Justin Tanner, PhD

When a child is diagnosed with cancer, the path to a cure is often marked with various treatments. While most medical efforts aim to provide a cure, the effects of treatment can have lasting impacts on a patient’s neurological outcomes. Many of these cognitive, behavioral and biological impacts can appear during treatment or years later. My research aims to better understand these neuro-outcomes, identify early neural changes,  and develop interventions that can support patients during and after treatment to offset the impacts of therapy. 

Survivors of childhood cancer often face neurological disparities in their long-term outcomes, which has a tremendous impact on quality of life. The effects of treatment for childhood cancer can have varied effects on patients and may surface at different points in life, with some arising immediately while others appear years or decades later.

The variability of treatment effects highlights a need to identify biomarkers early and develop interventions that can support patients during and after treatment. My research aims to understand the sequential impact of cancer treatment on neural proteomics and how this relates to neurocognitive and psychosocial outcomes. My previous work uncovered early cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteomic changes related to treatment in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The proteomic changes were linked with early system toxicities, substantial CSF proteome reorganization during chemotherapy and led to the identification of immune regulation and stress-response pathways linked to toxicity and infections. The work demonstrated proteomic changes that may precede long-term complications and led to my current project that seeks to link the CSF proteome to neuroimaging and neurocognitive outcomes.

To directly improve clinical outcomes, I focus on studying the neuromodulation of cranial nerves via non-invasive stimulation. I serve as principal investigator for the FANSI clinical trial at St. Jude, which examines the feasibility and effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) on insomnia in adult survivors of childhood ALL. By conducting a collaborative examination of this safe, non-invasive intervention with multidisciplinary experts in neuroimaging, biostatistics and clinical biomarkers at St. Jude, my hope is that we can improve clinical outcomes for pediatric patients and adult survivors moving forward. 

All areas of my research aim at understanding and mitigating the neurological disparities in neurocognitive on and psychosocial skills outcomes that present in children receiving, or who have received, treatment for cancer. By examining these impacts of treatment and developing interventions, we seek to not only offer cures, but therapeutic approaches that preserve quality of life for patients and survivors of childhood cancer.