Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Washington University School of Medicine	PhD	2023	Human Metabolism
Washington University in St. Louis	MPH	2018	Epidemiology/Biostatistics/Health Policy Analysis

Dr. Cao is a research fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Cancer Center. His current research interests include 1) evaluating the prevalence of risk factors and the disease burden of cancer-related comorbidities and complications among cancer survivors at the population level; 2) examining the impact of energy-balance behaviors (physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, and diet), mental health issues (depression and suicidal ideation), metabolic risks (obesity and insulin resistance), and cardiotoxicity (NT-proBNP and troponin) on health and survival outcomes among cancer survivors; and 3) developing equitable strategies to implement evidence-based interventions that reduce death rates, the comorbidity burden, and improve the quality of life for cancer survivors.

Dr. Cao has published 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts in leading medical journals including JAMA, JAMA Oncology, JAMA Otolaryngology, Metabolism, Diabetes, JCO, JNCI, etc., with extensive media coverage (Associated Press, CNN, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Reuters, New York Times etc.). Specifically, His research (Yang*, Cao* et al. JAMA 2019) for the first time reported the upward trends of sedentary behaviors in the US and uncovered constant racial disparity in prolonged sitting throughout the life course and suggested that sedentary behavior is becoming an emerging risk factor for chronic diseases and premature death in the US population. Dr. Cao's recent findings indicated an increased trend in physical activity among US cancer survivors, yet half of them did not meet PA guidelines and 80% were without muscle strength training (Cao et al. JNCI 2023). Also, 30% and 50% of cancer survivors slept less than 7 hrs per day and sat greater than 6 hrs per day, respectively. His work has highlighted that prolonged sitting and lack of physical activity were associated with increased risks of death among US cancer survivors (Cao et al. JAMA Oncology 2022) and that balance dysfunction (Cao et al. JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery 2021) was associated with increased all-cause and cancer-specific mortality among US adults. These novel findings have been featured by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Cancer Society, American Physical Therapy Association, American Society of Nutrition, American Academy of Audiology, American Heart Association, and International Society for Sexual Medicine.