Nursing’s Rina Fox receives early-stage investigator award

Rina Fox, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, has been awarded an Early-Stage Investigator Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cancer Prevention and Control by the Cancer Special Interest Group of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. 

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“I am extremely honored to receive this award,” said Fox, who is a member of the UArizona Cancer Center and has an appointment as an assistant professor of psychiatry at the College of Medicine – Tucson. “The Cancer Special Interest Group is one of SBM’s largest groups and it is quite an honor to be recognized by them for my contributions as an early career investigator.”

According to its website, SBM is the nation’s leading group of multispecialty professionals dedicated to improving health and quality of life through proven behavioral science. SBM has 26 special interest groups covering a range of behavioral medicine interests. 

“Although she is early in her career, she has already contributed substantially to cancer research through her focus on psychosocial oncology,” wrote Christine Rini, PhD, a former mentor to Fox and a professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Overall, I believe she is an extremely promising new investigator who will continue to advance the SBM Cancer SIG mission and is highly deserving of this prestigious honor.”

Fox, who joined the college in 2021, studies behavioral and psychosocial interventions to improve the quality of life of people who have been diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers.

“My current projects focus on examining behavioral strategies cancer survivors can use to get better sleep and developing a stress-management program for young adult cancer survivors aged 18 to 39 years,” said Fox. 

Terry Badger, PhD, RN, Fox’s mentor, a professor and the Eleanor Bauwens Endowed Chair at the College of Nursing, said, “Rina is a rising star as an early stage investigator studying adult and young adult cancer survivors and their caregivers. Her work is critically important because sleep problems among cancer survivors are extremely prevalent. The digital program that she developed and is testing will help cancer survivors and their caregivers navigate the cancer experience and improve their psychological and physical health.” 

Fox received her award in March during SBM’s annual meeting in Philadelphia.