Dr. Catherine Cherwin is an Assistant Professor in Nursing with a program of research in cancer symptom science, gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome, and non-pharmacologic management of symptoms. The focus of her work is to describe co-occurring GI symptoms in people with cancer, potential biologic mechanisms for these symptoms including changes in the naturally occurring bacteria of the gut, and to eventually design and test non-pharmacologic interventions to lessen GI symptoms and improve quality of life. Dr. Cherwin has been an oncology nurse for over 15 years and has over 10 years of experience as a nurse scientist.  

Dr. Cherwin’s work utilizes patient-reported measures of symptoms as well as biologic measures of the GI microbiome to describe the basis of GI symptom burden in people with cancer. Her current work is exploring how the GI microbiome changes as a response to cancer, chemotherapy, and obesity in women with breast cancer. She is also collaborating with Dr. Gilbertson-White and the Mangalam Microbiome Lab to collect and analyze a biobank of healthy control samples.