Tug McGraw Center

The Tug McGraw Center for Neuro-Oncology Quality of Life Research At Duke University Medical Center is quickly establishing itself as a leader in its mission to improve the quality of life for those diagnosed with brain tumors and the families that share the battle with them.

Our Vision
Our vision is to be the leading Quality of Life Research Center in the world.

Our Mission
Our mission is to enhance the quality of life of people with brain tumors and their families by stimulating and facilitating research that addresses the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and/or spiritual impact of the disease.

Our Goals

• Develop and validate instruments to improve measurement of QOL among patients with brain tumors and their families.
• Describe QOL needs and priorities among patients with brain tumors and their families.
• Conduct clinical studies designed to assess interventions with potential to improve QOL among patients with brain tumors and their families including:
  Behavioral/Cognitive Interventions
  Psychosocial Interventions
  Pharmacotherapeutic Interventions
• Provide data that affords comparisons among treatments options based on QOL outcomes of various treatments.

TUG MCGRAW RESEARCH CENTER AT THE PRESTON ROBERT TISCH BRAIN TUMOR CENTER AT DUKE

RESEARCH SUMMARY

FROM JANUARY 2005 - JUNE 2008

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

1. Arnold SD, Forman LM, Brigidi BD, Carter KE, Schweitzer HA, Quinn HE, Guill AB, Herndon JE, Raynor, RH. Evaluation and characterization of anxiety and depression in patients with primary brain tumors. Neuro-Oncology, 2008;10:171-81.

2. Hardy KK, Bonner MJ, Masi R, Hutchinson KC, Willard VW, and Rosoff PM. Psychosocial functioning in parents of adult survivors of childhood cancer. Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, 2008;30:153-9.

3. Bonner MJ, Hardy KK, Willard VW, Anthony KK, Hood M, Gururangan S. Social functioning and facial expression recognition in survivors of pediatric brain tumors. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2008; 1-11.

4. Bonner MJ, Hardy KK, Willard VW, Hutchinson KC. Psychosocial functioning of fathers as primary caregivers of pediatric oncology patients. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2008;32:851-856.

5. Arroyave WD, Clipp EC, Miller PE, Jones LW, Ward DS, Bonner MJ , Rosoff P, Snyder DC, Guill AB, Demark-Wahnefried W. Childhood cancer survivors’ perceived barriers to improving exercise and dietary behaviors. Oncology Nursing Forum. 2008;35:121-30.

6. Keir ST. Levels of stress and intervention preferences of caregivers of brain tumor patients. Cancer Nursing, 2007;30:E33-9.

7. Keir ST, Calhoun-Eagan RD, Swartz JJ, Saleh OA, Friedman HS. Screening for distress in patients with brain cancer using the NCCN's rapid screening measure. Psycho-Oncology, 2007;17:621-625.

8. Swartz JJ, Keir ST. Program preferences to reduce stress in caregivers of patients with brain tumors. Clin J Oncol Nurs,2007;11:723-7.

9. Keir ST, Swartz JJ, Friedman HS. Stress and long-term survivors of brain cancer. Support Care Cancer,2007;15:1423-8.

10. Keir ST, Guill AB, Carter KE, Friedman HS. Levels of stress and intervention preferences of patients with brain tumors. Support Care Cancer, 2006;14:1213-1219.

11. Conklin HM, Khan RB, Reddick WE, Helton S, Brown RT, Howard S, Bonner MJ, Christensen R, Wu S, Xiong X, Mulhern RK. Acute neurocognitive response to methylphenidate among survivors of childhood cancer: A randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2007;32:1127-39.

12. Demark-Wahnefried W, Jones LW. Promoting a healthy lifestyle among cancer survivors. Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America 2008;22:319-42.

13. Jones LW, Guill B, Keir ST, Carter K, Friedman HS, Bigner DD, Reardon DA. Using the theory of planned behavior to understand the determinants of exercise in patients diagnosed with primary brain cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 2007;16:232-40.

14. Jones LW, Guill B, Keir ST, Carter K, Friedman HS, Bigner DD, Reardon DA. Exercise and preferences among a population-based cohort of patients diagnosed with primary brain cancer. Supportive Care in Cancer, 2007;15:47-55.

15. Jones LW, Demark-Wahnefried, W. Diet, exercise, and related forms of complementary therapies following primary treatment for cancer. The Lancet Oncology, 2006,7:1017-26.

16. Jones LW, Guill B, Keir ST, Carter K, Friedman HS, Bigner DD, Reardon DA. Patterns of exercise across the cancer trajectory in brain tumor patients. Cancer, 2006,106:2224-32.

17. Keir ST, Guill AB, Carter KE, Boole LC, Gonzales L, Friedman HS. Differential levels of stress in caregivers of brain cancer patients – observations from a pilot study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 2006; 12: 1258-61.

18. Bonner MJ, Hardy KK, Guill AB, McLaughlin C, Schweitzer H, Carter K. Development and validation of the Parent Experience of Illness (PECI) Questionnaire. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2006;31:310-321.

19. Helton S, Corwyn, RF, Bonner MJ, Brown RT, Mulhern RK. Factor analysis and validity of the Conner Parent and teacher rating scales in childhood cancer survivors. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2006; 31: 200-208.

20. Rosoff PM, Werner C, Clipp E, Guill AB, Bonner MJ, Demark-Wahnefried W. 2005 Response rates to a mailed survey targeting childhood cancer survivors: A comparison of conditional versus unconditional incentives. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 2005;14: 1330-1332.

21. Demark-Wahnefried W, Werner C, Clipp EC, Guill AB, Bonner M, Jones LW, Rosloff PM. Survivors of childhood cancers and their guardians. Cancer, 2005;14:2171-2180.

The Tug McGraw Center for Neuro-Oncology Quality of Life Research was established in June 2004 as a component of the Brain Tumor Center at Duke University. It is named in honor of Tug McGraw, founder and inspiration for the Tug McGraw Foundation, as he sought to lead the way in quality-of-life research. Tug passed away on January 5, 2004 of brain cancer.