From Outer Space to Patient Homes: The Cutting Edge of Exercise Research

Jessica Scott, PhD

Jessica Scott, PhD. Photo by Ethan Kavet.

Today recently spoke to MSK’s Dr. Jessica Scott about her research on whether vigorous exercise can alleviate chemotherapy side effects. Prior to working at MSK, Dr. Scott studied the impact of exercise on NASA astronauts. She has found similarities in the way space flight and chemotherapy impact the heart, brain, and musculoskeletal system.

Dr. Scott’s study participants used to visit MSK to take part in her research. To allow her work to continue during the pandemic, she and her team sent participants treadmills, blood pressure cuffs, heart monitors, and iPads to enable remote, monitored workouts—similar to how astronauts in space are monitored back on earth. Study results should be out next year.

Happy New Year From the MSK Library

On behalf of the Library staff, I want to take a moment to wish our blog readers and library users all the best this holiday season. Tis the season to count our blessings and enjoy special moments with family and friends.

This year, the pandemic continued to impact the way we worked. We did hear our users’ voices and moved forward to return to our regular hours of operation on July 1, 2021, after our soft re-opening in October 2020. However, we still needed to practice social distancing and wear our masks while in this public space. 

We also continued to promote our Virtual Library Services in support of incoming client requests and encouraged our user community to use our chat feature on the library website as a way to obtain immediate help. 

We look forward in 2022 to uncovering both new opportunities and challenges. Based on client feedback we solicited this year via focus groups, individual 1:1 interviews, Yammer poll questions, and an enterprise-wide survey, comments and insights we collected will drive how we build on delivering the right resources, and the right services for our researchers, clinicians, nurses, students, administrative staff, and other healthcare providers. In this way we can support their pursuit of quality patient care, research excellence, and ongoing learning. We are focused on our efforts to explore and improve the ways in which we connect with our user community.

We wish you a very Happy New Year!

Cheers,
Donna Gibson
Director, Library Services

MSK Library Holiday Hours

Beginning Monday, December 20, 2021, the MSK Library will operating under holiday hours schedule: 
 
Monday, December 20 – Thursday, December 23: 8:30AM – 5:00PM
Friday, December 24: Closed
Monday, December 27 – Thursday, December 30: 8:30AM – 5:00PM
Friday, December 31: Closed
 
 
We will re-open with our regular hours on Monday, January 3, 2022. Remember, you can always get in touch with us via our Ask Us service.
 
We wish the MSK community a restful and festive holiday season.