IPOS News


  • 27 Sep 2021 9:29 AM | John Chagnon (Administrator)
    Original Article
    A cross-sectional study of breast pain in a diverse population of breast cancer patients
    Jami Fukui, Erin Bantum, Madison Meister, Shannon Lim, Ashley Davidson Marumoto, Ian Pagano

    Comparing online support groups with psychoeducation versus psychoeducation alone for distressed breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial
    Mohamad Baydoun, Michael Speca, Jill Taylor-Brown, Joanne Stephen, Katherine-Ann Piedalue, Jill Turner, Linda E. Carlson

    Does undertaking genome sequencing prompt actual and planned lifestyle-related behavior change in cancer patients and survivors? A qualitative study
    Sabina Vatter, Nicci Bartley, Megan Best, Ilona Juraskova, Chris Jacobs, Mandy L. Ballinger, David M. Thomas, Phyllis Butow

    Decision-making context of women who have undergone surgical treatment for breast cancer: a qualitative exploration of patient perspectives
    Georgia Darmonkow, Elizabeth Dicks, Rebecca Roome, Joanne Chafe, Charlene Simmonds, Holly Etchegary

    Enhancing access to sustainable cancer supportive modalities: the roles of interactive health communication and trained volunteers
    Samar Attieh, Carmen G. Loiselle



  • 24 Sep 2021 12:09 PM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY POSITION MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING (MSK) CANCER CENTER invites applications for a full-time psychologist position in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. This faculty position will focus primarily on clinical care and will also have opportunities for teaching and conducting collaborative research. This position will provide psychological care at two of MSK’s regional sites, with an in-person presence one day a week at MSK Westchester and MSK Bergen. The position will also provide care to patients in Manhattan and will be a mix of in-person and telehealth. The candidates should have clinical experience and appropriate training in working with adult cancer patients and their families. This position will work with cancer patients, and their families and caregivers, with a variety of cancer diagnoses and cancer stages. This full-time position provides a unique opportunity for a blend of patient care, program development, and collaborative research. The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences currently has over 40 full-time faculty with wide interests in psycho-oncology clinical care, teaching, and research. This search is open to potential candidates at all levels of career experience and appointments will be made at an academic level commensurate with the appointee’s experience. All faculty hold academic appointments at the Weill Cornell Medical College. Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. MSKCC provides excellent benefits including faculty housing benefits. MSKCC is an Equal Opportunity /Affirmative Action Employer. Women and minority candidates are encouraged to apply.

    Email a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for at least 3 references to:

    Christian J. Nelson, PhD Chief, Psychiatry Service Attending Psychologist, Member
    c/o Laurie Schulman
    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
    641 Lexington Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10022
    Email: [email protected]

    Have a job position to advertise? Find out more by going to https://ipos-society.org/ads

  • 20 Sep 2021 10:06 AM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    I am currently involved in numerous research projects which explore childhood cancer survivors’ health and wellbeing, specifically their physical and psychological outcomes in long-term survivorship. Christina is particularly interested in cancer survivors’ health behaviours and engagement, as well as patient education, empowerment and self-advocacy. This is incredibly important given the often multiple and complex health problems that families must manage after their child finishes cancer treatment, and well into adulthood. My PhD focused on developing a model of care for the long-term follow-up of childhood cancer survivors and included data from the ANZCHOG Survivorship Study, involving one of the largest cohorts of Australian and New Zealand childhood cancer survivors in Australasia.

    I have been a member of IPOS for many years now, and particularly active in the IPOS Paediatric SIG. I am an Editor for the quarterly Pediatric Psycho-Oncology Professionals and Providers International (POPPI) newsletter, which is an international and interorganizational collaboration between IPOS, SIOP and APOS aimed at fostering international communication between clinicians and researchers in the field. More recently, I have joined the IPOS Survivorship SIG and look forward to contributing to important survivorship initiatives to advance research and care for families in cancer survivorship.

  • 13 Sep 2021 2:57 PM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    My name is Ozan Bahcivan, and I am the Founding Director, and Health Psychologist at OZ Psychology Family Counselling Centre (Özel Oz Psikoloji Aile Danışma Merkezi) in Izmir, Turkey. I come from an Australian – Turkish background and have lived, worked, and received formal education in several countries including Australia, United Kingdom, Turkey, and Spain. This enabled me to better understand cultural sensitivity and the role of language when developing psychological and psycho-oncological interventions. Since I discovered that health psychology and psycho-oncology are in their infancy stages in Turkey, this motivated me to settle in Turkey; and found opportunities to pioneer in these scientific areas through national congresses, symposiums, and training programs. I adapted and validated numerous psycho-oncological assessment tools in Turkish language and culture with my colleagues, such as Cancer Coping Questionnaire (CCQ), Emotion Thermometer (ET), and Mini Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale. In fact, I contributed to the first original health psychology academic book in Turkish language and authored the “Psycho-Social Palliative Care” chapter with my colleague.

