Nursing Leadership

Yolee has been a nurse for 31 years. She started her career at Kaiser Permanente in 1989 working in the oncology ward. In 1991 she joined USC Norris Cancer Center, there she continued her love for oncology nursing. She worked as an oncology research nurse for several years and in 1995 joined the Department of Colorectal Surgery. There she expanded her nursing career and eventually became the Clinical Practice Manager of the USC Colorectal Cancer Program until 2009. Yolee continues her career at Keck Medical Center of USC in a Nursing Leadership position as Associate Administrative – Nursing. In 2018 Yolee earned her Doctorate of Nursing Degree from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). She joined CSUF as a part-time lecturer in December 2018 and teaches Population Health.

Yolee was born in El Paso, Texas, but lived in Juarez, Mexico. At the age of six the family moved to Boyle Heights, California, where they lived for 2 years. Her family then moved to Paramount, California where she grow-up. She attributes her ethics of hard work and never-give-up attitude to her mother. Yolee is a proud first-generation Mexican-American woman who cherishes tradition and has had the loving support and encouragement of her family including many tias, tios, and 48 first-cousins.

Special Awards:

• Daisy Award Nomination – Nursing Faculty - 2020

• Nurses of USC – Nurse Humanitarian of the Year - 2013

• Padres Contra El Cancer - Awarded Volunteer of the Year - 2010

• Anaheim Ducks - Community Hero - 2008

• USC/Norris Hospital - Bob Chandler Courage Award - 2003

Dr. Casagrande has collaborated in several publications:

• Management of patients with acute aortic syndrome through a regional rapid transport system. Journal of Vascular Surgery

• Personalized Colorectal Cancer Patient Education Project: The USC/Norris Experience. Presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Education

• Systemic chemotherapy for gastric carcinoma followed by postoperative intraperitoneal therapy: a final report. Cancer

• 0 6-Alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase in normal colon tissue and colon cancer. Oncology Research Featuring Preclinical and Clinical Cancer Therapeutics

• Thymidylate synthase mRNA level in adenocarcinoma of the stomach: a predictor for primary tumor response and overall survival. Journal Clinical Oncology

• A pilot trial of continuous infusion 5-fluorouracil with levamisole for adjuvant therapy of colon cancer. The Journal of Infusional Chemotherapy

Current USC Research collaborative work includes:

• COVID-19 impact on the development of major depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder in front-line nursing staff

• COVID-19 symptoms, experiences, and stressors among USC healthcare workers

• A Phase III Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Multicenter Study in Adults to Determine the Safety, Efficacy, and Immunogenicity of AZD1222, a Non-replicating ChAdOx1 Vector Vaccine, for the Prevention of COVID-19