Our Research Lab

Dr. Amber Kleckner is a nutrition scientist who is working to solve pressing problems in supportive care in cancer.

Dr. Kleckner designs and tests nutritional programs that modulate the quantity, quality, and timing of food to understand how nutrition can help treat cancer and cancer treatment-related symptoms. She also studies the metabolic and mitochondrial mechanisms underlying cancer-related fatigue to help understand its mechanistic underpinnings and tailors nutritional programs accordingly.

The Team

Meet the members of the Kleckner METRICCS Lab.

Amber Kleckner, PhD

Principal Investigator & Lab Director

I am a nutrition scientist who is working to solve pressing problems in supportive care in cancer. Patients with cancer experience debilitating symptoms of the cancer and side effects of treatment that can, unfortunately, persist long into survivorship. For example, cancer-related fatigue can be so severe that it prevents people from returning to their work and their hobbies. I design and test nutritional programs that modulate the quantity, quality, and timing of food to understand how nutrition can help treat these symptoms. I also study the metabolic and mitochondrial mechanisms underlying cancer-related fatigue to help understand its mechanistic underpinnings and tailor nutritional programs accordingly.

amber.kleckner@umaryland.edu

Ikmat Adesanya, BSN, MPH

Graduate Research Assistant

I hold a Bachelor of Nursing Degree from the University of Worcester, UK, and a Master of Public Health degree from Adelphi University, New York. I am currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland Baltimore. I am a registered Nurse and I have co-authored four publications on Pet ownership and longitudinal change in physical function, Nurse-led hospital-to-community care, clinical outcomes for people living with HIV, and health-related social needs.

At the METRICCs Lab, I am the POST-Treatment Health Outcomes of Cancer Survivors (POSTHOC) Study Coordinator. My Job includes participant recruitment, participant and Project management, data collection, and analysis.

iadesanya@umaryland.edu

Carin Clingan, MS, CNS, LDN

Senior Clinical Research Assistant

I received my B.S in Exercise Science and my M.S in Clinical Nutrition. I have been working in the field of Exercise and Nutrition for over 20 years. I believe that food is medicine and we can use it to help us heal our bodies from the inside out. My areas of expertise are in Women's health and Oncology nutrition. I have an interest in doing more with gut health and the microbiome.

carin.clingan@umaryland.edu