Professor Alexandra (Sandie) McCarthy leads the multidisciplinary Living Well with Cancer Program at Mater Research, with a large team of international investigators. Sandie’s research is concerned with the prevention and management of the side effects of cancer treatment, with the aim of helping people with cancer to function as well as possible during and after treatment. She is the author of over 130 scientific publications in this field, including several highly-cited Cochrane systematic reviews.
Sandie is also the Director of the Women’s Wellness after Cancer Program within the DAWN Women’s Wellness initiative, an international collaborative spanning Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The objective of DAWN is to reduce women’s risk of chronic disease by maximising their wellbeing through holistic lifestyle intervention. Researchers within this program are particularly focused on the pragmatic translation of their wellbeing interventions, using rigorous clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence from their studies to drive change in the health policy and practice to benefit women at risk. This has been very successful. For example, the Women’s Wellness after Cancer lifestyle program is now standard practice in several not-for-profit, public and private cancer services in Australia, with feasibility testing currently underway in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Sandie is Associate Editor of the highly-regarded European Journal of Oncology Nursing and peer reviews for many other cancer journals. She regularly serves on NHMRC panels and reviews, e.g., Project, MRFF, Development and e-Asia Research initiatives. She is an active member of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia’s (COSA) Exercise Oncology Committee, which produced the Position Statement on Exercise During Cancer Care. A past-Chair of the Cancer Nursing Society of Australia’s (CNSA) Education Committee, Sandie currently serves on CNSA’s Research Committee.