    I was elected as an Early Career Director of International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) and served IPOS between 2017 – 2019, I am very thankful and grateful to Dr David Kissane for his nomination! Currently I am the liaison person of IPOS in Turkey. During my service in 2018, with the support from the Early Career Professional Committee we successfully initiated the first ever Clinical Case Symposium at IPOS Congress in Hong Kong, I specially thank to Dr Michelle Peate. Because the IPOS family is so welcoming and opens many doors for networking; I received many supports from Dr Tania Estapé and Dr Habil Dégi Csaba who are the board members of IPOS, I now consider them as a lifelong friend of mine! Indeed, I co-authored an international study about personality traits of cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemic which was recently published; thanks to Dr Simone Cheli and Dr Gil Goldzweig. I am part of the editorial board of the Journal of Psychosocial Oncology Research and Practice which is the official journal of IPOS. In 2019, I have made to the final for the “Professional Achievement Award” category at the British Council’s Alumni Award in recognition of his improved cancer patient care.

    I founded the Turkish Psycho-Oncological Association (Türk Psiko-Onkologlar Derneği) to provide upskill trainings to mental health professionals who work with cancer patients and their caregivers. Shortly our national association became a federation member of IPOS to represent Turkey in the international psycho-oncology community. I am the Izmir Representative of the Psycho-Oncology Association (Psiko-Onkoloji Derneği) in Turkey to raise psycho-oncology awareness among public. Lastly, I established and coordinated the Division of Health Psychology within Turkish Psychological Association (Türk Psikologlar Derneği) which is a member of the European Federation of Psychologist’s Associations (EFPA).

    Beside the above mentioned works, I currently run and coordinate national and international projects in cancer care and happy to collaborate with other professionals in psycho-oncology.

  • 7 Sep 2021 10:15 AM | John Chagnon (Administrator)


    XU Lei (family name is Xu), RN, PhD
    Supervisor nursepostdoctoral fellow at School of nursing, Fudan university (Shanghai, China)

    My study experience

    • 2005-2010 China medical universitybachelor in nursing
    • 2013-2018 China medical universitydoctor in nursing

    My work mainly focuses on research and teaching.

    • Teaching coursesNursing management, Oncology nursing, Nursing research
    • Area of researchoncology nursing(breast cancer and gastrointestinal cancer), evidence-based nursing, realist methodology, qualitative study

    Publications:first author) 5 papers including 3 SCI papers

    Research Projects (as PI): 5 projects including 1 provincial level project and 4 school level projects

    Textbooks Editing: Modern Clinical Nursing, Clinical Nursing "Three basic" Training Questions Bank, Geriatric Nursing Training Course, Medical Care-giver Training Courseetc.

    IPOS experience: Member since 2017. I attended 2018 and 2019 IPOS World Congresses. One was poster exhibition in 2018, Hong Kong and one was doing a oral presentation in 2019, Banff. Now I volunteer with two IPOS Special Interest Groups (SIG) – Education SIG of palliative care and Survivorship SIG.


  • 31 Aug 2021 2:20 PM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    The IPOS Survivorship Special Interest Group (SIG) was established in June 2020

    The Group has been very active in the last 12 months or so. We have:

    • produced information about common challenges during cancer survivorship and collected tools and resources at https://ipos-society.org/survivorship-special-interest-group
    • hosted two webinars: on managing sleep problems, and about health behaviours and fear of cancer recurrence (the latter in partnership with the FORwards SIG) – recordings available on the IPOS website
    • completed an audit of survivorship-focussed presentations from the last four World Congress meetings
    • begun an audit of national cancer control plans to ascertain national positions on psycho-oncology and survivorship
    • commenced work on an international survey of current psycho-oncology practices in the post-treatment survivorship phase

    For more information, please check out the public and members only sections of the IPOS website or email [email protected] (current SIG chair).


  • 30 Aug 2021 9:53 AM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    Mi nombre es Rodbin Campos Lobo, nací en Costa Rica el cual es un país ubicado en el centro del continente americano con una extensión total de 51,100 km2, una población de aproximadamente 5 millones de habitantes, el cual cuenta con playas exóticas, bosques majestuosos y un clima de verano, prácticamente durante todo el año. Costa Rica se caracteriza por ser pacifista, no tiene ejército desde 1948, cuenta con un sistema de salud público, el cual es uno de los mejores del mundo en cobertura nacional y universalización.  

    Desde 2001, trabajo con pacientes con cáncer, familiares  y profesionales dentro del sistema nacional público en salud (CCSS). He contribuido y participado en propuestas de mejora liderado por el consejo técnico oncológico de la CCSS, así como, proyectos de fortalecimiento a la atención de la población adolescente y adulta con cáncer en Costa Rica.

     Soy coordinador de la unidad de psicooncología del departamento de hemato oncología del Hospital México en San José Costa Rica, Profesor de la Universidad de Costa Rica, miembro del consejo genético oncológico en Costa Rica, miembro fundador de la red latinoamericana de psico oncología, miembro activo de IPOS y Co-Chair de LASSIG - IPOS 2021 – 2023.

