IPOS News


  • 17 Jan 2019 4:14 PM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    Wellness House, Chicagoland’s leader in psychosocial support for people living with cancer and their families, is seeking to hire an Executive Director who will join our staff July 1, 2019 and can work alongside our current Chief Executive Officer, who has served the organization since 1990 and will be retiring in December 2019. This 6-month transition period will provide a tremendous opportunity to build relationships with key external stakeholders and assume responsibility for day-to-day operations. The Executive Director will be joining Wellness House as we complete a 2-year plan that has positioned the organization for significant, sustainable growth.

    What Wellness House Offers You

    In 1990, we started Wellness House with a single mission: Wellness House envisions a community where all people affected by cancer thrive. Offered at no cost, and as a complement to medical treatment, our programs educate, support and empower participants so they will improve their physical and emotional wellbeing. Today, we offer a variety of programs and services — exercise classes, nutrition seminars, support groups, and more — that complement medical care with a whole-person approach to healing. Everything we do is to prepare and empower people to fully live life with cancer and beyond. Our experts, specialists and programs focus on the individual needs of people through every step of cancer – before, during and after treatment. We use a psychosocial approach based on research, addressing the whole person – socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually and psychologically. Our staff team of 27 fulfills the mission, created by our Board of Directors, including 27 members, and together, we live our Principles for Action: Community, Accountability, Quality and Innovation.

    What You Offer Us at This Unique Time in Our History

    We are seeking an Executive Director to step in at this pivotal time to provide additional capacity and vision as we finalize our next strategic plan that will guide the depth and breadth of our programs, build upon our strong governance, and grow our fundraising and marketing. We are searching for an experienced, selfmotivated and inspiring leader who can work well with a variety of constituencies, including volunteers, donors/grantors, healthcare professionals, business and community leaders, to engage them in the mission of Wellness House and inspire them to participate in our sustainable growth to meet the growing needs of people affected by cancer. This leader will be able to motivate and energize our staff while effectively managing resources in order to positively impact the lives of our participants in the most cost-effective way possible. In particular, we are looking for a leader who is capable of implementing the organization’s strategic plan, which prioritizes community and medical partnerships in order to reach more people affected by cancer in underserved communities. This leader will serve as a knowledgeable, passionate and articulate spokesperson for Wellness House.

    Key Performance Criteria and Competencies

    The Executive Director is responsible for the implementation of the strategic plan, set by the Board of Directors, and the execution of all day-to-day operations to achieve successful programs to meet the mission and vision of the organization. Relationship building with key external stakeholders at the local and national level is central to sustainability of our activities, including fundraising and oversight of financial management. Strong leadership for the staff includes actively engaging and contributing to a healthy, stimulating, productive work environment where all constituents - participants, staff, volunteers and donors - can “feel better inside.”

    This is a full-time position. Evening and weekend work may be required. Wellness House offices are located in Hinsdale, Illinois.

    Click here to download the complete job posting.

    Click here to find out how you can post a job opening with IPOS.

  • 10 Jan 2019 1:29 PM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    As a board member, I successfully represented IPOS at the Turkish National Psycho-Oncology Congress held between 14 - 16 November 2018. We had more than 700 delegates including policy makers and governmental authorities. The Turkish society membership increased from 41 members to 132 members and counting. 

    We, as the congress organising committee, believe that this congress did make an impact in local agencies settings, and was an eye opener to the many organisations and health centres in Turkey. 

    "We sincerely thank IPOS for being the info point when needed, and proud to be endorsed by this Society and hoping to collaborate more with IPOS, said the congress president Prof. Dr Ali Caykoylu."


  • 1 Jan 2019 12:01 AM | Deleted user

    Video message from IPOS President Maria Die Trill, PhD: 
    https://youtu.be/KBDuOMsHgw4


  • 20 Dec 2018 2:17 PM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    2018 has been a busy year for IPOS. Most of what has been accomplished could not have been done without our many volunteers, committees and special interest groups. Throughout the year, we provide updates on what has been going on. Here is our latest update from IPOS Immediate Past President Luzia Travado.

