Researcher

Professor Claire Elizabeth Wakefield

My Expertise

Professor Claire Wakefield is a medical psychologist who leads research to improve quality of life for patients with medical illness, especially children with cancer and other life-limiting conditions. Claire is a Professor at the School of Clinical Medicine at UNSW. She is also Director of the Behavioural Sciences Unit at Sydney Children’s Hospital and Co-Director of Child Unlimited, which is a major network of over 200 child health experts across Australia.

Professor Wakefield holds multiple international leadership roles, including being Continental President (Oceania) for the International Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP). Specific responsibilities of the SIOP Continental President Oceania include advocating for children and adolescents with cancer across Oceania, promoting research to improve outcomes for childhood cancer patients across Oceania, facilitating and sharing education and training opportunities for SIOP Oceania members, increasing membership and engagement of SIOP Oceania members in SIOP activities and strengthening and expanding strategic partnerships of relevance to SIOP Oceania. Professor Wakefield also serves on the SIOP Advocacy Committee and the SIOP Membership Committee. She works very closely with the World Health Organisation, supporting the work of the Global Childhood Cancer Initiative.

Twitter: @CEWakefield

Website: www.behaviouralsciencesunit.org

Fields of Research (FoR)

Paediatrics, Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified, Cancer Therapy (excl. Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy), Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology

SEO tags

Child Health

Mental Health Services

Behaviour and Health

Carer Health

Biography

Prof Wakefield has published, or had accepted, more than 280 journal articles and is named as Chief Investigator on competitive research grants totalling more than $50M. She has received numerous awards for her work, including being named as the NSW Premier’s Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow of the Year.

Prof Wakefield holds an Investigator Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and was a Diamond Jubilee...view more

Prof Wakefield has published, or had accepted, more than 280 journal articles and is named as Chief Investigator on competitive research grants totalling more than $50M. She has received numerous awards for her work, including being named as the NSW Premier’s Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow of the Year.

Prof Wakefield holds an Investigator Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and was a Diamond Jubilee International Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton, UK. Her research interests include improving mental health and quality of life in families affected by serious illness, using:

Cost-effective interventions
Novel technologies
Discovery research to identify at-risk and underserviced groups
Translational work to affect change in clinical practice

Research Interests:

Research interests include health psychology; palliative care; advance care planning; precision medicine; genomic sequencing; cancer predisposition syndromes; patient education; assisting families to make difficult medical decisions (e.g. deceased organ donation); and challenges faced by children with complex needs. Currently focussing on paediatric oncology research, with projects ranging from newly diagnosed families, on-treatment families, long term survivors and bereaved caregivers.

Broad Research Areas:

Cancer, Health Promotion, Quality of Life

Qualifications:

BPsych(Hons1), MPH, PhD

Specific Research Keywords:

Childhood Cancer, Psychosocial Issues, Adolescence, Genetics, Mental Health, Psychology, Oncology, Paediatrics

My Qualifications

Registered Psychologist
PhD (Psychology)
Master of Public Health
B Psychology (Hons I)

My Awards

University Medal for Psychology.
Australian Psychological Society Prize.
Higher Degree Research Excellence Award, Macquarie University.
Cancer Research Network Innovation Award, NSW.
Macquarie University Research award for Excellence in Research – Social Sciences, Business & Humanities.
NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award.
Dean’s Rising Star award.
International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) Hiroomi Kawano New Investigator Award.
Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow of the Year.
Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision Award.
Diamond Jubilee International Visiting Fellowship at the University of Southampton, UK.

My Research Activities

Society Memberships & Professional Activities:

International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) (Continental President, Oceania).
International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) (Board of Directors).
International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) Advocacy Committee (Member).
International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) Membership Committee (Member).
International Psycho-Oncology Society Early Career Professionals committee (Founding Chair).
International Psycho-Oncology Pediatrics Special Interest Group (Co-Chair).
The Australian New Zealand Chapter of the Li Fraumeni Syndrome Association, 2018 (Founding Co-Chair)
World Health Organisation Global Childhood Cancer Initiative (Committee Member)
Journal of Psychosocial Oncology Research and Practice (Associate Editor)
iCOPE (interegional Childhood Oncology Precision medicine Exploration) (Advisory Board Member)
Danish Cancer Society Research Centre for Pediatric Oncology, International Advisory Board Member
Starlight Children’s Foundation Health Professionals Advisory Board Member