Research Interests
The immediate and residual side effects associated with cancer treatments have increasingly gained attention. The medical community is now recognizing the importance that complementary therapies play in mitigating side effects of cancer treatments. The prevalent side effects of fatigue, cachexia, depression, nausea, and dyspnea decrease the functionality of patients, prolong recovery time, and diminish the overall quality of life. The correlated decrease in metabolic, cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological and musculoskeletal efficiency can account for such symptoms. While many of these symptoms are treated with pharmacological therapies, which in the majority of the cases provide only temporary relief to patients, prescriptive exercise is a promising therapy in complementing such strategies.

Exercise is widely accepted as a preventative, rehabilitative, and recuperative intervention for cardiovascular, pulmonary, neuromuscular, renal, and metabolic/ endocrine diseases. In healthy individuals, exercise training and recreational activities have been shown to promote a host of positive psychological and physiological adaptations. Investigations into the effects of exercise have demonstrated that cancer patients of varying ages can increase their individual levels of aerobic, muscular and metabolic fitness as well as achieve significant reductions in cancer treatment-related conditions, especially fatigue. These effects may serve to counteract or attenuate the onset of fatigue, a decline in functionality and decreased quality of life precipitated by the well known side effects of cancer treatments.

Before my arrival to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I was an international endurance sports coach, with athletes appearances in two summer Olympic Games, and also a graduate student/ researcher at The University of Northern Colorado, Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Institute (RMCRI). At the RMCRI, my job was first to assess and develop exercise plans for cancer patients receiving treatment or to patients that had completed cancer treatment. The focus of the research at the RMCRI was on the utilization of individualized exercise programs as a complementary therapy to cancer treatments. We specifically studied the effects of exercise on many different physiological systems including the cardiovascular, pulmonary, and muscular-skeletal. We also examined the impact of exercise on psychological parameters with the emphasis on fatigue. With my previous experience as a coach specialized in exercise training methods, I thought I was going to be able to help a few patients before leaving to follow my career as a human performance coach and researcher. During my work at the RMCRI, I became aware of the delicate job I had and the importance of promoting physical activity in cancer patients during and after completion of traditional cancer treatments. Differently from coaching athletes, where performance was the focus, I was then starting to understand the other side of this amazing intervention that is exercise. I became more and more sensitive to the issue of survivorship, family, and overall quality of life and the possible impact of exercise on a successful treatment for the disease. I also realized that cancer is an unpredictable disease and the results of our interventions were not always the expected ones.

I heard from my mentors, classmates, and patients, that my work at the center was changing the lives of the patients and that the majority of them were doing well through out the cancer experience. That was when I realized that, as much as I loved human performance research, I had a new mission in my life. The mission was to help cancer patients overcome the disease using my talent and skills as an exercise physiologist, specialized in exercise training methods.

Years had passed and with experience I was gaining at the cancer center, my curiosity and desire to understand more about the disease and why some patients succeeded and survived the disease while others did not, made me reflect on the true impact of using exercise as a complementary therapy to cancer treatments. Many questions regarding the use of exercise in cancer patients started to intrigue me. Unanswered questions that remain a mystery and unsuccessful stories of patients that should have succeeded continue to stimulate me tremendously in my search on the true role of exercise in the cancer population. More specifically, I am constantly touched by the devastating impact the disease and treatments have on the physiology and psychology of the patients I work with which reduces tremendously the capacity of the patient to function and then rehabilitate from the cancer experience process. I am extremely interested, even more after seeing many successful stories of patients that engaged in regular exercise during different phases of treatment, to further develop the area of cancer and exercise research, in a way that one day, exercise and exercise combined with other complementary therapies becomes part of cancer care.

So far, the results of the experiments I am involved in are promising. The results suggest that maintenance and in some cases even the improvement in physiological and psychological parameters have assisted patients to recover from the disease treatment while promoting improvements in overall quality of life, and more importantly, giving patients hope for more successful overall cancer treatment outcomes. However, we researchers in the area of cancer and exercise are still far from understanding the basic mechanisms that explain why exercise has been positively impacting the lives of patients enrolled in regular physical activity. Numerous questions regarding the administration of exercise remain. These include: Are the exercise intensities currently being prescribed for cancer patients safe?, Do all types of cancer patients benefit from engaging in regular physical activity?, What are the mechanisms that explain improvements in overall fatigue scores and overall quality of life in patients that are participating in regular physical activity?, Is exercise alone or in combination with other therapies more efficient in mitigating the physiological and psychological changes experienced post cancer diagnosis?

To address the issues presented above, a research agenda has been developed in collaboration with The Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, UNC Hospitals Departments of Oncology/ Hematology and Recreation Therapy, colleagues from the Departments of Exercise and Sport Science, Physical Therapy, and Health Allied Sciences, and physicians and nurses from the UNC Breast Cancer Clinic, UNC Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and 6E Anderson. Currently, two main projects, The EQUAL Project (Exercise and Quality of Life in Leukemia/ Lymphoma Patients) and the Get REAL & HEEL Breast Cancer Program are being conducted as an attempt to improve the body of knowledge for cancer and exercise research and to address issues in the area on cancer and exercise research. Future projects include, a randomized controlled trial on the impact of exercise on acute leukemia patients, an exercise study on bone marrow transplant patients, the impact of exercise and recreation therapy on Cortisol and DHEA levels in post-treat breast cancer patients, and a study involving advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients. Ultimately, the creation of a multi-site research project addressing the impact of exercise, and exercise combined with other complementary therapies will be of fundamental importance for the establishment of during and post-treatment care aimed to improve treatment outcomes and consequently survivorship rate. We are currently exploring the possibility of collaborating with centers in Utah, Colorado, Harvard, and The University of Notre Dame in Australia for the development of a multi-site research program.

