# Surviving at Work: Reducing Workplace and Clinical Barriers to Cancer Survivors Returning to Work

> **NIH ALLCDC K01** · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · 2021 · $108,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The candidate for this K01 Award application is Dr. Alicia Dugan, an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist and
Assistant Professor in the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UConn Health. Dr. Dugan’s
training and research plan is designed to create a new career trajectory that addresses the problems of
workers with chronic disease, and her initial focus will be on patients returning to work after cancer treatment.
This plan provides the additional mentorship and training she will need to redirect herself to a new line of
independent research on the secondary prevention of work disability, and it builds upon her existing strengths
in worker health, self-care, and intervention design. Her training plan focuses on: (1) cancer survivorship and
return to work, (2) chronic disease management and work-health conflict, (3) effective dissemination, and (4)
career and leadership development. Dr. Dugan has a mentoring team of four UConn faculty members: Dr.
William Shaw, a psychologist and return-to-work expert; Dr. Martin Cherniack, an occupational medicine
physician; and Drs. Keith Bellizzi and Thomas Blank, cancer survivorship experts from the field of human
development. Cancer survivors are a growing segment of the workforce who are at risk for poor health and
work outcomes. Her study will investigate how formal and informal organizational support at work influences
survivors’ quality of life, their intent to remain on the job, and sources of work-health conflict. It contributes to
NIOSH’s Research to Practice initiative by utilizing participatory research methods to involve design teams of
stakeholders (survivors, employers, clinicians) in developing and disseminating interventions. The study aligns
with the National Occupational Research Agenda’s cross-sector programs on cancer, healthy work design and
well-being, and translation research. The study will use an exploratory sequential mixed methods design (focus
groups, surveys). Participants will be breast and colorectal cancer survivors, and employers and clinicians. An
intermediate outcome of the study is to alter workplace and clinical practice to more effectively meet the needs
of survivors returning to work. For cancer survivors, our end outcomes include improved balance between work
and disease management, job retention rates, and quality of life. The study methodology has potential
application to workers with other chronic diseases as well. The study fills gaps in both occupational health and
cancer survivorship research. In addition to publications and presentations, study outputs and dissemination
products for stakeholders include: an assessment tool, a research brief summarizing key findings, and newly
vetted interventions to enhance workplace and clinical practice. The research project maps directly onto Dr.
Dugan’s training goals and provides practical learning experiences for the application of new knowledge. It will
inform a follow-up interven...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10247440
- **Project number:** 5K01OH011596-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT
- **Principal Investigator:** Alicia Dugan
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $108,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10247440

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10247440, Surviving at Work: Reducing Workplace and Clinical Barriers to Cancer Survivors Returning to Work (5K01OH011596-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10247440. Licensed CC0.

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