A leading researcher on the psychological effects of cancer, Professor Suzanne Chambers AO, is the next Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney.
Professor Chambers is currently Director of the Menzies Institute at Griffith University. She is a health psychologist and registered nurse and has worked as a practitioner and researcher in psychological support for people with cancer for over 25 years.
She has published extensively on the psychological effects of cancer and is currently leading large scale randomised controlled trials of interventions that address couple support and sexuality, lifestyle and unmet supportive care needs, and psychological distress of men with prostate cancer, with over 7000 citations of her work from leading journals in the field.
Since 2004 she has been chief investigator on successful research grants valued at over $28m from sources including NHMRC, ARC, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Cancer Australia, Beyond Blue and Cancer Council Queensland.
Professor Chambers is currently chair of the Quality of Life and Supportive Care Committee for the Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group and is also affiliated with Cancer Council Queensland and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. She holds adjunct professorships at Edith Cowan University, the University of Queensland and University of Southern Queensland.
“Importantly for UTS, Professor Chambers has extensive experience leading health research and practice across disciplines and with external partners, and she is passionate about health education in the context of the dynamic and changing community expectations on healthcare at all stages of life,” said UTS Provost Professor Andrew Parfitt.
“The selection panel was impressed by her breadth of vision for interdisciplinary and interprofessional health research and education across UTS and the national and international leadership role we can play with key partners as we develop our Health Strategy in the future.”
Professor Chambers was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours for distinguished service to medical research, particularly in the area of psycho-oncology, and to community health through patient care strategies to assist men with prostate cancer.
Professor Chambers will join UTS in December following the retirement of Professor John Daly, who has held the deanship for the past nine years. In the interim Professor Fiona Brooks will be acting dean for the faculty.
- The Director of the Menzies Institute at Griffith University, Professor Suzanne Chambers, has been appointed the next Dean of Health at UTS
- Professor Chambers is a health psychologist and registered nurse who has worked as a practitioner and researcher in psychological support for people with cancer for over 25 years