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Brighton & Sussex Medical School

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Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield

Lesley Fallowfield Profile Photo

Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield (DBE, BSc, DPhil, FMedSci)

Professor of Psycho Oncology
E: L.J.Fallowfield@sussex.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1273 873015
Location: Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C), Room 1, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RX

PA: Holly Cowlan
E: H.Cowlan@sussex.ac.uk 
T: +44 (0)1273 873019

Areas of expertise: Psychosocial oncology; quality of life assessment; clinical trials; communication skills for healthcare professionals in cancer

Research areas: Psychosocial oncology; quality of life assessment; clinical trials; communication skills for healthcare professionals in cancer

Biography

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.

Research

Dame Lesley’s research interests include:

  1. Assessment of Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) in clinical trials of cancer therapy developing validated PROs and as the PI for numerous RCTs worldwide with quality of life sub-studies.
  2. Development and assessment of supportive interventions for symptoms & side-effects of cancer and its treatment.
  3. Communication-development & evaluation of innovative training courses and materials to assist healthcare professionals' communicating with patients, their families and with clinical colleagues.

Please visit the relevant sections of the SHORE-C website below.

cLICK HERE to SHORE-C website >