20 August 2010
Appointments boost cancer care research at Dundee
The School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Dundee has made a number of key appointments to boost research into cancer care.
Nora Kearney has been appointed as Professor of Nursing and Cancer Care, and brings with her to Dundee a team of experienced researchers. In a separate appointment, Dr Alison Harrow has taken up a post as Cancer Research UK Senior Research Nurse.
'We are delighted to have Nora and her team, and Alison, joining us,' said Professor Margaret Smith, Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery. 'This is an exciting time for the School with the creation of the Dundee Cancer Research UK Centre, in association with Cancer Research UK, and these appointments will add considerably to the University’s expertise in this area.'
The Dundee Cancer Research UK Centre was launched in February as Scotland’s first link in a UK-wide chain of CR-UK centres. The Dundee Centre is helping set the pace for national and international progress in bowel, breast and skin cancer.
Professor Kearney is a highly respected clinical academic with an excellent track record in research into the experiences of the people affected by cancer. She has held a range of senior appointments in both clinical and academic settings and, most recently, was the Director of the Cancer Care Research Centre at the University of Stirling.
Professor Kearney will have a key role in building on the excellent progress the School of Nursing and Midwifery has made in developing research, as well as contributing to the development of the Tayside Academic Health Science Centre and the Dundee CRUK Centre.
Professor Kearney has a long clinical career in cancer nursing and previous academic positions at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. She has an established international reputation as a leader in cancer care research and she leads and collaborates on a number of multi-centre research projects in the areas of patient experience, symptom improvement in cancer care - including the use of technology - and cancer and the elderly, and has published widely.
She brings with her to Dundee a significant research programme which is supported by a team of experienced researchers - Dr Bridget Johnston, Roma Maguire, Lisa McCann and Anne Taylor - as well as two PhD Students, Constantina Papadopoulou and Grigorios Kotronoulas.
'The focus of our research is to improve the experiences of people affected by cancer and I believe the appointment of the team is a wonderful opportunity to fully integrate patient-focused cancer care research in the Dundee Cancer Centre,' said Professor Kearney. 'I am very much looking forward to working in the School and enhancing further the excellent research activity at Dundee.'
Dr Alison Harrow has been involved in breast cancer research in a number of capacities since 2002. She completed her PhD in 2006 where she examined the experience of breast cancer from the male partners’ point of view. Her post doctoral work was partly undertaken in Australia and involved examining how visual images influenced women’s experiences of cancer.
She recently relocated back to Dundee from Australia to take up the post of Cancer Research UK Research Nurse in the Dundee Cancer Centre. 'I am excited to be here and promoting the work of Cancer Research UK with the public, patients and health care professionals and developing and supporting cancer nursing research as well as enhancing clinical research across the Dundee Cancer Centre,' said Dr Harrow.
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