IPOS News

I am Melba D’Souza, registered nurse and a nurse educator at Nursing and Population Health, Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. My program of research addresses decision-making, public policy, and health promotion for improving the health and well-being of people living with cancer and diabetes mellitus among immigrants, refugees, the elderly, and 2SLGBTQ+ in rural communities. My inspiration to work is promoting healthy public policy and practices which promote human rights, sovereignty, and social justice to be examined beyond the distribution of resources to include the recognition of differences and inclusion of voices of non-dominant groups in society to move toward greater equity, diversity, inclusivity and healthy policies for people. I have applied an intersectionality lens to promote inclusion, social justice, critical cultural analysis, examining access to healthcare, and use of healthcare resources to reduce health disparities, which is aligned with the work of the International Psycho-Oncology Society and Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology. My research in psychosocial oncology is focused on social, gender, and cultural issues facing people affected with an illness spectrum, and the need for continuity for developing better coordination of healthcare services and reducing the impacts of environmental health on psychosocial, emotional, and mental health outcomes.

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Hi all, I am currently a clinical fellow of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NY, USA. After doing my medical school in India I finished my Psychiatry residency from SUNY Downstate Medical Center and then came onto this 1 year clinical fellowship.

My primary interest in Psycho-Oncology grew from a reading of Dr. Viktor Frankl's works, and then was further strengthened by witnessing Dr. William Breitbart's application of Frankl's meaning centered approach to the psychological symptoms in Cancer. At present, I feel Psycho-Oncology is still a nascent field, yet an extremely promising one. The IPOS is serving as a global scaffold for people who would be eager to learn from each other about this fascinating field. Would like to contribute in any way possible. 

Interesting fact: I am an avid reader and a history buff, in particular WW2. Also play amateur guitar.

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Giedre Bulotiene is a Licensed Psychiatrist counseling cancer patients and their families for more than 20 years. In 2007 Giedre Bulotiene defended her doctoral thesis " Factors influencing emotional status and quality of life of women with early stages of breast cancer“. G. Bulotiene is the author of more than thirty scientific publications. Her research interests: distress, depression and suicidal risk in cancer patients; efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions in cancer care and factors reducing the professional burnout of medical staff. G. Bulotiene is an Assoc. Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University. She is supervising bachelor‘s and master's thesis and conducting lectures and seminars on psychosomatics/psycho-oncology. In 2021 G. Bulotiene published a book "Peculiarities of doctor communication in the face of death. Methodical recommendations“. In 2016 G. Bulotiene was a leader of the international project “Efficiency research of Internet-based psychological treatment for cancer patients”; 2011 – 2013 - leader of the international project "Improving access to psychosocial services for oncology patients and their families by strengthening NGO”. G. Bulotiene is a member of the International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) and of Palliative Care subcommittee (SIG). She is a former president of the Lithuanian Psychosocial Oncology Association 2007 -2017.

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Dr. Balfour is triple board-certified in psychiatry, dermatopathology and anatomic pathology and is Ivy-league trained. She started Discreet Medical, PC to focus on patients with mental challenges and comorbid conditions. She is one of the few experts in psycho-oncology and psycho-dermatology in the world, and serves as Assistant Clinical Professor in both the Departments of Psychiatry, and Pathology/Cell Biology, at Columbia University in New York. Dr Balfour enjoys her work and provides compassionate care to her patients.

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Mexican psychologist from the Faculty of Psychology, UNAM; Master Degree in Behavioral Medicine, UNAM. Actually I’m a PhD Candidate, UNAM. Currently I’m work at the bone marrow transplant clinic and survivorship clinic of the National Institute of Pediatrics, Mexico. I’m a teacher in Faculty of Psychology, UNAM. My line research is: fear of recurrence in childhood cancer survivors and their caregivers, psychosocial factors associated with bone marrow transplantation in children and their caregivers. I attended and presented at the IPOS congress in Toronto, Canada, in September 2022. I love to travel.

