Hi, my name is Youri, a Ph.D. student at Yale University. I’m advised by Dr. M. Tish Knobf and a dissertation committee,  including Dr. Tara Sanft, a director of Yale cancer survivorship clinic, and sleep experts like Dr. Nancy S. Redeker and Dr. Samantha Conley.

I am originally from Seoul, South Korea. There, I worked as an RN, taking care of patients with various cancers (e.g., breast, lung, head and neck, bladder, prostate). I came to the US to become a family nurse practitioner and a nurse scientist. My clinical experience with cancer survivors motivated me to become an advocate for cancer survivors by conducting research on cancer survivorship.

Sleep is the fundamental need of humans to perform day-to-day functions at home, work, and school. However, up until now, there has been very little research on sleep experiences in young women diagnosed with breast cancer. By combining online surveys and virtual interviews, I would like to inform clinicians and researchers of the sleep experiences of young women with breast cancer grounded in their daily lives.

Ultimately, the goal of my program of research is to help cancer survivors stay healthy during the disease-free cancer survivorship phase.