About Me
Research Focus: Understanding and mitigating the impact of pediatric cancer within the family unit.
Program of Research: Sarah has worked as a pediatric intensive care nurse for the last 15 yeaars, where she has developed a passion for helping famillies dealing with pediatric life-threatening illnesses. Her experiences as a bedside nurse have fueled her desire to support the dynamic system of families dealing with cancer and its long-term chronic illness consequences.
Sarah is currently in her third year as a PhD student, and has worked as a research assistant focusing on gaining relevant skills to her research goals. Sarah is working with mentors to develop the skills necessary to conduct family and child research related to pediatric cancer and family dynamics. She has an established working relationship with Dr. Lauri Linder which has focused on adolescent and child cancer symptom assessment and management. This has resulted in two publications. Currently, she is assisting Dr. Linder on a project focused on the acceptability and feasibility of a child centric application that can be used to track and describe cancer symptoms in real time. Sarah is also working closely with Dr. Kristin Cloyes who is leading a supplement project related to Dr. Lee Ellington’s RO1 focused on family caregivers. This work will give her a better understanding of working with vulnerable populations and preforming family centered research.
Sarah’s dissertation will focus on examining the relationship between parental caregiver burden in pediatric cancer, and the perceptions of change in parental support from the perspective of healthy siblings. The ultimate goal of this research will be to identify possibly interventions to support family coping throughout the cancer course.
In her spare time Sarah enjoys triathlon training, hiking, attending her kid’s soccer games and traveling with her husband.
Faculty Advisors: Kristin Cloyes, PhD, RN and Lauri Linder, PhD, APRN, CPON
Selected Publications:
Linder LA, Bratton H, Nguyen A, Parker K, Wawrzynski SE. Symptoms and Self-Management Strategies Identified by Children with Cancer Using Draw-and-Tell Interviews. Oncology Nursing Forum. 2018 May 1;45(3):290-300. doi: 10.1188/18.ONF.290-300. PubMed PMID: 29683122.
Litchman, ML., Walker, HR., Ng, AH., Wawrzynski, SE., Oser, SM., Greenwood, DA., Gee, PM., Lackey, M., Oser, TK. (In Press) State of the Science: A Scoping Review and Gap Analysis of Diabetes Online Communities. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 2019, DOI: 10.1177/1932296819831042
Litchman, M. L., Wawrzynski, SE., Allen, N. A., Tracy, E. L., Kelly, C. S., Helgeson, V. S., & Berg, C. A. (2019). Yours, Mine, and Ours: A Qualitative Analysis of the Impact of Type 1 Diabetes Management in Older Adult Married Couples. Diabetes Spectrum, ds180057.
