CHRISTABEL CHEUNG

Dr. Cheung's professional experience spans diverse fields, including 12+ years of user experience (UX) research, 8 years of executive management and clinical social work practice in health and mental health services, 3 years of public relations in enterprise digital technology, and 6 years as a certified personal fitness trainer.

As an independent UX research consultant at Jade Gangster, LLC, Dr. Cheung advises and speaks on the development of inclusive products and services, providing scientific and subject matter consultation on UX/UI/HCI research and advocacy for usability in health tech. Jade Gangster is an independent consultancy born from her trailblazing cancer blog, which has been acknowledged by the oncology community as one of the first to advocate for racially minoritized young adult patients.

In her concurrent role as associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, Dr. Cheung leads Cheung Research Lab as its principal investigator.  She and her team conduct UX research to inform human-centered products and services for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients. Projects include collaborations with cross-functional scientists, engineers, and stakeholders with emphasis on underrepresented BIPOC and LGBTQ+ user audiences. Summarily, she participates in research collaborations supported by over $10 million of secured grant funding. Her projects have won various industry awards such as the Guiding Researchers and Advocates to Scientific Partnerships (GRASP) Advocate Choice Award at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, the world’s largest clinical cancer research conference with over 5,000 submissions of research and 40,000 attendees.

Dr. Cheung is an embodied BIPOC AYA patient scientist and two-time young adult cancer survivor (Hodgkin lymphoma), making her a powerful advocate for health equity. She is the developer of embodied research methods—a qualitative empirical approach for the social sciences and medicine. She is an in-demand speaker at national and global conferences and events and frequently contributes expert testimony in media interviews. Among her honors, Dr. Cheung was privileged to join a delegation of AYA oncology leaders who met with President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot team to discuss advancements and challenges in the field.

Overall, Dr. Cheung's expertise and commitment to health equity make her a formidable contributor to the social and behavioral sciences, paving the way for inclusive research and designing products and services with a goal to eliminate unnecessary suffering by centering patient wisdom.

She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism; a Master of Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley; and a PhD in Social Welfare from the University of California, Los Angeles.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

ARTICLES IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS:

Berkman, A.M.,* Choi, E.,* Cheung, C.K., Betts, A.C., Salsman, J.M., Andersen, C.R., Miller, K.A., Milam, J., Battle, A., Peterson, S.K., Lu, Q., Livingston, J.A., Hildebrandt, M.A.T., Parsons, S.K., Freyer, D., & Roth, M.E. (In press). Psychological distress and mental health care utilization among Black survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer. Cancer.

Berkman, A.M., Choi, E., Cheung, C.K., Salsman, J.M., Peterson, S.K., Lu, Q., Livingston, J.A., Hildebrandt, M.A.T, Parsons, S.K., Roth, M.E., (In press). Excess risk of chronic health conditions in Black adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. Journal of Cancer Survivorship.

Cheung, C.K., Miller, K.A., Thomas, B.N., Lee, H., Goings, T.C., Brandon, R.E., Katerere-Virima, T., Helbling, L.E., Simmons, C.D., Ross, V.A., Causadias, J.M., Roth, M.E., Berthaud, F.M., Jones, L.P., Betz, G.D., Carter, J., Davies, S., Gilman, M., Lewis, M.A., Lopes, G., & Tucker-Seeley, R.D. (2024). BIPOC experiences of (anti-)racist patient engagement in adolescent & young adult oncology research and advocacy: An e-Delphi study. Future Oncology. https://doi.org/10.2217/fon-2023-0771

Husson, O., Janssen, S.H.M., Reeve, B.R., Sodergren, S., Cheung, C.K., McCabe, M.G., Salsman, J.M., van der Graaf, W., & Darlington, A.S. (2024). Protocol for the development of a core outcome set (COS) for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer. BMC Cancer, 24(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-023-11716-2

Cheung, C.K., Jones, L.P., Lee, H., Bridges, J.N., Tucker-Seeley, R., Vyfhuis, M.A.L., Gianelle, M., Thomas, B.N., Betz, G.D., Waldo, L., Hirsch, A., & Ntiri, S.O. (2023). Anticipatory guidance: Developing a patient navigation pathway to reduce the financial toxicity of cancer. Medical Research Archives. 11(10). https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v11i10.4582

Choi, E., Berkman, A.M., Cheung, C.K., Betts, A.C., Salsman, J.M., Andersen, C.R., Ochoa-Dominguez, C., Miller, K.A., Milam, J., Shah, A., Peterson, S.K., Lu, Q., Livingston, J.A., Hildebrandt, M.A.T, Parsons, S.K., Freyer, D., & Roth, M.E. (2023). Psychological distress and mental health care utilization among Hispanic/Latino survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer. Psycho-Oncology. 32(12) 1918-1929. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.6248