    Creo, fielmente, en que el paciente y su familia con cáncer, merecen recibir lo mejor por parte de los profesionales que les atendemos. Es por eso que al ser miembro de la IPOS, somos un faro que estando unidos, llevamos luz a situaciones y contextos desfavorables, sombríos y oscuros. 

  • 27 Aug 2021 10:46 AM | John Chagnon (Administrator)


    The IPOS Palliative Care Special Interest Group Education Sub-Committee invites IPOS members and non-members to attend a special webinar and roundtable panel discussion on the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the field of palliative care held Thursday, October 21, 2021 9:00am to 10:30am ET. In this webinar, an international panel of Palliative Care experts will present the latest information about the pandemic and how it is impacting the health of individuals, families, communities and palliative care providers.

    The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound and worldwide impact on individuals, families, communities and healthcare providers, and the field of Palliative Care, with its focus on reducing suffering, is playing an important role in caring for the sick and dying. In both developed and developing countries the global pandemic has dramatically altered the death and dying process and has challenged our capacity to care for patients and to support families and healthcare providers. In this webinar, an international panel of Palliative Care experts will describe the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the world and will participate in a roundtable discussion to examine some of the key challenges and opportunities for palliative care patients, families and providers. Issues such as palliative care practice, resource management, end of life practices, grief, dying alone, and provider fatigue and resilience will be explored.

    Speakers confirmed to date:

    1. Lilli Tang, MD Director, Psycho-Oncology, Peking University Cancer Hospital  Beijing Cancer Center, China
    2. Mevhibe Hocaoglu, PhD Research Associate, Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care Policy & Rehabilitation, Kings College, UK
    3. Jennifer Kapo, MD Chief, Palliative Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, USA
    4. Isabel Centeno, MEd, Psycho-oncologist, PHD candidate, IPOS Palliative Care SIG Education Committee, board member and professor. Unidas Contigo, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross México.
    5. M.R. Rajagopal, MD Chairman, Pallium India, India
    6. Miriam Mutebi, MD Assistant Professor, Surgery, Aga Khan University and Vice President of East Africa of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer, Kenya
    7. Jennifer Philip, Professor of Palliative Medicine at Peter MacCullum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia.
    8. Harvey Chochinov, OC OM MD PhD FRCPC FRSC, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry University of Manitoba, Senior Scientist, CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute, Canada

    Moderators

    1. Dwain Fehon, PsyD IPOS Palliative Care SIG Education Committee Chair, Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, USA
    2. Devi Kainikkara IPOS Palliative Care SIG Education Committee Co-Chair, PhD Scholar, Department of Psycho-Oncology, Cancer Institute (WIA),  India

    For more details about our speakers and moderators, please click here.

    Registration:

    • Free for IPOS members
    • $10 USD for non-members

    To register, please go to https://ipos-society.org/event-4468463

    This event will be recorded and may be made available for purchase at a later date. There are no refunds.

  • 26 Aug 2021 2:03 PM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    The Awards Committee consists of seasoned IPOS members from across the World that have in-depth insight into IPOS operations, vision and mission. With this knowledge, the members of the Awards Committee have a broad view of the clinical and scientific activities, which characterize the members of IPOS.

    Every year we receive nominations for the IPOS Awards. We review the suggestions and ask senior members of IPOS to assist in the reviews (we monitor closely to avoid any potential conflict of interests). Once the reviews are complete, we establish a consensus as to which candidate should receive each of the awards available. 

    The awards are officially presented annually at the World Congress award ceremony in collaboration with the local world congress committee and the Board of Directors of IPOS.

    To find out more about submitting an award nomination(s), please go to https://ipos-society.org/awards

    To find out more about previous IPOS Award winners, please go to https://ipos-society.org/awards/winners


  • 23 Aug 2021 1:20 PM | John Chagnon (Administrator)


    My name is Nienke Zomerdijk and I am an early career researcher in Psycho-Oncology. My role is focused on both research and teaching. I am teaching undergraduate psychology students about the psychological needs of cancer patients and their families. I find this very rewarding and it is my hope to plant some psycho-oncology seeds. In my role as researcher, I am focused on understanding and addressing the psychological needs of people with cancer and their families. I am particularly passionate about haematological cancers. From my clinical experience in this setting, haematological cancer patients face additional challenges of intensive and lengthy treatments like stem cell transplantation and severe side effects. However, compared with cancers such as breast cancer or, increasingly, prostate cancer, the needs of this patient population have not received widespread attention. I hope to advocate for their needs and preferences and work together with community organisations and healthcare professionals to ensure the best psychosocial outcomes for haematological cancer patients.

    Being a member of the International Psycho-Oncology Society - IPOS represents for me a community. IPOS has supported my research journey since 2016 when I was just starting my PhD. When I was blown away by the community, passion, and ideas at my first congress in Dublin, I knew I loved psycho-oncology. I am among the most fortunate people to have had the opportunity to learn from Prof Jane Turner, past IPOS president. She instilled in me the confidence to pursue a career in Psycho-Oncology and I am forever in her debt.

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