While new medical treatments have extended the lives of Australians with cancer, they face a number of unmet medical and psychosocial needs, even after their treatment has been completed.
Especially for those with advanced or metastatic cancer as their unique care needs are often overlooked; they cannot be cured and do not yet require palliative care.
Harvard Medical School Professor of Medicine, Dr Larissa Nekhlyudov, a physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, along with colleagues in Australia, is developing and launching an innovative training program for healthcare professionals supporting cancer survivors, including those living with advanced or metastatic disease, through a year-long Australia-Harvard Fellowship, sponsored by the Harvard Club of Australia, at Flinders University.
The ‘201/301 training program’ includes masterclasses on clinical care for global healthcare professionals supporting survivors, workshops and video resources. The training also includes hands-on coaching and assessments supported by international experts.
This program is supported by the Australia-Harvard Fellowship (A-HF), an initiative of the Harvard Club of Australia (HCA) Foundation, a nationwide philanthropy based in Sydney.
The fellowships are aimed at creative scientists normally based at Harvard Medical School who have a persuasive plan for collaborative work in Australia with bioscience researchers and educators. The award also supports Australian researchers who wish to follow-up joint initiatives at Harvard Medical School.
As a Visiting Scholar at the National Cancer Institute from 2017-2019, Dr Nekhlyudov developed the Quality of Cancer Survivorship Framework that led to many US and international initiatives.
“Collaboration with my Australian colleagues has led to evaluating the evidence and gaps across many areas in cancer survivorship care, expanded to establish internationally recognised standards that measure the quality of cancer, and advanced our understanding about the unique needs of those living with metastatic cancer,” said Professor Nekhlyudov.
Dr Nekhlyudov’s fellowship will coincide with the annual meeting of the Multinational Association for Supportive Carer in Cancer (MASCC) in June 2025, where the new “201/301” training program will be launched with Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Raymond Chan and other Australian researchers.
Her fellowship will also coincide with the Annual Cancer Council of Australia meeting in Adelaide, where she will collaborate with investigators and clinicians. MASCC is an organisation for supportive care in cancer including members from over 50 countries.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Raymond Chan says the research collaboration with Flinders is the first Harvard Club of Australia fellowship based at the University in almost two decades.
“Flinders looks forward to hosting Professor Nekhlyudov through this valuable fellowship. This initiative offers Australian researchers and clinicians the unique chance to collaborate with experts in their fields.”
“We can now work towards developing a clinical care program at Flinders that provides best-practice resources supported by our research, coaching and assessments.”
“She will also meet with local clinicians in Melbourne and Adelaide and participate in mentoring sessions with students, trainees, and junior investigators as part of this fellowship opportunity. This fellowship will also enable her to provide closer mentorship to Australian PhD students and junior faculty who are currently working in this research area.”
A-HF Director, Dr. Galina Kaseko, says the Harvard Club of Australia’s A-HF program has granted some 84 Fellowships over 22 years, made possible by generous support from HCA Foundation amounting to more than a million dollars.