{"id":822,"date":"2019-09-03T07:30:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T07:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/cancerprevention\/?p=822"},"modified":"2019-09-03T07:30:32","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T07:30:32","slug":"five-minutes-with-dr-jo-waller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/2019\/09\/03\/five-minutes-with-dr-jo-waller\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Minutes With: Dr Jo Waller"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our \u201cFive Minutes With\u201d series seeks to discover what are the habits, inspirations and obstacles that have shaped the careers of leading cancer researchers and influencers.<\/p>\n

Dr Jo Waller has recently joined the Cancer Prevention Group as a Reader in Cancer Behavioural Science.\u00a0 Jo\u2019s background is in health psychology and she currently holds a Cancer Research UK Career Development Fellowship which aims to use behavioural science to maximise the impact of cervical cancer control policies.\u00a0 This involves doing research to better understand reasons for non-participation in cervical screening and HPV vaccination to help develop interventions to increase informed uptake.\u00a0 Jo has worked in the field of cancer behavioural science for 20 years, combining qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches to understanding knowledge, attitudes, behaviour and psychological impact across various cancer screening and early diagnosis contexts.\u00a0 She sits on the national advisory committees for the breast and cervical screening programmes in England and is a member of Cancer Research UK\u2019s Early Diagnosis Advisory Group.<\/p>\n

When\/where do you get your best research ideas?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever really had a \u2018eureka\u2019 moment when it comes to research ideas.\u00a0 It\u2019s usually a gradual evolution, helped along by discussions with colleagues, reading papers and listening to talks.\u00a0 I find behavioural science conferences good for theoretical and methodological ideas, and cancer-focused meetings help ensure I can apply those ideas to the right cancer-related questions.\u00a0 Sitting on committees and being exposed to fairly high-level policy discussions helps make sure I\u2019m thinking about research that\u2019s policy-relevant.<\/p>\n

Which failure(s) changed you the most?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not managing to successfully renew our CRUK programme grant in 2017 felt like a huge failure but in the end it\u2019s enabled me to think differently about the future of my research group, what I want to be focusing on, and where I want to be working.\u00a0 It was the first step in a chain of events that\u2019s led to me moving my team to join the Cancer Prevention Group at KCL, which feels hugely positive and very exciting!<\/p>\n

What is the best piece of advice (work or life) you\u2019ve been given?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

My UCL mentor, Professor Elizabeth Murray, once talked to me about the importance of being true to one\u2019s core values so whatever you do at work, you can look in the mirror and feel comfortable with your decision. I think that\u2019s pretty good advice!<\/p>\n

On a more practical note, one of my toughest times at work was coming back from my first maternity leave.\u00a0 Sleep-deprived and struggling, I was tempted to quit. In encouraging me not to, Professor Jane Wardle advised that the right thing to do might not always feel quite right at the time.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how generalisable that advice is (!) \u2013 but in retrospect, pushing through that difficult time and continuing to work was definitely a good decision.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m inspired most by…<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u2026people who care about what they do, who maintain their integrity, who nurture their students and early career researchers and do brilliant research.<\/p>\n

What’s the next big thing in cancer? What will be the game changers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From a screening and behavioural science perspective, I think risk stratification is the big change that\u2019s on the horizon.\u00a0 Adapting screening algorithms to take account of individual risk has the potential to reduce screening-related harm for those at low risk, and focus limited resources on those who stand to benefit most.\u00a0 But this creates some communication challenges \u2013 making sure people understand why screening is changing; ensuring that those being offered less intensive screening don\u2019t feel worried; and making sure identifying a high-risk population doesn\u2019t cause psychological harm.\u00a0 Good behavioural science research alongside the development of risk-based screening approaches should help to maximise acceptability and minimise psychological harm.<\/p>\n

What is your favourite paper that you’ve published in the last 5 years (the one you’re most proud of)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I think I\u2019m most proud of the PIPS study<\/a> which has been assessing psychological responses to primary HPV testing.\u00a0It was a big team effort including five screening laboratories and a huge amount of hard work, especially by my colleague Emily McBride. The study makes it clear that an HPV-positive result leads to a certain amount of anxiety, but that for women getting a positive result for the second time (at 12-month follow-up), the anxiety is much lower. The study has led directly to PHE adding additional information to their HPV-positive results letter to address some of the most frequent sources of confusion and anxiety that our study identified.<\/p>\n

The views expressed are those of the author. Posting of the blog does not signify that the Cancer Prevention Group endorse those views or opinions.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Our \u201cFive Minutes With\u201d series seeks to discover what are the habits, inspirations and obstacles that have shaped the careers of leading cancer researchers and influencers. Dr Jo Waller has recently joined the Cancer Prevention Group as a Reader in Cancer Behavioural Science.\u00a0 Jo\u2019s background is in health psychology and she currently holds a Cancer… Read More »Five Minutes With: Dr Jo Waller<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[100,225,226,283,291,474],"class_list":["post-822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-five-minutes-with","tag-behavioural-scientist","tag-five-minute-with","tag-five-minutes-with","tag-jo-waller","tag-kings-college-london","tag-women-in-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancerprevention.qmul.ac.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}