UF College of medicine office of research
Erin Mobley, Ph.D., MPH, was honored for research exploring cancer survivorship.
By Manny Rea
Ringing the bell may mark the end of their cancer treatment, but many cancer survivors face lasting health effects. Cancer treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy, can cause damage to the heart, lungs, and kidneys, in addition to fatigue and fertility issues.
Erin Mobley, Ph.D., MPH, an assistant professor in the Division of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville recently received the 2025 Excellence Award for Assistant Professors from the Office of the Provost in support of her research on cancer survivorship, a field dedicated to the long-term health and well-being of individuals living with and beyond cancer. Mobley’s research, rooted in her own life journey, is distinguished by its patient-centered focus on survivorship.
Mobley was born prematurely at UF Health Jacksonville. She is also a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with a rare sarcoma in her bladder at age six.
“I had a great experience overall with my treatment,” she said. “But no one ever really talked to me about the late effects that could occur because of my cancer treatment.”
Nearly three decades later, during her Ph.D. program, Mobley began experiencing unexplained fatigue and bruising. She wasn’t aware that her cancer diagnosis and subsequent therapy could have such a delayed impact. Survivorship was not really emphasized at the time that she was treated in the early 1990s — the first cancer survivorship care guidelines were not published until 2003. They were also limited to pediatric and adolescent survivors. “But survivors need lifelong monitoring regardless of how old they are when they were diagnosed and treated,” Mobley said.
“My situation is not unique,” Mobley said. “The majority of survivors haven’t had conversations with their care team about their current health. My goal is to improve the survivorship experience so that all cancer survivors know what to expect after they finish treatment.”
Her research tackles the issue from multiple angles: care engagement, access to treatment and comorbidities, insurance-related access barriers, fertility preservation, and shared decision-making. Mobley studies, among other topics, the relationship between chemotherapy and early-onset cardiovascular issues, for which she received the 2025 James B. Nachman Endowed ASCO Junior Faculty Award in Pediatric Oncology from Conquer Cancer, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Foundation.
She also researches strategies for improved patient monitoring through survivorship, and insurance status impact on timely cancer diagnosis and survivorship care.
“In the U.S., we access healthcare through our insurance,” Mobley said. “That shapes everything from the cancer treatment you receive to whether you can afford the follow-up care you need.”
UF college of medicine office of research
"My goal is to improve the survivorship experience so that all cancer survivors know what to expect after they finish treatment."
– Erin Mobley, Ph.D., MPH
Another research interest of hers centers on shared decision-making around treatment, survivorship care, and fertility preservation, particularly for young people facing a cancer diagnosis and trying to decide which treatment path to take.
“Cancer therapy can harm future fertility, especially if it’s during puberty,” she said. “Patients deserve a voice in those choices, even if they’re not thinking about children at that point in their lives.”
Her collaborative style has also shaped her research: Mobley works in a clinical department, alongside surgeons, oncologists, and care providers every day.
“Being a research-focused faculty member embedded in the Department of Surgery in Jacksonville enables meaningful collaborations in real time alongside clinically focused partners,” she said.
The synergy with her collaborators sparked research on how time to diagnosis varies by insurance status, resulting in two published studies on pancreatic cancer, one of which earned national recognition at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress with an oral presentation in 2022 and an invited publication in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
Mobley’s Research Excellence Award is further recognition of her impactful work. She plans to use the prize money to share findings from her Precision Cancer Survivorship Cohort study, an ongoing participant-driven project that tracks survivors longitudinally to understand how they engage with the health care system, age, and how their needs change over time.
Ultimately, her work shifts the paradigm of cancer research: rather than focusing on only tumor responses and cure rates, Mobley focuses on the full continuum of cancer survivorship.
“We do a good job of getting people through their [cancer] treatment thanks to advances in technology and supportive care,” Mobley said. “But now we need to focus on what happens after they are done. I’m excited to continue this work because I know that it really will make a difference.”