I believe in research that have collaborative efforts develop high quality research projects. By approaching research questions using a multi-perspective/ disciplinary approach, not only will new questions arise, but better answers to previous questions can be addressed with a more comprehensive view of facts. The team of researchers involved in the EQUAL and Get REAL & Heel Breast projects, not only use this comprehensive approach, but also stimulate participation of students who will be the future representatives of the area. Student led studies have helped tremendously in the quest of answering some of the questions presented above. Issues on exercise intensity, exercise endocrinology, and physical activity levels and its association with cancer treatment related symptoms are currently being explored by graduate students and the results of these experiments will without question add tremendously to the area of cancer and exercise research. I feel very fortunate to be the leading researcher in the area of cancer and exercise at UNC and hope to continue to develop my work so one day my work, along with my colleagues work, can help eradicate this terrifying disease.

Cancer continues to impact millions of people and families around the world every day. The disease continues to kill even though medical advances have improved and continues to improve survivorship rates. The psychological and physiological impact of the disease diagnosis and treatment compromise functionally and overall quality of life of cancer survivors. Until the cure of cancer is found, it is an obligation of every single human being to contribute somehow in the search for the cure. Until the cure of cancer is found, I continue to believe in the positive impact that exercise and other complementary therapies have on improving the quality of life of patients during the cancer experience. I also believe in the power of exercise assisting current cancer therapies in the combat of cancer. By improving the patients physiology and psychology though exercise and other complementary therapies, the chance to make increases in quality of life while undergoing the cancer experience may be the key to successful overall treatment outcomes.

Recent Accomplishments and Honors
2007 Man of The Year Nominee, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Cary, NC.
2006 Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Chapel Hill, NC.
2005 Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Chapel Hill, NC.
2004 Nomination for the Dean Citation for Excellence, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
2004 Nomination for the Outstanding Dissertation Award, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
2002 Hibino Global Understanding Award, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
2001 Outstanding Student Activities Award, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
2000 Richard and Chris Monfort Graduate Fellowship Award for 2001, 2002, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
1999 Teaching Assistant of the Year, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.
1998 High Academic Achievement Award for 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO.

Training
Catholic University of Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, Brazil, B.S. Physical Education, 1992

University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, U.S.A., M.A., Kinesiology, 1999

University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, U.S.A. Kinesiology, PhD., 2004

Publications
2007 (In Press) Mihalik, J, Libby J., Battaglini, C., and McMurray, R. Comparing Complex and Compound Training Programs on Power Output, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

2007 (In Press) A.C. Hackney and Battaglini, C. The Overtraining Syndrome: Neuro-endocrine Imbalances in Athletes. Brazilian Journal of Biomotricity.

2007 Battaglini, C., Bottaro, M., Dennehy, C., Logan, R., Shields, E., Kirk, D., and Hackney, A.C. The Effects of an Individualized Prescriptive Exercise Intervention, Emphasized with Resistance Training, on Body Composition in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Treatment. Sao Paulo Med J., 125(1): 22-8, 2007.

2007 McMurray, R., Williams, D., Battaglini, C. The Timing of Fluid Intake During an Olympic Distance Triathlon, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 16 (6):611-9.

2006 Battaglini, C., Dennehy, C., Groff, D., Kirk, D., and Anton, P. Complementary Therapies in the Management of Cancer Treatment-Related Symptoms: The Individualized Prescriptive Exercise Intervention Approach, Medicina Sportiva, Vol.10 (2):49-57.

2006 Battaglini, C., Bottaro, M., Dennehy, C., Barfoot, D., Shields, E., Kirk, D., and Hackney, A.C. The Effects of Resistance Training on Muscular Strength and Fatigue Levels in Breast Cancer Patients. Brazilian Journal of Sports Medicine, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Vol. 12, N13, - May/June, 2006.
2004 Battaglini, C., Bottaro, M., Campbell, J., Novaes, J., and Simao, R. Physical Activity and Levels of Fatigue in Cancer Patients. Brazilian Journal of Sports Medicine, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2 (10), 2004.

2003 Battaglini, C., Battaglini, B., and Bottaro, M. The Effects of Physical Exercise on Cancer: A Review. Latin American Journal of Therapeutic Physical Activities, 8 (57), 2003.

2003 Battaglini, C., Battaglini, B., and Bottaro, M. Los Efectos Del Ejercicio Fisico Sobre el Cancer: Una Revision. Revista Digital, Buenos Aires, Ano9, N61, Junio.

E-mail: claudio@email.unc.edu
Telephone: (919) 843-6045
FAX: (919) 962-0489
Address: 026-A Fetzer Gym Chapel Hill, NC 27599

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