Senior Associate Dean for Research & Frances Hill Fox Distinguished Professor
Dr. Small is Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor in the School of Nursing and a Full Member of the Cancer Outcomes Research Program at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Small’s research examines Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment (CRCI), whereby persons diagnosed and treated for cancer often report cognitive problems that were not present prior to the cancer diagnosis. In his work, Dr. Small has been involved in large-scale longitudinal studies of CRCI, as well as studies that involve intensive longitudinal studies during which people complete cognitive tests multiple times a day over short intervals (e.g., one to two weeks). Dr. Small is MPI of two R01 research grants from the National Cancer Institute that examine changes in cognitive performance among persons with lymphoma who are being treated with Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy, and persons with chronic leukemia who are about to start targeted therapy.
In addition to his work on CRCI, Dr. Small is an experienced methodologist/statistician who has expertise in the application of multivariate and multivariable approaches to longitudinal data. This includes the application of multilevel models, growth mixture modeling, mediation and multilevel mediation analyses, as well as structural equation modeling.
Dr. Small is passionate about teaching and mentoring. He has taught graduate classes on multivariate statistics and grant writing. He has served as major professor or committee member to numerous graduate students. Finally, he has been on the mentoring teams of several doctoral students and post-doctoral scientists.
Fellow, Gerontological Society of America
Fellow, Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging), American Psychological Association
Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
Castle JE, Pasquini G, Small BJ, Felt JM, Mogle JA, Sliwinski MJ, Scott SB. Ecological momentary assessments of cognitive performance are more variable in breast cancer survivors. Commun Psychol. 2025 Nov 26;3(1):174. doi: 10.1038/s44271-025-00349-9.
Nakamura ZM, Small BJ, Zhou X, Ahn J, Ahles TA, Artese AL, Cohen HJ, Extermann M, Graham D, Isaacs C, Jim HSL, McDonald BC, Nudelman K, Patel SK, Rentscher KE, Root JC, Saykin AJ, Van Dyk K, Wegel CE, Mandelblatt JS, Carroll JE. BDNF genotype and cognition in older adults with breast cancer and healthy controls in the Thinking and Living with Cancer Study. J Geriatr Oncol. 2025 Dec 10;17(2):102834. doi: 10.1016/j.jgo.2025.102834.
Small BJ, Jim HSL, Eisel SL, Jacobsen PB, Scott SB. Cognitive performance of breast cancer survivors in daily life: Role of fatigue and depressed mood. Psychooncology. 2019 Nov;28(11):2174-2180. doi: 10.1002/pon.5203.
Small BJ, Reed DR, Tometich DB, Nieves-Lopez A, Irizarry-Arroyo N, Decosta H, Oswald LB, Jim HSL. Impact of Quality of Life on Work Productivity Among Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors. J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. 2026 Feb 28:21565333261425870. doi: 10.1177/21565333261425870.
Small BJ, Reed D, Tometich D, Nieves-Lopez A, Irizarry-Arroyo N, Decosta H, Oswald LB, Jim HSL. Characterizing Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment Among Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors: Comparison to Individuals Without Cancer. Cancer Med. 2025 Nov;14(21):e71363. doi: 10.1002/cam4.71363.
Neurocognitive and Patient-Reported Outcomes after Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy: A Controlled Comparison; R01CA244328; Jim[contact]/Locke/Small (MPI).
Impact of Targeted Therapy on Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment; R01CA287666; Gonzalez[contact]/Janelsins/Small (MPI).
The MIND-BC Study- MIND diet for Breast cancer Cognition; R01CA299480; Crowder (PI); Role: Co-I.
Survivorship in Patients with Multiple Myeloma Treated with Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy; R01CA281756; Oswald/Hansen/Peres (MPI); Role: Co-I.
Patterns of Biological, Cognitive, and Physical Aging in Cancer Survivors and Controls and the Role of Sleep Health: Relevance for Alzheimer’s Disease and Relation Dementias; R01AG082348; Carroll/Mandelblatt (MPI); Role: Co-I.