Berkman, A.M., Choi, E., Cheung, C.K., Salsman, J.M., Peterson, S.K., Anderson, M.S., Lu, Q., Livingston, J.A., Hildebrandt, M.A.T, Parsons, S.K., Roth, M.E., (2023c). Excess risk of chronic health conditions in lesbian, gay, and bisexual survivors of adolescent and young adult cancers. Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.35015

Berkman, A.M., Choi, E., Cheung, C.K., Salsman, J.M., Peterson, S.K., Lu, Q., Livingston, J.A., Hildebrandt, M.A.T, Parsons, S.K., Roth, M.E., (2023b). Socioeconomic Status and Chronic Health Conditions in Asian Survivors of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1089/jayao.2023.0083

Cheung, C.K., Lee, H., Levin, N.J., Ross, V.A., Geng, Y.M., Thomas, B.N., & Roth, M.E. (2023). Disparities in cancer care among sexual and gender minority adolescent and young adult patients: A scoping review. Cancer Medicine. 12(13)14674-14693. https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.6090

Berkman, A.M., Choi, E., Salsman, J.M., Cheung, C.K., Peterson, S.K., Lu, Q., Livingston, J.A., Hildebrandt, M.A.T, Parsons, S.K., Roth, M.E. (2023a). Excess risk of chronic health conditions in Hispanic survivors of adolescent and young adult cancers. Journal of Cancer Survivorship. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-023-01342-z

Ghazal, L. V., Cole, S., Salsman, J. M., Wagner, L., Duan, F., Gareen, I., Lux, L., Parsons, S. K., Cheung, C.K., Loeb, D. M., Prasad, P., Dinner, S., & Zebrack, B. (2022). Social genomics as a framework for understanding health disparities among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors: A commentary. JCO Precision Oncology. 6, e2100462. https://doi.org/10.1200/PO.21.00462

Husson, O., Reeve, B.R., Darlington, A.S., Cheung, C.K., Sodergren, S., van der Graaf, W., & Salsman, J.M. (2022). The next step for global adolescent and young adult oncology: Development of a core patient-centered outcome set. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 114(4) 496-502. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djab217

Masuda, C., Aggarwal, L., Bray, M.L., Cheung, C.K., Kim, B.J., Aida Wen, A., Okamoto, L., Uechi, M., Lee, Y.J. & Kamal Masaki,K. (2022). Preventive care and outcomes of interprofessional Medicare annual wellness visits for older patients.” International Journal of Environmental Research Public Health. 19(24), 16752. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416752

Cheung, C.K., Norlander, M.G., Vest, A.N., Thomas, B.N. & Zebrack, B. J. (2022). A thin line between helpful and harmful Internet usage: Embodied research on Internet experiences among adolescent and young adult cancer patients. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology. 11(5), 478-485. https://doi.org/10.1089/jayao.2021.0113

Cheung, C. K., Tucker-Seeley, R., Davies, S., Gilman, M., Miller, K. A., Lopes, G., Betz, G. D., Katerere-Virima, T., Helbling, L. E., Thomas, B. N., & Lewis, M. A. (2021). A call to action: Antiracist patient engagement in adolescent and young adult oncology research and advocacy. Future Oncology. 17(28), 3743–3756. https://doi.org/10.2217/fon-2020-1213

Cheung, C. K., Nishimoto, P. W., Katerere-Virima, T., Helbling, L. E., Thomas, B. N., & Tucker-Seeley, R. (2021). Capturing the financial hardship of cancer in military adolescent and young adult patients: A conceptual framework. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology. 40(4), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347332.2021.1937771

Cheung, C. K. & Simmons, C. D. (2021). Centering black swans: Embodied research in adolescent and young adult oncology. Oppositional Conversations. (5). http://www.oppositionalconversations.org/issue-v-contestations/2021/5/5/centering-black-swans-embodied-research-in-adolescent-and-young-adult-oncology

Unger, J. M., Moseley, A. B., Cheung, C. K., Osarogiagbon, R. U., Symington, B., Ramsey, S. D., & Hershman, D. L. (2021). Persistent disparity: Socioeconomic deprivation and cancer outcomes in patients treated in clinical trials. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 39(12), 1339-1348. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.20.02602

Salsman, J. M., Danhauer, S. C., Moore, J. B., Ip, E. H., McLouth, L. E., Nightingale, C. L., Cheung, C. K., Bingen, K. M., Tucker‐Seeley, R. D., Little‐Greene, D., Howard, D. S., & Reeve, B. B. (2021). Systematic review of financial burden assessment in cancer: Evaluation of measures and utility among adolescents and young adults and caregivers. Cancer. 127(11), 1739-1748. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.33559

BOOK CHAPTERS:

Cheung, C.K. & Wiener, L. (2022). Adolescents and young adults living with serious illness. In T. Altilio, S. Otis-Green & J. Cagle (Eds.) Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780197537855.001.0001

Cheung, C.K., Santacroce, S. J., Zebrack, B.J. (2021). Adolescent and young adult patients. In W. Breitbart (Ed.) Psycho-oncology (4th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780190097653.003.0089