Randall F. Holcombe, MD, MBA

Randall F. Holcombe, MD, MBA

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Director, University of Vermont Cancer Center
Associate Member, Cancer Biology Program, Translational and Clinical Research, University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center

Academic Appointment(s):
Director and J. Walter Juckett Chair in Cancer Research, University of Vermont Cancer Center
Adjunct Professor, University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center

Degree(s):
1983 - MD, University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ
2014 - MBA, Mount Sinai/Zicklin School of Business of Baruch College, New York, NY
1983 - 1986 - Resident Physician, Internal Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
1986 - 1989 - Research/Clinical Fellow in Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), Brigham & Women's Hospital;
                        Research Fellow in Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Research Focus

I have been engaged in academic research in oncology for over 20 years including directing translational laboratory research and conducting over 300 cancer clinical trials, involving numerous investigator-initiated trials, focused on GI malignancies. My research has been focused on colon carcinogenesis and Wnt signaling, elucidating the role of extracellular modulators of Wnt signaling in the tumor microenvironment and their contribution to tumor progression, invasion and metastatic dissemination. My work on translational studies in colon cancer has led to a better understanding of the potential role of natural products such as resveratrol and genistein for cancer prevention and treatment. Over the past several years I have also been engaged in quality and health care delivery research, including studies that have focused on patient-reported outcomes and new paradigms to measure and improve the quality of health care delivery. Much of this research has focused on the quality of care that can reduce health disparities for at-risk racial and ethnic populations.

Selected Publications

Holcombe RF, Verschraegen C, Chapman AE, Gaffney D, Goldberg RM, Mesa RA, Milhem M, Mims MP, Mitchell EP, Mulkerin D, Vijayakumar S. Status of the clinician investigator in America: An essential health care provider driving advances in cancer care. J NCCN, 2021 in press.

Gerson SL, Shaw K, Harrison L, Holcombe RF, Hutchins L, Lee C, Loehrer PJ, Mulkerin DT, Purcell T, Teston L, Weiner LM, Weiner GJ. Status of cancer care at network sites of the nation’s cancer centers. J NCCN, 2020 in press.

Okado I, Pagano I, Cassel K, Holcombe RF. (2020). Perceptions of Care Coordination in Cancer Patient-Family Caregiver Dyads. Support Care Cancer; Sep 24. doi:10.1007/s00520-020-05764-8. [On-line ahead of print].

Okado I, Cassel K, Pagano I, Holcombe RF. (2020). Assessing patients’ perception of cancer care coordination in a community-based setting. J Oncol Pract; 16:e726-e733. [published on-line, 3/27/2020]. https://doi.org/10.1200/JOP.19.00509

Okado, I., Cassel, K., Pagano, I. Holcombe RF. (2020). Development and psychometric evaluation of a questionnaire to measure cancer patients’ perception of care coordination. BMC Health Serv Res;20:52. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4905-4

Pintova S, Dharmupari S, Moshier E, Zubizarreta N, Ang C, Holcombe RF. (2019). Genistein combined with FOLFOX or FOLFOX-bevucizumab for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: Phase I/II pilot study. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol;84:591-598.

Publication list via PubMed

Active Grants

R. Holcombe, PI
Hope Foundation, Southwest Oncology Group
"Patient-centered video education intervention to improve rural healthcare delivery"
05/01/2021-09/30/2022

R. Holcombe, Co-I; K. Cassell, PI
NCI
7UG1CA189823
"Improving quality of life for colon cancer patients and their caregivers (Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology)"
10/01/2020-07/31/2022

R. Holcombe, Mentor
AHQR post-doctoral fellowship award
1F32HS027286
"Improving rural cancer care delivery"
07/09/2020-07/08/2022