Leorey N. Saligan, Ph.D., R.N., C.R.N.P., F.A.A.N.

Senior Investigator

Symptom Biology Unit

NINR

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Building 3, Room 5E14
3 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892

301-451-1685

saliganl@mail.nih.gov

Research Topics

Topic: The nature and causes of fatigue in relation to cancer and its treatments

Issue: Fatigue is a common and debilitating condition that affects most cancer patients. To date, fatigue remains poorly characterized with no diagnostic test to objectively measure the severity of this condition. In addition, evidence has shown that cancer-related fatigue (CRF) may be a treatment-limiting symptom and often impairs health-related quality of life.

Impact: Dr. Saligan is introducing clinically relevant approaches to phenotype cancer-related fatigue (CRF) to drive biomarker discovery. The purpose is to understand and identify biobehavioral mechanisms of fatigue to develop more effective ways to manage it and, as a result, improve patient outcomes. Dr. Saligan is also leading studies to identify biomarkers of CRF and understand functional pathways to explain its cause. In addition, he is conducting proof-of-concept clinical trials that target the biochemical and physiologic effects of active markers identified in CRF studies to validate their clinical relevance. His research program is guided by the NIH Symptom Science Model.

Selected Publications

  1. Von Ah D, Rio CJ, Carter A, Perkins SM, Stevens E, Rosko A, Davenport A, Kalady M, Noonan AM, Crouch A, Storey S, Overcash J, Han CJ, Yang Y, Li H, Saligan LN. Association between Cognitive Function and Physical Function, Frailty, and Quality of Life in Older Breast Cancer Survivors. Cancers (Basel). 2024;16(15).
  2. Goto T, Saligan LN. Mechanistic insights into behavioral clusters associated with cancer-related systemic inflammatory response. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2024;18(3):161-167.
  3. Walitt B, Singh K, LaMunion SR, Hallett M, Jacobson S, Chen K, Enose-Akahata Y, Apps R, Barb JJ, Bedard P, Brychta RJ, Buckley AW, Burbelo PD, Calco B, Cathay B, Chen L, Chigurupati S, Chen J, Cheung F, Chin LMK, Coleman BW, Courville AB, Deming MS, Drinkard B, Feng LR, Ferrucci L, Gabel SA, Gavin A, Goldstein DS, Hassanzadeh S, Horan SC, Horovitz SG, Johnson KR, Govan AJ, Knutson KM, Kreskow JD, Levin M, Lyons JJ, Madian N, Malik N, Mammen AL, McCulloch JA, McGurrin PM, Milner JD, Moaddel R, Mueller GA, Mukherjee A, Muñoz-Braceras S, Norato G, Pak K, Pinal-Fernandez I, Popa T, Reoma LB, Sack MN, Safavi F, Saligan LN, Sellers BA, Sinclair S, Smith B, Snow J, Solin S, Stussman BJ, Trinchieri G, Turner SA, Vetter CS, Vial F, Vizioli C, Williams A, Yang SB, Center for Human Immunology, Autoimmunity, and Inflammation (CHI) Consortium, Nath A. Deep phenotyping of post-infectious myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Nat Commun. 2024;15(1):907.
  4. Feng LR, Suy S, Collins SP, Saligan LN. The role of TRAIL in fatigue induced by repeated stress from radiotherapy. J Psychiatr Res. 2017;91:130-138.
  5. Feng LR, Fernández-Martínez JL, Zaal KJM, deAndrés-Galiana EJ, Wolff BS, Saligan LN. mGluR5 mediates post-radiotherapy fatigue development in cancer patients. Transl Psychiatry. 2018;8(1):110.

Related Scientific Focus Areas

This page was last updated on Tuesday, August 5, 2025