Visit by Scottish Director of Breast Cancer Now
Mary Allison, the recently appointed Director of the Scottish arm of the charity: Breast Cancer Now, visited the Medical School on 11th February. Professor Gerry Humphris acted as host to give Mary Allison a tour of the building to examine the bespoke facilities we enjoy here to analyse in depth the interactions between front-line health care staff and patients. Breast Cancer Now have awarded Gerry Humphris a pilot grant to test feasibility of audio recording radiotherapy staff with patients during their radiotherapy treatment and assessment of key psychological responses to treatment. A key question that will be investigated is the function of regular consultation reviews on the development of recurrence fears. The visit also included some detailed discussions with the Research Assistant (Yuan Yang) linked to the project, Dr Gozde Ozakinci and her interest in physical activity of patients to prevent recurrence and David Crossman, our Dean of Medicine. Breast Cancer Now are planning to expand their research portfolio and announced last week a new agreement with major pharmaceuticals to push ahead independent research for the benefit of patients.