Cancer Survivorship 101: Perspectives When Undergoing Cancer Treatment and Beyond Treatment

"Perspectives of Adolescents and Young Adults Undergoing Cancer Treatment and Beyond Treatment" with Giselle K. Perez, PhD

Due to the quarantine, we had to cancel our annual in-person Cancer Survivorship 101 event that was planned for June, 2020. Instead, we created a series of video lectures presented here on our website and our YouTube page featuring the speakers that were to be highlighted at the event.

Giselle K. Perez, PhD
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Senior Scientist, Health Policy Research Center at the Mongan Institute Chair, Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Clinical Health Psychologist, Massachusetts General Hospital
Behavioral Medicine Service, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center Survivorship Program

Giselle K. Perez, PhD is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and a clinical health psychologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She has a strong interest in cancer survivorship and behavioral intervention research and is committed to identifying innovative solutions to improve cancer prevention, health care equity, and cancer outcomes among vulnerable, underserved and minority groups, particularly adolescents and young adults. Specific research interests include the development of behavioral and mind-body interventions to promote stress coping and improve overall physical and emotional health outcomes for patients throughout the cancer spectrum.  Clinically, she specializes in working with adolescents and young adults touched by cancer with a focus on managing the unexpected social and emotional challenges that occur after cancer treatment, improving stress and anxiety symptoms, coping with uncertainty, and promoting health behavior change.  In particular, her work examines the physical, psychosocial, and biobehavioral (e.g., stress hormones) effects of stress and stress interventions in cancer patients and survivors.

Survivor Journeys has been a non-profit organization since March, 2015. Its origins, began during the year-long medical quarantine Dr Jay Burton lived through after his stem cell transplant for Acute Myeloid Leukemia which ended in late October 2011. Dr Burton’s emotional and social support experiences prompted speaking engagements about cancer survivorship. The community interest generated from these talks, as well as the lack of emotional and support services for cancer survivors in our region, led to the creation of Survivor Journeys. Learn more at survivorourneys.org