judging the Evidence
- Energy Balance and Body Fatness
- Survivors of Breast and Other Cancers
- Recommendations and Public Health and Policy Implications
Going Gym Free with Hosts Marc & Beth and Guest Karen Basen-Engquist: Blog Talk Radio
Karen Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., professor of Behavioral Science and director of the Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship was a featured guest on the "Let's Talk! Going Gym Free Show" with Marc and Beth. Listen now
The National Cancer Institute is providing data for researchers to develop novel analytic approaches for quantifying physical activity and dietary exposures
This data is available to all qualified investigators for studies of physical activity and nutrition. Interested investigators can request access to IDATA Study via the Cancer Data Access System.
Thank you to Erik Anderson, Co-Chairman & CEO of Topgolf® and to the entire Topgolf team for promoting a healthy lifestyle by supporting programs and research in the Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship. Topgolf’s fundraising efforts in July of 2017 raised $50,000 for the Center.
Learn more about the Topgolf partnership.