Biography

Dr. Dickinson received her BS in nursing and PhD in nursing degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Dr. Dickinson completed a predoctoral fellowship with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Graduate Partnerships Program (GPP) in Bethesda, MD. Through this program she completed her doctoral coursework at VCU and then transitioned to the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) to complete her dissertation research in the laboratory of Dr. Leorey Saligan. Her dissertation research focused on the association of mitochondrial dysfunction with cancer-related fatigue in men with prostate cancer receiving radiation therapy. Upon graduation from her PhD program, Dr. Dickinson was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to continue her research at the NINR. Her postdoctoral fellowship was focused on the association of cellular adaptive mechanisms (apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy) with cancer-related fatigue in men with prostate cancer.

The overall goal for Dr. Dickinson’s program of research is to identify biologically-relevant pathways that characterize the cancer-related fatigue phenotype and to use those pathways to develop targeted therapeutic interventions to improve quality of life for those with cancer.

Research

Research Interests

• Genetic and mitochondrial profiles of cancer-related fatigue

Grant Support (Previous 5 years)

Jun 2018
Cancer-Related Fatigue and the Adaptative Response to Oxidative Stress, Dickinson (P.I.)

Service

Oncology Nursing Society.

Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Caner.

Midwest Nursing Research Society.

Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science.