‘On the Shoulders of Giants’ is a series of educational online talks where experts will bring their perspectives to encourage and challenge wider thinking within the cancer research community.

Dame Lesley Fallowfield is Professor of Psycho-oncology at Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex where she is Director of the Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C) group.

Clinical trials have become increasingly complex to explain to cancer patients, and the importance of clear and effective communication between healthcare professionals and patients in this area is vital. In this lecture, Professor Fallowfield will cover her fascinating career, and discuss how her research contributions in psycho-oncology have enabled the measurement of quality of life through clinical treatment trials. She will explain how this has helped patients, and will challenge us to consider how we can improve communications with patients throughout cancer research, clinical trials and treatment.

About the speaker

Dame Lesley Fallowfield is Professor of Psycho-oncology at Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex where she is Director of the Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C) group. Dame Lesley originally trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital, London but then did a BSc in Experimental Psychology at Sussex. Research for her doctorate examining the perceptual correlates of optic nerve damage in demyelinating diseases was completed at the Universities of Sussex and Cambridge. In 1991 she became the full-time Director of a Psychosocial Oncology Group and was awarded the first European Chair in Psycho-oncology from University College, London in 1997. Her research interests are wide and include the measurement of quality of life in clinical trials of cancer therapy and the training of communication skills for health care professionals in cancer. She has published over 400 papers, many book chapters and 3 text books. She lectures and runs training workshops throughout the world in psychosocial oncology, quality of life assessment and communication skills. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2016.

NCITA ‘On the Shoulders of Giants’ lecture series

o April 2022: ‘Screening for Cancer: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ with Prof. Michael Baum. Link to blog & recording: https://ncita.org.uk/recording-available-for-professor-baums-ncita-lecture-screening-for-cancer-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly

o May 2022: ‘Is Pursuing “a Passion for Science” a Position of Privilege?’ with Dr Heather Williams MBE. Link to blog & recording: https://ncita.org.uk/recording-available-for-dr-heather-williams-ncita-lecture

o June 2022: ‘Academia & Industry: What are the Ingredients for Successful Collaborations?' with Kieran Murphy and Prof. Evis Sala. Link to blog & recording: https://ncita.org.uk/recording-available-for-academia-industry-successful-collaborations

o July 2022: ‘Striving for Evidence – With and Without a Randomised Controlled Trial’ with Prof. Tom Treasure. Link to blog & recording: https://ncita.org.uk/recording-available-for-striving-for-evidence-with-and-without-a-randomised-controlled-trial

Talking with patients about sad, bad and just plain difficult things