    Throughout 2018, Luzia has represented IPOS and our members across the globe. Below are four key highlights:

    1.     Received an invite from the president of the Brazilian Psycho-Oncology Society (SBPO) to participate in the August 2018 Brazilian National Cancer Congress and Psycho-oncology National Congress in Belém, Brasil. Luzia represented IPOS as well as delivered a communication skills training workshop. She also participated in several talks:
    • The role and challenges of psycho-oncology in improving cancer care;
    • The value of psychosocial care for cancer patients;
    • Round-table regarding the ‘minimal curriculum for the specialization in Psycho-oncology.’
    2.     Awarded a grant from SPARC/UICC and invited to attend the UICC World Cancer Congress in Kuala Lumpur, October 1-4, 2018. Fellow IPOS Director Chioma Asuzu also attended. Luzia represented IPOS at their General Assembly. At the meeting, Luzia spoke with then president Sanchia Aranda about including ‘Distress management’ in the World Cancer Declaration and in their new program to eradicate Cervical Cancer in the world. After this talk, follow-up to introduce IPOS and its mission was completed by an email to Julie Torode and via discussion with the new UICC president Princess Dina Mired.

    3.     Luzia provided a webcast lecture for the European School of Oncology (ESO) and their e-ESO online learning program on the value of psychosocial care for patients, e-session 444 – 21 June 2018. You can access this webcast by going to https://www.e-eso.net/sessions.do?methodcall=details&idegrandround=901

    4.     With the  European CanCer Organisation (ECCO), Luzia participated as co-chair and IPOS representative on the Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care for Ovarian Cancer. Details can be found by going to https://www.ecco-org.eu/

    Thanks again to all our volunteers for a great 2018! Thanks also to all the support from our members around the world. Until 2019!

    Find out how you can become a member of IPOS in 2019 by going to https://ipos-society.org/membership/apply

  • 12 Dec 2018 3:41 PM | Deleted user

    IPOS Clinical Practice Guidelines – Resources updated

    All current members of IPOS have access to an extensive list of resources collated by our Guidelines Committee. These resources are designed to assist IPOS members in accessing information about key areas of clinical practice where evidence is available, resources to assist in evaluating the quality of guidelines, strategies to implement guidelines and steps to take in the development of new guidelines.

    Most of the resources are clinical practice guidelines. Peer-reviewed journal articles are also cited in some instances.

    There is now information on the following available:

    1. Assessing quality of clinical practice guidelines
    2. Guideline development
    3. Implementation of clinical practice guidelines
    4. Models of psychosocial care
    5. Distress
    6. Depression and Anxiety
    7. Fatigue
    8. Fear of recurrence
    9. Fertility
    10. Sleep disturbance

    11. Suffering - what is the concept and how to respond?
    12. Adolescent and young adults
    13. Survivorship
    14. Advanced disease
    15. Consumer resources
    16. Decision Aids
    17. Sexuality
    18. Integrative Therapies
    19. Pain
    20. Health Professional Communication

    IPOS members can access these resources by going to https://ipos.wildapricot.org/members/guidelines

    Not a current member of IPOS? Find out more by going to https://ipos.wildapricot.org/membership/apply

  • 28 Nov 2018 10:03 AM | John Chagnon (Administrator)

    What are Registered Reports?

    Registered Reports are a new form of empirical article in which the methods and proposed analyses are preregistered and reviewed prior to research being conducted. The cornerstone of the Registered Reports format is that a significant part of the manuscript will be assessed prior to data collection, with the highest quality submissions accepted in advance. This format is designed to minimize bias in deductive science, while also allowing complete flexibility to conduct exploratory (unregistered) analyses and report serendipitous findings Psycho-Oncology is pleased to announce that the journal now accepts Registered Reports. Click here to find out more.

    Why publish a Registered Report in Psycho-Oncology?

    • Benefit from peer review prior to conducting your experiment, data collection and analysis, helping to identify any issues with the study methodology
    • Initial presentation of your research study design will be published after in-principle acceptance followed by full paper publication after further analysis and peer review
    • Improve the potential impact of your research, with the knowledge that your research methodology has been independently reviewed

    How do Registered Reports work?

    1. Submit your research question and study design
    2. The Psycho-Oncology editorial team will then send suitable submissions for peer review
    3. Your article will be rejected or accepted in principle for publication
    4. If your research is accepted, your study design will then be published in the journal
    5. Conduct your study and submit your final article for re-review
    6. If your study matches the approved research plan and draws appropriate conclusions, it will be published, regardless of the findings
    7. The final published article will be linked to your original, published study design

    Click here to submit your registered report.

