2016
Published on the 31 December 2016
13-14th October: The Inaugural Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Survivorship Conference and The Fourth Victorian Psycho-oncology Research Conference were held in Melbourne at the newly built VCCC building. Ms Janine Vetsch displayed a poster on childhood cancer survivors' educational and vocational difficulties following treatment. Ms Lauren Touyz also displayed a poster demonstrating changes in body mass index in long term survivors of childhood acute
lymphoblastic leukemia, recently published in Paediatric Blood & Cancer. Ms Christina Signorelli also presented the team's work in survivorship, leading to the development of a new intervention to re-engage survivors into essential, life-long care.
22nd-23rd September: The BSU was well represented at the fifth Sydney Cancer Conference, themed “Bridging research and practice”. A/Prof Claire Wakefield presented the team's work in the area of genetics and cancer, as did Janine Vetsch (childhood cancer survivors' vocational outcomes), Lauren Touyz ('Re-boot' healthy eating intervention), Claire Wakefield (on behalf of Sarah Ellis; sleep intervention for parents on the ward) and Alistair Lum (educational outcomes and resources for survivors). Excitingly Sarah Ellis won an award for her poster, and Alistair Lum for his presentation.
22nd-23rd September: Ms Christina Signorelli attended the fifth European Symposium on Late Complications after Childhood Cancer, held in Copenhagen, Denmark. She presented a poster on the cognitive difficulties in childhood cancer survivors following treatment, and their relationship to transitioning from paediatric to adult care, and delivered an oral presentation on survivor-reported barriers to receiving long term follow-up care.
2nd September: Cancer Council NSW interviews the BSU's A/Prof Claire Wakefield about our Survivorship Program, consisting of six interventions targeted at survivors and families across the cancer trajectory: from diagnosis to long term survivorship or bereavement.
26 August: In recognition of Daffodil Day, Cancer Council NSW (CCNSW) featured the BSU's program of work in cancer survivorship in the Daily Telegraph, The Huffington Post and SBS Life. From this, the Program was also mentioned in 2GB news, and A/Prof Wakefield was interviewed live about it on 2UE’s afternoon show with Tim Webster, on ABC Statewide Drive.
21-23 June: Ms Christina Signorelli, Ms Janine Vetsch, and Ms Gabrielle Georgiou presented at the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) Annual Meeting, marking 25 years this year. Ms Signorelli presented three posters on childhood cancer survivors' health behaviours, general practitioners' role in survivorship care, and the use of e-tools for follow-up care management. Ms Vetch presented a poster on childhood cancer survivors' information needs, followed by an oral presentation on models of childhood cancer survivorship follow-up care. Ms Georgiou also had a poster on survivors' and parent's perspectives on genetic testing for late effects, based on findings from research recently published in Cancer.
22-25 June: Dr Ursula Sansom-Daly, Ms Brittany McGill, Ms Sarah Ellis and Ms Emma Doolan attended the World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (WCBCT) in Melbourne. Dr Ursula Sansom-Daly and Ms McGill presented in a symposium titled ‘Navigating the impact of serious illness across the family system using evidence-based therapeutic approaches’. Ms Ellis presented her PhD project CAT NAP (Carers AT Night in Paediatrics), a CBT-based intervention designed to improve sleep in parents of a child with cancer, which is currently being trialled at Sydney Children's Hospital.
22-25 June: Six BSU team members presented at the Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology and Oncology Group’s (ANZCHOG) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in Cairns. A/Prof Claire Wakefield presented on E-health interventions and genetic testing for late effects of childhood cancer, and a poster on response rates in psycho-oncology research. Dr Joanna Fardell presented on the impact of decisions regarding enrolment in early phase clinical trials for bereaved parents and won a prize for the best oral presentation for her talk on long-term childhood cancer survivors’ and parents’ information needs. Dr Richard Mitchell gave a talk on improving outcomes for paediatric patients undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplants and a poster reporting on paediatric early phase clinical trial recruitment. Ms Eden Robertson presented a rapid fire poster presentation on health literacy in AYAs and a poster outlining the development of a decision aid for parents contemplating early phase clinical trials. Mr Alistair Lum presented a poster highlighting the importance of teacher support on engagement with school, quality of school life, and distress for students diagnosed with cancer. Ms Mary Burns presented a talk on the evaluation of an AYA advanced care planning tool (Voicing my CHOiCES™) for clinical use with Australian AYAs with cancer.
20 May: A/Prof Wakefield is interviewed about her success in paediatric cancer survivorship research since being awarded a grant by the Leukaemia Foundation for early career researchers.