Researcher

Dr Ursula Margaret Sansom-Daly

My Expertise

  • Mental health impact of cancer, during and after cancer treatment
  • Psychological aspects of cancer diagnosis and treatment for adolescents and young adults, and their families
  • Best-practice models of mental health support for young people with cancer and their families
  • Interventions and strategies to enhance social connectedness and resilience among young people with serious illness, including cancer
  • Using telehealth and internet interventions with young people with serious illness
  • Young people with incurable/advanced illness, including cancer
  • Palliative care and end of life communication with young people and their families, including using advance care planning tools
  • Supporting healthcare professionals to facilitate high-quality end-of-life communication with adolescents and young adults, including assisting health professionals to navigate sources of stress and lack of confidence around this

Keywords

Fields of Research (FoR)

Paediatrics, Health services and systems, Mental health services, Clinical psychology, Clinical and health psychology, Adolescent health, Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified, Cancer Therapy (excl. Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy), Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology, Cancer and related disorders, Mental Health, Developmental Psychology and Ageing, Oncology and Carcinogenesis

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Biography

Qualifications: B.Psych(Hons), M.Psych(Clin), PhD

Dr Sansom-Daly is a Senior Research Fellow within UNSW Medicine & Health and Deputy Head of the Behavioural Sciences Unit, the largest psychological research group in child/adolescent cancer in Australasia. She is also a clinician-researcher, and is the Clinical Psychologist, Sydney Youth Cancer Service, located across the Randwick hospital campus. Dr Sansom-Daly holds prestigious Early Career...view more

Qualifications: B.Psych(Hons), M.Psych(Clin), PhD

Dr Sansom-Daly is a Senior Research Fellow within UNSW Medicine & Health and Deputy Head of the Behavioural Sciences Unit, the largest psychological research group in child/adolescent cancer in Australasia. She is also a clinician-researcher, and is the Clinical Psychologist, Sydney Youth Cancer Service, located across the Randwick hospital campus. Dr Sansom-Daly holds prestigious Early Career Fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia, and Cancer Institute NSW, and has been a chief investigator on grants worth >$15.4million. Reflecting her dual clinical-research roles, Dr Sansom-Daly focuses on applying evidence-based psychological models and methods to address the mental health implications of cancer among adolescents and young adults with cancer. Her research spans the cancer trajectory, from diagnosis through to survivorship and end-of-life, and she has disseminated this through >65 peer-reviewed publications to date, as well as >45 media appearances. A strong emphasis of Dr Sansom-Daly’s research program is the development of resources and interventions to improve the cancer experience for patients, families, and health-professionals. Current studies include implementing videoconferencing-based mental health support into community settings for young cancer survivors, as well as co-designing advance care planning and communication support resources for AYAs whose cancer may not be curable. 

 

Twitter: @usansomdaly

Website: www.behaviouralsciencesunit.org


My Grants

Dr Sansom-Daly holds prestigious Early Career Fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia, and Cancer Institute NSW, and has been a chief investigator on grants worth >$15.4million.


My Qualifications

  • Registered clinical psychologist (Fellow of the College of Clinical Psychologists and Member of the Australian Psychological Society)
  • PhD (Psychology)
  • Masters of Clinical Psychology
  • Graduate Certificate in Adolescent Health and Wellbeing (Oncology Stream)
  • Bachelor of Psychology (Hons I)

My Awards

Dr Sansom-Daly has received 20 awards in her career to date. In the past few years, she was named one of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)'s Top 5 scientists from across Australia in 2017, and was also selected as the recipient of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia's New Investigator Award in 2017. She received the International Psycho-Oncology Society's Hiroomi Kawano New Investigator Award in 2019, and the Australian Psychological Society's Early Career Researcher Award in 2021. 


My Research Supervision


Supervision keywords


Areas of supervision

  • Mental health impacts of cancer in adolescents and young adults across the cancer trajectory (from diagnosis through to long-term survivorship)
  • Psychological challenges of rare, poor-prognosis, advanced or chronic disease in young people
  • Understanding psychological mechanisms and processes that impact on illness-related adjustment and psychological distress
  • Improving access to evidence-based psychological support for young people with serious illness using online, telehealth and videoconferencing methods
  • Supporting optimal, age-appropriate, compassionate communication around end-of-life and palliative care for young people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses
  • Enhancing workforce capacity and resilience to engage in high-quality end-of-life communication with young people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses
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Location

Kids Cancer Centre, Level 1 South
Sydney Children's Hospital, High Street
Randwick NSW 2031

Contact

0293823114

Videos

Dr Sansom-Daly discusses strategies to enhance the development of rapport and the 'human connection' using telehealth methods, including considerations for different client and patient groups.