Katie Keyser

I earned my bachelor's degree in public health in 2019 with a passion for helping communities and removing barriers for people based on where they live. During my last semester of college, just two months after getting married to my husband, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 24. Navigating cancer as a young adult brought to light the disparities that young people face when they don't quite fit into the pediatric world or the geriatric world. This experience pushed me into oncology, where I started as the patient experience and volunteer manager, serving lunch and making sure patients had the resources they needed. After feeling a calling to be more hands-on, I switched to research in 2023. Now I do cancer outcomes research, which involves having conversations with patients about their experiences with cancer in different settings and how those experiences impact their clinical outcomes in terms of how long they live, how they handle their disease, and how they cope. I've found my niche in patient advocacy work through NRG Oncology, a national group dedicated to advancing clinical trial research, and I serve on the board for Tenaciously Teal, our local cancer nonprofit here in Oklahoma. My work focuses on analyzing clinical trials from a patient standpoint, providing a patient voice in clinical research, and helping physicians and scientists understand the feasibility of patient participation and how to design clinical research so our most vulnerable populations can participate.