In this episode, we speak with Dr. Eneida Nemecek, a pediatric oncologist specializing in bone marrow transplants and cellular therapies. Dr. Nemecek provides an in-depth look at the science behind these treatments, the process patients go through, and the challenges faced by both patients and caregivers. She emphasizes the importance of caregiver well-being, particularly sleep, and discusses a PCORI study on stress management for caregivers. The episode concludes with a rapid-fire Q&A session covering key terms and concepts in the field.
This episode was supported by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and features these PCORI studies (Study #1 & Study #2) by Mark Laudenslager, PhD.
About our guest
Dr. Eneida Nemecek is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Oncology and Associate Director of Clinical Research at the Knight Cancer Institute-Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. Native from Puerto Rico, she completed her Pediatric residency at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. She has a Master in Epidemiology and Clinical Research from the University of Washington and a Master in Healthcare Business Administration from OHSU. Dr. Nemecek is an established clinical researcher with over 20 years of experience in trials ranging from investigator-initiated early phase to large, multicenter studies funded by a variety of mechanisms. Her research focuses on bone marrow and cellular therapies, experimental oncology therapeutics and health services research addressing disparities in access for underrepresented groups. She has served in leadership roles in steering committees for several national cooperative research groups. She has also held elected leadership positions as director, trustee or committee chair in multiple professional organizations.
Key Moments
3 minutes:
“The whole principle of bone marrow transplant is to, if someone's immune system is sick with either cancer or a blood disorder or an immune disorder, we know that if we could replace the immune system of that person with immune system of someone that doesn't have those diseases, kind of like an organ transplant if you think about it, then eventually we can fix the problem on the person's blood or immune system. We make space in the bone marrow by giving chemotherapy. We try not to use radiation, but sometimes we have to. When that space is made, if you think about it like putting a plant, we then put the new cells in the bloodstream and eventually they find their way into the bone marrow, which is where we make all their blood cells and eventually they grow and replace what was there.”
15 minutes:
“Sleep is healthy. If you are the one caregiver of a patient and you get sick because you're stressed and not getting enough rest, then you get affected and your patient gets affected too. It's a very important part of our health. Eat, sleep, get some time for yourself. Those are all things that just need to happen. The way that we're designing medicine today, sometimes we forget that the caregiver is kind of a patient. If we lose that person, we are in serious trouble. I can tell you multiple examples about when that has happened and how difficult it is for the medical team and for the family.”
28 minutes:
“I think it's really important to remind ourselves that the brain, our psychosocial life, is part of our health. I think sleep, exercise, diet studies, anything that can improve the life of people should be studied in a very organized setting, just like you study drugs, if we're going to do this well.”
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