Professor Valerie Jenkins is the Deputy Director in Sussex Health Outcomes, Research & Education in Cancer. She originally trained as a nurse in Wales, working in Oncology at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff and then completed her BSc (1986-1989) and DPhil (1993-1996) in Experimental Psychology at the University of Sussex. Her doctorate in neuropsychology was entitled 'Novel Word Association Priming in Amnesic Patients.'
She has worked with Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield's group for the last 29years, first at University College London and then when it transferred to the University of Sussex. Professor Jenkins has worked extensively on research projects aimed at improving our understanding about doctor/patient communication, especially that around randomised clinical trials. The training materials she developed with colleagues are now being used throughout the UK trials community and in other parts of the world. She was the chief investigator for several studies examining the impact of chemotherapy and aromatase inhibitors on cognition in national and international trials. Her other research interests include producing user-friendly patient information films and designing and evaluating ameliorative interventions to help with side effects from cancer treatments eg. and acupuncture to reduce xerostomia in head and neck cancer, and yoga for women recovering from breast cancer surgery.
A series of workshops around the UK building on the previous workshops but incorporating new materials covering extra topics and scenarios.
A randomised controlled trial of axillary treatment in women with early stage breast cancer who have metastases in one or two sentinel nodes. The aim of this trial is to determine whether axillary clearance or radiotherapy can be safely avoided in women receiving chemotherapy and/or hormone therapy following surgery for early stage breast cancer. The trial also explores how aspects of QoL and psychological well-being are affected by fear of cancer recurrence and long term side effects of axillary treatment.
This online survey aimed to gather information from people living with multiple myeloma about their understanding of the condition and the words and phrases used to describe their diagnosis, treatment and support. The survey explored what doctors and nurses said or did that helped or hindered understanding, and what family or friends have said or done that was helpful or not so helpful.
The survey has now closed and the data are being analysed for publication.
This study is investigating if it is acceptable to people with HER2 positive secondary breast cancer with no history of brain metastases to be randomised to surveillance via MRI scanning versus no surveillance.
There is interest worldwide about using a drug called a PARP inhibitor (PARPi) in people with BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene changes. These drugs already work in patients with cancer who have gene changes. We hope that PARP inhibitors given to those with gene changes who do not have cancer will stop a cancer developing. Before doctors can design a chemoprevention trial using this drug, we need to find out the preferences and acceptability of such a study. Initial insights gained from members of the public - in this instance women - will help with trial design and the sort of information required.
We have adapted the one-day face to face HEARSAY workshop to help Healthcare Professionals improve their communication with patients who have metastatic breast cancer into an e-Learning course. We shall compare the e-Learning results (n=60 HCPs) with those from the face to face courses for equivalence, with the aim of providing it as an educational resource to the Royal Colleges.