Devine Research Program

The Devine Research Program focuses on the psychosocial aspects of pediatric, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivorship, including patient and family adaptation to illness, adherence to medical recommendations and survivorship care, healthcare transitions, and health promotion for survivors. Much of our work focuses on the unique needs of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients and survivors who must navigate the challenges of cancer care in the midst of normative developmental transitions (such as graduating high school, pursuing higher education, establishing financial independence, and forming strong peer and intimate relationships).

Recent projects include Digital Self-Management and Peer Mentoring Intervention to Improve the Transition from Pediatric to Adult Health Care for Childhood Cancer Survivors, MYH app+peer mentoring vs Usual Care+ Educational Control RCT; a randomized controlled trial of Bright IDEAS-Young Adults, a problem-solving skills training targeted to the unique and extensive needs of young adult patients; Managing Your Health, an online self-management + peer mentoring intervention to improve transition readiness among young adult survivors of childhood cancer preparing to independently manage their healthcare; and FitSurvivor, a group-based + mobile app intervention to improve physical activity for AYA cancer survivors.

Project Highlights:

Managing Your Health (MYH)

The purpose of the study is to determine the efficacy of the Managing Your Health intervention to improve self-management of survivorship care among young adult survivors of childhood cancer.

Project website: Managing Your Health Study

Bright IDEAS-Young Adults

The goal of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of Bright IDEAS-Young Adults, a problem-solving skills training intervention targeted to the unique and extensive needs of young adult patients.

This lab has been supported by the following:

• NIH/NCI R01CA282147, “Digital Self-Management and Peer Mentoring Intervention to Improve the Transition from Pediatric to Adult Health Care for Childhood Cancer Survivors”, 7/1/23-6/30/28
• NIH/NCI R37CA240807 (converted to R37 MERIT from R01; PI: Devine), “Bright IDEAS-Young Adults: Problem-Solving Skills Training to Reduce Distress among Young Adults with Cancer,” 4/15/20-3/31/25
  • Extension award (4/1/25-3/31/27) extends this research to evaluate the sustainability of intervention effects by extending the follow-up to 2-years post-enrollment; identify barriers and facilitators of integrating Bright IDEAS-YA into clinical practice; and address barriers to access by culturally and linguistically translating it for Hispanic young adults.
  • Administrative supplement award (09/01/2024-03/31/2025) extends the work to understand the transition to survivorship care and its impact on young adults’ quality of life and aims to determine the extent to which survivorship care for young adults aligns with the National Standards for Survivorship Care and to identify barriers and facilitators for obtaining high-quality care.
• NIH/NHLBI F30HL142311 (PI: Viola), “The Feasibility of a Medical Student Mentoring Program to Improve Transition of Care Among Adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease,” 9/1/18-8/31/22
• NIH/NCI R21CA222936 (PI: Devine), “Improving Transition Readiness in Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Survivors of Childhood Cancer,” 6/1/18-5/31/21 (NCE)
• NIH/NCI K07CA174728 (PI: Devine), “A Novel Mobile Health Fitness Program for AYA Childhood Cancer Survivors,” 2/14/14-1/31/19
• Rutgers Cancer Institute Cancer Control and Prevention Pilot Award (PI: Devine), “Peer Mentoring to Promote Follow-Up Care Self-Management for AYA Childhood Cancer Survivors,” 10/1/15-4/30/18