Dr Kate Hetherington
- B. Science Psyc (1st Class Hons) UNSW
- M. Psyc (Clinical) UNSW
- PhD (Experimental Clinical Psychology) UNSW
Kate is a Clinical Psychologist and researcher in the Behavioural Sciences Unit (BSU) in the School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW. She lead's the BSU's Precision Medicine and Genomics team as well as being Academic Lead of the Luminesce Alliance Psychosocial Enabling Platform, a NSW Ministry of Health supported initiative aimed at ensuring the equitable, inclusive and psychologically safe delivery of paediatric precision medicine.
Prior to joining the BSU, Kate completed both her Master of Psychology (Clinical) and PhD in the School of Psychology at UNSW. Her doctoral research investigated psychological mechanisms involved in the onset and maintenance of depressed mood, with a particular focus on repetitive thinking. Kate has experience in a variety of clinical and research settings.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Project Grant: Towards patient-centred precision oncology care for children and youth: Understanding psychosocial impacts and experiences through patient and professional perspectives (2024-2029)
- MRFF Clinician-Researcher: Improving quality of life for young people with cancer across the care trajectory through integrated patient centred palliative care: A stepped-wedge trial of a new model of care (2024-2029)
- Luminesce Alliance Psychosocial Enabling Platform: Establishing NSW as an international leader in psychosocial understanding and equitable care in the context of paediatric precision medicine (2023-2027)
- NHMRC Synergy: Improving outcome for high-risk child and adolescent cancer: from discovery to individualised treatment within a consumer partnership (2023-2028)
- UNSW Health Systems Research Theme: 2023 Collaborative Research Grants: Introducing palliative care concepts in the right way, at the right time: Implementing the Voicing My Choices communication tool for adolescent and young adults with cancer (2023)
- MRFF Stem Cell Therapies Mission: Development of photoreceptor cell therapy to treat blindness (2022-2027)
- Cerebral Palsy Alliance Project Grant: Development of resources for decision-making in the application of advanced neurotherapeutics and personalised medicine in paediatric neurology (2022-2023)
- NHMRC LOGGIC: A phase III, randomised international multi-centre trial for Low Grade Glioma In Children and adolescents (2021-2025)
- Paediatrio funding PPM6: The psychosocial implications of genetic testing and precision medicine for children and families, and the healthcare professionals who care for them (2019-2021)
- Children’s Cancer Institute Zero Childhood Cancer Program funding (2019-2021)
- UNSW Career Advancement Fund (2018)
- NSW Health SESLHD Multicultural Health Grants Program: Translation of the By My Side resource for bereaved families into languages other than English (Cantonese, Arabic and Greek) (2018-2019)
- Ronald McDonald House Charities (2016)
- Postgraduate Research Support Scheme funding (2014)
- Inaugural Faculty of Science Research Student Maternity Scholarship (2012)
- Postgraduate Research Support Scheme funding (2012) (Awarded but not taken up)
- Australian Postgraduate Award (2010-2015)
Kate leads a program of research focused on the experiences and support needs of families enrolling in new and emerging treatments for childhood cancer, and the training needs of health professionals tasked with its delivery. Her research includes several large-scale embedded psychosocial studies within the ZERO Childhood Cancer program (PRISM-Impact, ZERO2 Experiences) as well as other trials including PREDICT, SMOC-Jnr and Optimise. Kate's research is at the forefront of studies internationally exploring families’ and health professionals’ experiences of genomically guided diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer, and the intersection of these novel approaches and families’ communication and support needs. More recently Kate has expanded her research focus to include the psychosocial impact of novel and emerging treatments for other childhood illnesses, including genetic vision loss and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Through her role as the Academic Lead of the Luminesce Alliance Psychosocial Enabling Platform, Kate leads research capacity building initiatives aimed at ensuring the equitable, inclusive and psychologically safe delivery of paediatric precision medicine.
My Research Supervision
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PhD (Primary supervisor): Investigating the psychological distress experienced by families accessing precision medicine for high-risk paediatric cancer
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PhD (Co-supervisor): Evaluation of the clinical utility of whole-genome sequencing for the diagnosis of cancer predisposition syndromes in children with cancer
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PhD (Co-supervisor): PRISM Engagement with CLINicians Study (PRE-CLIN): Understanding therapeutic decision-making in a study of one
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Combined PhD/Masters (Psychology)(Co-supervisor): Repetitive negative thinking and psychosocial wellbeing in families affected by childhood cancer
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PhD (External supervisor): Exploring the psychosocial impact of genomic sequencing technologies for the diagnosis and management of cancer predisposition in children.
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ILP (Co-supervisor): Understanding patient and caregiver perspectives regarding novel therapeutics for Inherited Retinal Diseases
Previous supervision
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PhD (Joint Primary supervisor): Investigation of the information needs of families pursuing genetic testing and personalised medicine for treatment of high-risk paediatric cancer (2020-2023)
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Honours student project: Parents' and clinicians' perspectives on the novel procedural aspects of precision medicine for high-risk childhood cancer (2022)
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Honours student project: Quality of life in children undergoing precision medicine for high-risk childhood cancer (2021)
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Masters student project: The psychosocial impact of genetic services on families affected by childhood cancer: A study of genetic counselling experiences (2021/2022)
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Masters student project: Parents' experience of family-based whole-genome sequencing for cancer predisposition testing in newly diagnosed paediatric cancer patients (2021/2022)
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ILP Student project: Evaluation of the Walking Alongside resources for health professionals (2020)
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Honours student project (co-supervisor): Health-service and medication use of parents of young cancer survivors: A controlled study of prevalence and predictors of engagement and use (2020)
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Masters student project: Surgeons' experiences delivering precision medicine to children with high-risk cancer (2020)
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Masters student project: A qualitative study of clinicians' and scientists' experiences two years into a precision medicine trial for poor prognosis cancer (PRISM) (2019)
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ILP student project: Evaluation of the By My Side video for families bereaved by childhood cancer (2019)
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Honours student project: Distress, coping and family functioning in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (2019)
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ILP student project: Evaluation of the By My Side resources for families bereaved by childhood cancer (2018)
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ILP student project: Barriers and facilitators to school integration for children with serious chronic illness from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds (2018)
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ILP student project: Impact of childhood cancer on parental intimacy (2017)
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ILP student project: Health service use in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (2017)
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ILP student project: Culturally and linguistically diverse perspectives on long term follow up care for childhood cancer survivors (2017)