    CME for Reviewers

    Psycho-Oncology in partnership with Wiley now offers continuing medical education (CME) credit for peer review of manuscripts submitted to the journal. Peer reviewers may request 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ per original manuscript being reviewed. Reviewers may only claim CME credit once per manuscript. Credit claims for additional rounds of review will not be awarded.

    Accreditation and Designation Statement

    John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

    John Wiley & Sons, Inc. designates a manuscript review activity for a maximum of 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

    The American Medical Association (AMA) limits the number of Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits earned through manuscript review to five (5) reviews—or fifteen (15) AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ toward the AMA PRA per year.

    Educational Objectives

    Upon the completion of this activity, the participant will be able to:

    • Enhance their knowledge of psycho-oncology
    • Improve their capacity to recognize and evaluate quality research in psycho-oncology
    • Improve their care of patients by integrating knowledge of psycho-oncology care/treatments into comprehensive cancer care.

    Activity Disclosures

    No commercial support has been accepted related to the development or publication of this activity.

    Faculty and Disclosures

    Editor-in-Chief
    Maggie Watson PhD discloses no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests.

    Associate Editor for Asia
    Richard Fielding BA (Hons), C.
    Psychol, PhD, FFPH discloses no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests.

    Associate Editor for North America
    William Pirl MD, MPH discloses no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests.

    Guest Editors
    Tania Estapé and Elliot Coups disclose no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests.

    Instructions

    To submit a request for CME credit, the manuscript reviewer must complete the required CME questions within their review submission form online. Following submission, your request for credit will then be processed. Please note that requests for CME credit are only possible during initial submission of your review.

    Certificates for all approved requests will be issued out by email on a monthly basis. A copy of your certificate will be held on file by the accredited provider for later access. If you require a replacement copy of your certificates, or if you have any questions regarding the program, please contact the accredited provider at [email protected].

  • 27 Aug 2018 3:22 PM | Deleted user


    IPOS is holding a special training academy for professionals from low-to-middle income countries this fall in Hong Kong. At this time, we are bringing 18 scholars to Hong Kong for this amazing education experience that is sure to benefit many professionals and patients in their local communities.

    Right now we are in need of $2,700 US in order to ensure all 18 participants can fully participate. Your help is needed – you can help make a difference in these communities! Fund are needed for:

    • Training materials and support
    • Travel & Hotel accommodation
    • Congress and faculty fees and expenses

    IPOS is accepting donations online from $1 to as much as you can spare. It’s easy to donate, and secure. With a credit card, you can donate online by going to http://www.karelo.com/register.php?BID=618&BT=10&Ev=15902

    Thanks from your friends and partners at IPOS

  • 13 Aug 2018 3:24 PM | Deleted user

    2018 Arthur M. Sutherland Award and Memorial Lecture Recipient

    Professor Richard Fielding, BA (Hons), Dip Clin Psych, PhD (Hong Kong)

    Richard Fielding graduated in Psychology & Zoology from the University of London in 1974, completed his clinical psychology training in Manchester establishing one of the first cardiac rehabilitation programmes and support groups for women with breast cancer in the UK. After finishing a PhD from the University of Sheffield in medical psychology, he moved east, joining HKU as Assistant Professor in Medical Psychology in 1982. His research interests include social aspects of cancer and optimization of care for patients with chronic illness. He retired from full-time academia in 2017 but remains Honourary Professor of Medical Psychology in Public Health. He was formerly Head of the Behavioural Sciences Unit, and Director of CePORT, the Centre for Psycho-Oncology Research & Training, and of the Health Behaviour Research Group in the School of Public Health at HKU. Professor Fielding is on the Editorial Boards of the journals Psycho-Oncology, Health Psychology and Public Health, amongst others and has authored over 220 peer-reviewed papers, books and chapters. He is a recipient of the BMA Medical Book of the Year Award for his text on Clinical Communication Skills and has served in various board and committee positions of the International Psycho-Oncology Society, and is a founder member of the Asia-Pacific Psycho-Oncology Network. He is currently co-Chair of the Scientific Committee of the 2018 World Congress of Psycho-Oncology.

