New BCRF award for Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield
Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield has been awarded $450,000 by the US Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) to continue work with Professor Valerie Jenkins on educational initiatives to help improve healthcare professionals' communication about the complexity of modern breast cancer treatment. Due to the many scientific advances in our understanding of the biology of breast cancer there are many more treatment options available. Trying to explain the rationale behind the management being offered to anxious patients is never easy. SHORE-C have established a reputation globally for the development, conduct and evaluation of innovative interventions that improve, knowledge, communication skills and self-confidence that aid patients' understanding when HCPs are discussing complex issues. Facilitators in Australia have been trained to run their workshops, and other educational initiatives are being adapted for use in the US and Italy. The BCRF is the largest, most prestigious breast cancer charity in the world and invites research applications from only 260 grantees, 4 of whom have won Nobel prizes. Professor Fallowfield said "We here at SHORE-C, feel honoured and deeply grateful that such an amazing organisation values the research that we are doing here to help HCPs help their patients with breast cancer make more informed and educated choices about their treatment decisions."
News item posted 12/08/2026
Farewell Shirley!
Today we are saying farewell to Shirley May, our senior data manager, who is retiring after 12 years at SHORE-C. We thank her for all her hard work over the years and wish her a happy and enjoyable retirement!
News item posted 15/07/2026
SHORE-C Attends SCRC Symposium
Dr Helena Harder and Research Assistant Niomie Wogan attended the third annual symposium held by the Sussex Cancer Research Centre. They presented a poster titled 'Communication barriers for d/Deaf people with cancer: a scoping review' as part of the CANCODE project. You can view the poster here.
News item posted 25/06/2026
Focus Group Exploring Women's Views on New Preventative Strategies for Breast Cancer
We recently held a series of focus groups with women who had not been diagnosed with breast cancer, to explore views on potential new treatment to reduce the risk of people developing breast and ovarian cancer in the future. The focus groups took place in the second and third week of April and included a presentation on a new potential medication followed by a discussion around he topic facilitated by members of the SHORE-C team. The data from these focus groups are now being analysed.
News item posted 15/05/2026
SHORE-C at ESMO
Professors Fallowfield and Jenkins are in Berlin this week at the ESMO Breast Cancer Annual Congress. They are presenting posters on the evaluations of two of our education programs for healthcare professionals - TARGET 2 and HEARSAY. Further details about the conference can be found here
News item posted 07/05/2026
Inclusive Prehabilitation for People with Cancer - Online Course
I-Prehab online training is now freely available to support anyone who works with adults affected by cancer to make prehab more inclusive. This training was developed as part of an NIHR-funded research project, on which Dr Sally Wheelwright is a co-investigator, and which is listed in our current research pages. You can find the course by scanning the QR code above or clicking the link here: Inclusive prehabilitation for people with cancer - Online course
News item posted 08/04/2026
SHORE-C Celebrates 25 Years!
We're proud to celebrate 25 years of SHORE-C! A quarter of a century of impactful research and education in psychosocial oncology at Sussex and BSMS. Over the years, we've built a strong national and international reputation for research that improves the experiences of people affected by cancer. Our work includes developing patient-reported outcome measures, creating educational initiatives that help assess quality of life, increase participation in cancer clinical trials, reduce treatment side-effects, strengthen communication skills among healthcare professionals, and support patient understanding. The anniversary was celebrated with past and present colleagues reflecting on SHORE-C's achievements and legacy.
News item posted 06/02/2026
INSTEP Video Filming
Dr Sally Wheelwright was filming content for the INSTEP intervention with the Central Media Services team at the University of Brighton today. The aim of INSTEP is to help people who are less active get fitter and stronger ahead of colorectal cancer surgery. Sally is co-leading the project with Dr Luke Hodgson. Many thanks to physio Nikki Dent and volunteer Gilbert Wheelwright for taking part in filming.
News item posted 23/01/2026
SHORE-C at UKIBCS
Professor Fallowfield and other member of the SHORE-C team are at the The UK Interdisciplinary Breast Cancer Symposium (UKIBCS) in Birmingham this week. Here is our research assistant Niomie Wogan presenting her poster on the development of the HEARSAY workshops. You can see the full poster here
News item posted 20/01/2026
Esme is the New Student Representative for the Sussex Cancer Research Centre
Esme Morcom is the new Student Representative for the Sussex Cancer Research Centre. This role plays an important part in strengthening connections between students and the Centre's research community, ensuring student voices are heard and actively involved in shaping opportunities across SCRC. Esme will help to strengthen the connection between students and the SCRC's important work. Over the coming months, she will be putting together student-led interviews and spotlights on the SCRC's research and researchers. If you'd like to be featured, have a project you want to share, or want to help create this content, she would love to hear from you. You can reach her at e.morcom1@uni.bsms.ac.uk. Read about her research: Predicting CRF in Women
News item posted 19/01/2026
Professor Fallowfield is Ranked 5th in the UK and 51st in the World for Oncology Research.
Academics past and present from across the University and the Institute of Development Studies have been recognised in the recently-released ScholarGPS Highly Ranked Scholar listings. The ScholarGPS rankings place the top scholars worldwide, identifying researchers whose cumulative publication achievements and citation impact distinguish them as global leaders in their fields. Professor Fallowfield is ranked 5th in the UK and 51st in the world for Oncology. University of Sussex Staff Hub - Sussex academics amongst the world's most influential scholars
News item posted 19/01/2026
Esme's New Film about her PhD Project
Esme Morcom our new PhD student, working under the supervision of Dr Sally Wheelwright, has produced a short film explaining her PhD project which you can now watch on YouTube
News item posted 10/12/2025