Specialized Medical Care and Research: Specialist Profiles
The following article outlines the work of prominent medical professionals dedicated to oncology, reproductive sciences, and pediatric endocrinology.
Oncology and Cancer Survivorship
Tara Sanft, MD, is a Yale Medicine medical oncologist and director of the Survivorship Program at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital. She enjoys helping people with the issues they face after cancer treatment and creating survivorship care plans for them—individualized “road maps” for how to go about living daily life after cancer.
“Once the patient is done with treatment and on surveillance,” Dr. Sanft says, “they're considered in the ‘survivorship phase’ of their treatment. And that's the phase where they get lost in transition and the patient may think, ‘I'm falling off the cliff, I finished my treatment, my next appointment is in a year… now what?’”
To help, Dr. Sanft and her team, which includes a social worker, physical therapist and nutritionist, address common problems people may be experiencing, including fear of recurrence and sexual intimacy issues. They also make specific diet, exercise and follow-up care recommendations to help survivors feel more in control of their lives. For many patients, this survivorship period is marked with fear; it's kind of adjusting to a “new normal”—a new sense of your physical, emotional and spiritual self after cancer.
Reproductive Sciences and Endometriosis
Hugh S. Taylor, MD, chair of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, is internationally known for his studies on endometriosis. He combines the latest medical therapies with surgeries when needed to provide optimal care for women with pain or infertility related to endometriosis, a common, painful condition in which endometrial tissue grows outside the uterus.
“It’s a fascinating, but troubling disease. We don’t know what causes the lining of the uterus to grow outside it, but we’re doing research to find out why,” Dr. Taylor says. Another specialized condition for which Dr. Taylor receives referrals from around the country is for women with a very thin endometrium, which makes embryo implantation difficult. “These women aren’t getting pregnant, and we think the problem is not the eggs or the embryo, but that the uterus isn’t receptive to those embryos,” explains Dr. Taylor.
Dr. Taylor has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the nation’s highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. He is an active researcher and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health continuously for more than 20 years. If you can make an impact during pregnancy or around the time of birth, you can change the whole trajectory of someone’s life.
Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Management
Jennifer L. Sherr, MD, PhD, is a pediatric endocrinologist who cares for patients with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, growth disorders and thyroid disorders. “I am honored to be part of my patients’ lives and watch them grow and develop without allowing their chronic medical condition to impede them in any way,” Dr. Sherr says.
Dr. Sherr, an assistant professor of pediatrics (endocrinology), has firsthand experience with diabetes management. “Since the time of my own diagnosis with type 1 diabetes in 1987, I knew I wanted to be a pediatric endocrinologist,” she says. In addition to her clinical work, she is an award-winning researcher focusing her efforts on technology and therapies to improve the life of the patient. Working on clinical trials focused on diabetes care, she can have an even greater impact on those living with the same condition through new technologies and therapeutics aimed at reducing the burden of living with this chronic condition.
Summary of Clinical Expertise
| Specialist | Primary Department | Key Clinical Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Tara Sanft, MD | Medical Oncology | Cancer Survivorship Care Plans |
| Hugh S. Taylor, MD | Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences | Endometriosis and Infertility |
| Jennifer L. Sherr, MD, PhD | Pediatric Endocrinology | Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes |
Professional Accomplishments and Titles
- Tara Sanft: Chief, Patient Experience Officer and Medical Director, Survivorship Clinic.
- Hugh S. Taylor: Anita O'Keeffe Young Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences and Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.
- Jennifer L. Sherr: Member of the Type 1 Diabetes Exchange Steering Committee and recipient of the Young Physician Scientist Award.