    2018 Bernard Fox Memorial Award Recipient

    Professor Brian Kelly, BMed (Newcastle), PhD, FRANZCP, FAChPM (Australia)

    Professor Brian Kelly is Dean of Medicine – Joint Medical Program, Head of the School of Medicine and Public Health and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He has a longstanding background in clinical research addressing the psychosocial aspects of cancer and palliative care. Prof Kelly has undertaken large scale longitudinal cohort and intervention studies across mental health, palliative and end-of-life care, and psycho-oncology including research to explore ways to improve identification of psychosocial needs, health service models in psycho-oncology and integration of psychosocial care into cancer services. He has a broad interest in the strategies to improve education and support of health professionals in oncology and palliative care, including methods of clinical supervision and support, education in communication skills, and addressing the impact of care on clinicians. He has conducted research focussed on the patterns of psychiatric symptoms and disorder experienced by people with cancer, the doctor-patient relationship in end-of-life care in cancer, and longitudinal studies of bereavement in the cancer context, focussing on family and caregiver outcomes. His experience also extends to research and clinical service development addressing health care needs and services in rural and remote regions, and the psychosocial needs of Indigenous people with cancer. He extensive experience as a clinician in the field of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry with a focus on oncology and palliative care. Prof Kelly has contributed to national and international leadership roles including the Australian Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group and Chair of the IPOS Governance Committee. As Adjunct Professor in the Department of Oncology, with the Cummings School of Medicine, University of Calgary and Tom Baker Cancer Centre, he has also played a leadership role in the promotion of a unique cross-national collaboration in Psycho-oncology research.

    2018 Noemi Fisman Award for Lifetime Clinical Excellence Recipient

    Dr. Lili Tang, MD (China)

    Dr. Lili Tang is the Director of the Department of Psycho-Oncology in Peking University Cancer Hospital. She is also the first psychiatrist involving in palliative care and psycho-oncology in Mainland China. In 2005, Dr. Tang went to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Tom Baker Cancer center as a visiting scholar. In these two famous Cancer Center, Dr. Tang gained lots of experience and guidance. She provides symptom management and psychotherapy for both outpatients and inpatients. During over last two decades, she and her team have served more than 20000 cancer patients. She edited the first textbook of Psycho-oncology in 2012 and set up curriculum on psycho-oncology for postgraduate students majoring in Clinical oncology in Peking University in 2015. She has been the president of Chinese Psycho-Oncology Society (CPOS) and Beijing Psycho-Oncology Society (BPOS) since 2013. With her effort, CPOS has been developing rapidly and become an academic organization with more than 2000 members. Under her leadership, CPOS helped twenty caner hospitals set up psychosocial services, distributed in 18/34 provinces in China. In 2016, under her advocacy and organization, CPOS published the first Chinese Psychosocial Oncology Therapy Guidelines for Cancer patient in China, which represented a milestone in the development of Chinese psycho-oncology clinical practice. Supported by the funding from Chinese government, Dr. Lili Tang has built international collaboration in Asian, America, Canada and Australia to hold trainings on psycho-oncology, palliative care and doctor-patient communication all over the country and to conduct researches in these fields and her department has been evaluated as the model Unit of Chinese standardized training of psychosocial service and doctor-patient communication in cancer patients (2015.12-2020.12).

    2018 Hiroomi Kawano New Investigator Award Recipient

    Dr. Fiona Schulte, PhD (Canada)

    Fiona Schulte is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology, Division of Psychosocial Oncology in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. She is also a registered psychologist in the Hematology, Oncology and Transplant Program at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Fiona is Vice-President of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology and a member of a number of national and international committees focused on improving the care of pediatric and adolescent cancer patients, survivors and their families. Fiona’s research is broadly interested in enhancing the patient and family experience for patients diagnosed with cancer and improving the psychosocial late effects of childhood cancer survivors. She has been recognized for her research by receiving an International Society of Pediatric Oncology Young Investigator Award and Calgary’s Avenue Magazine Top 40 Under 40.


  • 24 Jul 2018 3:25 PM | Deleted user

    This special interest group brings together and represent the interests of IPOS members with a special interest in Fear of Cancer Recurrence.

