Leading Change: Breast Cancer Research and Consumer Advocacy

Professor Sharon Kilbreath and Ms Sally Crossing have a lot of things in common, but perhaps the most striking is their refusal to accept the status quo. When both women were diagnosed with breast cancer over 15 years ago, they discovered a significant gap in the knowledge and understanding of life after surgery and a lack of a united voice for cancer patients. This spurred them on to become leaders in their respective fields of research and consumer advocacy. In this talk Professor Kilbreath will present her latest research findings which challenge current treatment practices and beliefs around breast cancer rehabilitation. She will particularly focus on lymphoedema, the painful chronic swelling of the arm or chest which can occur post-surgery. Ms Crossing will discuss her own personal journey, and her passion for influencing the influencers to make a difference for people affected by cancer. She will also reflect on the anniversary of 20 years of the cancer consumer advocacy movement in Australia. Professor Sharon Kilbreath is a Professor of Physiotherapy in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney and a National Breast Cancer Foundation Research Fellow. Sally Crossing AM is living well with advanced breast cancer, having been first diagnosed in 1995. She founded and chaired the Breast Cancer Action Group from 1997, and Cancer Voices, the generic voice of people affected by cancer, from 2000. A Sydney Ideas and Faculty of Health Sciences event on 19 November 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2014/professor_sharon_kilbreath.shtml