Building Careers in Breast Cancer Research
Claudia Grossmann, Ph.D.
Program
Evaluator
Jill Mitchell came to the CBCRP with the ambitious proposal of bridging the fields of anthropology, psychology, and psychoneuroimmunology to better understand how women with advanced metastatic breast cancer deal with their situation. Intrigued by the observation that some breast cancer survivors reported finding meaning and benefit from their experiences with the disease, and that in other diseases this correlated with improved health outcomes, she set out to ask whether this construction of meaning correlated with differences in survivors’ psychological and physiological stress profiles. Jill’s multidisciplinary approach, including in-depth interviews and psychological assessment, drew from her background in anthropology and the psychosocial aspects of cancer. This allowed her to take an integrated approach to address this complex issue of survivorship.
In addition to completing her Ph.D., Jill’s experiences during her CBCRPfunded research inspired her to further her clinical training and obtain a Masters in Social Work. Jill’s current position as an oncology social worker at a community cancer center in Boulder, Colorado, allows her to continue to be involved in the lives of breast cancer survivors. Here she finds that her research experience informs her clinical work on a daily basis. Serving as a team leader in the piloting and development of new innovative and integrative biopsychosocial interventions, Jill continues to work toward the goal of providing more comprehensive care to breast cancer patients.