    Below is a list of the volunteers sitting on the committee:

    Sophie Lebel (Chair 2017 – 2019) – Canada

    Dr. Sophie Lebel is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa in the School of Psychology. She is also a Clinical Psychologist offering services to individuals coping with cancer and their caregivers. To date she has published 48 papers and has given over 140 conference presentations and workshops. Her research focus is on cancer survivorship, especially fear of cancer recurrence, stigma, sexuality, dyadic adjustment, and fatigue. As part of her work on fear of cancer recurrence, she has validated the English version of the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory, examined the impact of fear of cancer recurrence in young women, and its costs to the medical system. She created a group cognitive-existential intervention to address this fear that was pilot-tested in women with breast or ovarian cancer and later adapted to an individual version. She is currently finishing a randomized controlled trial of this intervention with women with gynecological or breast cancer. Some of her current work involves distinguishing between clinical vs. normal fear of cancer recurrence.

    Allan (Ben) Smith (Deputy Chair 2017 – 2019) – Australia

    Dr Ben Smith is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Oncology Education and Research Translation (CONCERT), Ingham Institute and UNSW Australia. Previously Ben jointly coordinated the ConquerFear study, which found that a novel therapist-delivered intervention (ConquerFear) was effective in reducing fear of cancer recurrence. Ben is leading the development of an online version of ConquerFear to make evidence-based treatment for fear of cancer recurrence more accessible. Ben is also helping advance international research on fear of cancer recurrence through his role as deputy chair the International Psycho-Oncology Society Fear of Cancer Recurrence Special Interest Group.

    Nadine Kasparian (Secretary 2017 – 2019) – Australia

    Nadine Kasparian is an Associate Professor in Medicine at UNSW Sydney, and Head of Medical Psychology at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network Cardiac Service. She currently holds two prestigious fellowships – a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship, and a Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy and Practice from the Commonwealth Fund.

    Nadine has over 100 published outputs, including articles in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Internal Medicine and Genetics in Medicine. She has secured over $20 million in competitive grant funding, delivered over 150 conference presentations, and is the recipient of 26 research awards. She is an executive member of 10 national or international committees, founder and chair of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand’s Mental Health Care Working Group, and inaugural co-chair of the SPHERE Mindgardens Clinical Academic Group focused on reducing the burden of mental illness in children and young people. Nadine is also a practicing clinician and from September 2018, she will spend 12 months working at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

    Nina Moeller Tauber (Early Career Representative 2017 – 2019) – Denmark

    Nina Moeller Tauber, Msc. in Psychology, is PhD fellow at the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University. Nina is currently translating an Australian therapist-delivered intervention for fear of cancer recurrence (ConquerFear) into Danish and developing a group delivered version of the treatment, which will be evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. As a part of FORwards, Nina is also coordinating a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of psychological intervention on fear of cancer recurrence in collaboration with other members of this special interest group.


  • 23 Jul 2018 3:26 PM | Deleted user

    Presenter: William Breitbart MD, Chairman, Jimmie C. Holland Chair in Psychiatric Oncology; Attending Psychiatrist, Psychiatry Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

    Items discussed:

    1. The relationship between meaning and psychological and spiritual well being.
    2. The structure, firms and processes of Meaning Centered Psychotherapy-an intervention designed to sustain or enhance a patient’s sense of meaning.
    3. Rvidence from 4 RCTs demonstrating the efficacy of Meaning Centered Psychotherapy in both Group and Individual formats.
    4. Adaptations of Meaning Centered Psychotherapy for survivors, caregivers, and bereavement.
    5. Opportunities for advanced training in Meaning Centered Psychotherapy.

    This recording is approximately 57 minutes in length. IPOS Members can request a certificate of completion once the webcast survey has completed the webcast survey.

    The recording must be opened and viewed in the Adobe Connect application.

    Webcast purchase options:

    • FREE: Current IPOS Members (members will be asked to input their individual IPOS Member Password (same as used to access IPOS members only section of website) in order to access. If you need it sent to you, please email [email protected].
    • $15 US: Non-members

    Not a current member of IPOS? Find out more by going to https://ipos-society.org/apply/


International Psycho-Oncology Society
1 - 189 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M5A 1S2

244 Fifth Avenue, Suite L296
New York, NY 10001

T: +1 416-968-0260
[email protected]



Follow IPOS

© 2024 International Psycho-Oncology Society 

 Website powered by Funnel Communications Inc.