The IMPAACT Study seeks to "Improve Physical Activity After Cancer Treatment" in order to support cancer survivors in their return to healthy living after treatment.

IMPAACT training is provided at no cost to participants as a community service in accordance with the mission of Loyola Marymount University to be in the "service of faith and promotion of justice". This effort aims to reduce barriers to rehabilitation by providing personal health education and supervised training to cancer survivors, regardless of socioeconomic status.

Upperclass students at LMU with career aspirations in the health professions are engaged in IMPAACT as research assistants. All IMPAACT research assistants are trained through "HHSC 498: Cancer Survivorship and Rehabilitation" and actively participate in training sessions under the supervision of an IMPAACT faculty advisor. This model of engaged learning supports the LMU mission in the "encouragement of learning" and "the education of the whole person" by providing students with a comprehensive view of cancer survivorship. The comprehensive approach is to learn from the perspective of the clinician and, most importantly, from the perspective of the person that actually experiences diagnosis, treatment, and post-treatment recovery.

IMPAACT is also a collaborative research study among faculty in the Department of Health & Human Sciences. Each faculty member contributes to the overall research goal of advancing the knowledge of rehabilitation after cancer treatment in the areas of: metabolic health, cardiovascular health, body composition and obesity, musculoskeletal health, strength and flexibility, balance, neuropathy, orthopedics, and psychosocial wellbeing. Student research assistants also participate in research pursuits under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

Program History

IMPAACT began in the Fall of 2013 as a 13-week training program with 11 participants and the support of the Frank R. Seaver College of Science & Engineering and the Office of Undergraduate Research. In the Fall of 2014, IMPAACT expanded to a 9-month program with 33 participants. Faculty collaborators integral to the success of these pilot and feasibility studies included: Hawley Almstedt, Silvie Grote, Stephanie Perez, Todd Shoepe, Sarah Strand, and Heather Tarleton.

The third implementation of IMPAACT will begin in the Fall of 2015 with the generous financial support of the Tower Cancer Research Foundation and the QueensCare Foundation.

IMPAACT Team

  • Principal Investigator: Heather Tarleton
  • Co-Investigators: Hawley Almstedt, Silvie Grote, Stephanie Perez, Todd Shoepe
  • Study Coordinator and Research Assistant: Josh Korte
  • Laboratory and Research Associate: Liam Shorrock
  • Research Assistants: Rakiyah Johnson, Isabela Kuroyama

News and Research Publications

Mind the gaps: Missed opportunities to promote bone health among cancer survivors
Almstedt HC, Tarleton HP.
Support Care Cancer. 2015 Mar;23(3):611-4. doi: 10.1007/s00520-014-2497-4. Epub 2014 Nov 5.
PMID: 25370892

Research Study Impacts Lives of Cancer Survivors

Contact Us

For more information about IMPAACT, please contact IMPAACT@lmu.edu.