Supervisor:
Program of Study:
Masters, Epidemiology and Applied Health Research
Project Title:
Prevalence of sexual dysfunction among breast cancer survivors in Canadian women
Lay Research Summary:
Cancer is a disease that affects a lot of people in Canada. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, and statistics show that more women in the Atlantic provinces are diagnosed with it and die from it than in the rest of the country. A new study shows that because of improvements in how breast cancer is treated, women with the disease are living longer and the number of survivors has doubled in the past 15 years. Different breast cancer treatments, like medicines or radiation, kill cancer cells and cause long-term problems. One of these problems is sexual dysfunction. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of research on sexual dysfunction in women who have had breast cancer in Canada. More research can help us figure out how to help them.
The study will be done in two ways. The first way is to use an existing survey from breast cancer survivors from across Canada. The second step is to talk to breast cancer survivors from Nova Scotia in one-on-one interviews. The goal of this study is to find out how many women with breast cancer face sexual problems after treatment and how they feel about their sexual problems so that suggestions can be made for survivorship care.
Career Aspirations:
I intend to pursue my Doctorate (PhD) at Dalhousie University where I will study cancer epidemiology in the Canadian population, especially the intersection of cancer genetics and the high cancer incidence in Atlantic Canada
Location:
Dalhousie University