Call for papers - Cancer in older adolescents and young adults

Olga Husson, PhD, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Netherlands; Erasmus University Medical Center, Netherlands

Dr Husson's research group is embedded in two large research institutes in the Netherlands: Erasmus University Medical Centre (Public Health & Surgical Oncology) and the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Medical Oncology). She leads a world-leading, interdisciplinary team of talented researchers together with her twinning partner (medical oncologist, Prof Winette van der Graaf). Her research group pursues studies focusing on patient-centred outcomes in rare, heterogeneous, underserved, and understudied cancer populations. More specifically, her research group focuses on: 1) short-, long-term, and late consequences of cancer at adolescent and young adult (AYA) age, its risk factors, and the mechanisms behind them; 2) outcomes of people living with a rare cancer—with an emphasis on sarcomas (i.e., tumours of the bones and soft tissues); and 3) health equity research in oncology: ethnic minority groups, LGBTQIA+, and patient involvement. This emerging field of research is challenging, given the combination of limited patient numbers and large patient diversity, requiring (inter)national collaborations and innovative research designs. As a trained epidemiologist with broad methodological expertise, she is well-equipped to conduct extensive qualitative and quantitative studies on these topics. Moreover, she has extensive experience with the development and implementation of health-related quality of life measures (psychometrics) for these populations. She highly values national and international collaborations with diverse stakeholders and has therefore built up a large network that has contributed to the successful acquisition of several large research grants, enabling her to set up large (inter)national cohort studies and research infrastructures. Her dissemination approach follows the principles of a learning healthcare system: results are immediately fed back to relevant networks for knowledge translation, education, and implementation in daily clinical practice.

Rebecca Kehm, PhD, MPH, Columbia University, USA

Dr Kehm is a cancer and social epidemiologist. She received an MPH and PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University. Dr Kehm’s current research aims to identify modifiable early-life factors that are associated with cancer risk, particularly early-onset breast cancer. Her research encompasses a range of cancer risk factors, including social stressors, physical activity, and air pollution. She utilizes family-based cohorts to explore how these external factors interact with genetic susceptibility, and employs biomarkers in breast tissue and blood to study risk throughout the life course. Dr Kehm is translating her epidemiological findings into novel interventions for communities disproportionately burdened by cancer.