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I am a Kenya registered oncology nurse who is currently practicing by empowering the nurses to specialize in the field, am passionate about passing oncology nursing knowledge and looking forward for this speciality field to grow. My involvement with IPOS has enlightened my approach in teaching on psycho-counselling and approach my knowledge has been sharpened, am music and love to engage my patients and students as a way of therapy. 

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El Colegio de Profesionales en Psicología de Costa Rica, les invita a participar del I Congreso Internacional de Psicooncología: Impulsando la atención oncológica de calidad, a realizarse el próximo 22, 23 y 24 de marzo, 2023, modalidad virtual.

Más información: http://www.congresopsicooncologiacr.com

Realice su matrícula, ingresando en el siguiente enlace: http://bit.ly/3vYiJl5

Descarga el programa: http://bit.ly/3JGvhFE

Evento en idioma español. Abierto a profesionales de la salud.

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Thursday, March 30, 2023 04:30 PM in Greenwich Mean Time

Convert to your timezone: https://tinyurl.com/RisingStarTimezone

Presenters:

1. Billy Rosa, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA
2. Fabiola Müller, Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands
3. Maya Sravannthi, Indian Institute of Technology, India
4. Lauriane Giguère, University of Ottawa, Canada

Moderators:

1. Lauren Heathcote (IPOS Early Career Director)
2. Helena Lewis-Smith (IPOS ECPP SIG Co-Chair)
   
   

This IPOS webinar will showcase new research directions in psycho-oncology around the world. Four 'Rising Star' researchers in psycho-oncology will give flash talks on their research. Our rising stars will also share one challenge they have overcome as an early career researcher in pycho-oncology.

This Webinar is FREE for all and may be recorded.

REGISTER TODAY! Go to https://stanford.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Am8l2nypSo6NBGLN0cNM_A/

Lic María Fernanda Montaña, She is psychologist from Argentina.  She works in the field of psycho-oncology since 2005 in research, clinical practice and teaching. She started her training with oncology patient trough a fellowship in the public hospital (oncology department - Carlos Durand Hospital) for 12 years. Later she had a postgraduate course of Psycho oncology at UCA and INC (National Cancer Institute of Argentina) and got a Master in Palliative Care at Palmas de Gran Canaria University. In September 2014 She was the Winner of the first Dr Schavelzon Award of the Argentinian Medical Asociation (AMA). Since 2021, and she is the Vice President of the Commitee of Psycho-Oncology at the AMA. Since October 2016 she is Staff of the Oncology Department at the Británico Hospital (Coordinator of the Psycho-oncology Area), member of the Psycho-oncology Group at Aleman Hospital, and since 2021 coordinator of the Psycho-social area at Lalcec. In the field of education she is Professor and Director of the postgraduate diploma of Psycho-oncology at UCA (Argentinian Catholic University), Professor of the Master of Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care at the UEMC (Miguel de Cervantes European University), Teacher of the Master of Psycho-oncology at the Favaloro University, Vice director of the Psycho Oncology Post graduate course at the Argentinian Medical Association. She received training for Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for advanced cancer patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and she did and observership in MSKCC too . She is a member of FIPOL (Latin American Oncologic Psychosocial Oncology Research Training). She is currently researching about existential suffering at the SIG of suffering at the Britanico Hospital, interested in developing the Psycho-Oncology field in Argentina, as well as in Latin America, with the aim of supporting compassionate care.

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I am a Consultant Psychiatrist, currently based at the Mental Health Hospital of Thessaloniki, Greece. I practice psycho-oncology at a demanding clinical setting, as I managed to organise an outpatient clinic for cancer patients in my Hospital. After I completed my CCT in Psychiatry, I moved to Manchester and London UK where I had the opportunity to expand my knowledge working in Hospitals like The Chistie's or King's College Hospital. I became a full time substantive Consultant at West London NHS Trust and also became the Lead Consultant for WEMSS. Moreover I am an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College London. I have been a member of IPOS since 2013 and have received valuable support in order to obtain the NCCN licence for the Distress Thermometer and validate it in Greek cancer patients for the first time. Currently I continue my research work with a post-doc project in Psycho-oncology and also provide teaching for medical students and SpRs and for the Hellenic Open University.

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