Overview
Dr. Mertens' major area of research focus is on the investigation of late effects due to the diagnosis of cancer and its treatment in long term cancer survivors, with an emphasis in the field of pediatric cancer survivorship. Her current research funding is in the development of effective communication and intervention strategies to reduce morbidity and mortality, and thereby increase quality of life in childhood and adolescent cancer survivors.
She currently has grant collaborations with other faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine and the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. She is affiliated with the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Healthcare, the Institute of People and Technology at Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Morehouse School of Medicine.