Sexual health is a critical component of oncology care. This session explores the impact of cancer and its treatments on function, reviews evidence-based intervention options, and highlights the role of pelvic floor therapy and Sexuality Counseling in supporting recovery and quality of life. Designed for healthcare professionals, this discussion emphasizes multidisciplinary strategies to address sexual health concerns across the cancer care continuum.
Kristen de Vries, DO, MS
Assistant attending – cancer and women’s health rehabilitation and assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine
New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine
Dr. de Vries graduated from New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYIT-COM), where she also obtained a master’s degree in neuromusculoskeletal medicine. She then completed her residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Montefiore Medical Center. Her time at Montefiore cultivated an interest in women’s health, prompting her to pursue a fellowship opportunity in women’s rehabilitation medicine. She then went on to complete a fellowship in cancer rehabilitation medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is now an assistant attending physiatrist and assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine and Cornell/NYPH where she sees both cancer patients and those with pelvic floor dysfunction.
Erin Dean, PT, DPT, CLT
Doctor of Physical Therapy, Certified Sexuality Counselor
Cancer Rehab and Integrative Medicine
Erin (she/her) is a doctor of physical therapy who is certified in pelvic health, lymphedema therapy and oncology rehabilitation. She is also certified as a sexuality counselor, assisting patients in returning to their vibrant, creative and sexual lives after cancer treatment. She has a background in yoga and seeks to treat the patient as a whole person, mind, body and all. Erin spent 10 years traveling, working, and volunteering in different countries before going back to school at 30 to get her doctorate in PT. She is an avid cyclist with a love of the outdoors, and she and her spouse have a five year old son
Vered Stearns, MD, FASCO
Interim Chief, Breast Medical Oncology
Director, Translational Breast Cancer Research
Hematology and Medical Oncology
Associate Director for Clinical Research
Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center
Weill Cornell Medicine
Dr. Vered Stearns completed the equivalent of a B.S. degree at the Tel Aviv University, Sackler Faculty of Medicine in 1989. After relocating to the United States, Dr. Stearns transferred to and graduated from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School with a medical degree (M.D.) in 1992. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Georgetown University where she developed an interest in translational breast cancer research and spent two additional years as a research fellow.
Dr. Stearns was a faculty member at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Georgetown University, and at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan before joining the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in 2002. She remained at Johns Hopkins for 21 years and served in a variety of roles, most recently, Director, Women’s Malignancies Disease Group, and Medical Director of the Under Armour Breast Health Innovation Center. She is currently the Director of Translational Breast Cancer at the Department of Medicine, and Associate Director for Clinical Research at the Weill Cornell Medicine, Meyer Cancer Center. She holds multiple leadership roles nationally including Vice Chair of the NRG Translational Science Committee, and Co-Chair of the NRG Breast Translational Working Group.
Dr. Stearns’s long-term research goal is to improve current therapies by individualizing strategies for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. The main focus of her research includes the utilization of biomarkers to predict response to standard regimens used to treat and prevent breast cancer, and to introduce new interventions. Dr. Stearns has received numerous grants and awards to fund her innovative research. Her work has been presented and published extensively, and has already had a positive impact on the lives of many women.
