University of Galway Clinical Research Nurse Gráinne McDonnell has been awarded an Irish Cancer Society PhD Research Scholarship to investigate how people can be better supported after completing breast cancer treatment. The Irish Cancer Society is the largest voluntary funder of cancer research in Ireland, investing approximately €4 million annually to support over 100 cancer researchers and clinical trials across leading hospitals and academic institutions.

Gráinne, who works with the Advanced Therapies and Cancer Trials Group at the HRB Clinical Research Facility, University of Galway, has been awarded the Irish Cancer Society’s €145,000 Survivorship Research Award to support her PhD research.

Her research will focus on developing and evaluating a nurse-led transition intervention for people in the West and North-West in the weeks and months after breast cancer treatment.

Gráinne’s work is currently funded by the National Breast Cancer Research Institute (NBCRI) as part of the University of Galway Signature Partnership. Her experience in breast cancer clinical trials has informed her interest in survivorship and in what happens for patients once active treatment ends. The award recognises her expertise in breast cancer clinical research and the importance of developing an evidence base for survivorship care.

Working with supervisors Professor Aoife Lowery, associate professor of surgery, and Dr Veronica McInerney, cancer clinical trials programme manager, Gráinne will draw on her experience in breast cancer clinical trials as she examines the unmet needs and symptoms people experience after treatment. Patients and healthcare professionals will then help explore the unmet needs of people in the early period after breast cancer treatment and use those findings to co-design and test a nurse-led survivorship transition intervention for the West and North-West.

Gráinne McDonnell said: “Through my work with people with breast cancer, I’ve seen the unmet needs that can emerge when treatment finishes. Completing treatment is a huge milestone, but it can also be a very uncertain time. People may still be dealing with fatigue, anxiety, physical changes or concerns about recurrence, while their contact with the hospital becomes less frequent.

“I want to better understand that transition and develop a practical way of supporting people through it. It is important that this research is shaped by people who have actually gone through breast cancer treatment, alongside healthcare professionals, so that what we develop reflects what people really need.”

Professor Aoife Lowery said: “As a breast surgeon, I see patients through diagnosis and surgery, but the hardest part for many of them starts after treatment ends – fatigue, fear of recurrence, changes in body image. Some of the most important questions in survivorship come from nurses who are often closest to the patients during cancer treatment and follow-up.  Supporting Grainne to lead PhD research in breast cancer survivorship is a real opportunity to turn her unique insights as a clinical trials nurse into evidence that can change care for women living through and beyond cancer treatment.”

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) is central to the project, allowing people who have experienced breast cancer to contribute to the research and proposed intervention. Gráinne has helped establish cancer PPI activity across the West and North-West region, giving patients and public participants an opportunity to help shape research and services.

Cancer survivor and PPI partner Joanie Fallon said: “You go from everything to what feels like nothing – the worry of not having the regular checks, the anxiety about what would happen if it came back. It’s only when the support stops, you stop and really think about how close you could have been to losing your life. With medical staff around you, it is a safe feeling that you are being looked after.”

Gráinne continued: “The regional focus of this research is particularly important. People in the West and North-West should have the same opportunity to take part in research and benefit from improvements in care, regardless of where they live. Travel can be a real part of someone’s cancer experience, on top of work, family responsibilities and the effects of treatment.

“Ultimately, I want this research to lead to something practical. If it means someone finishes treatment with a clearer sense of what comes next, feels more supported through that transition and can get the right help when they need it, that would be a genuinely worthwhile outcome.”

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