Academy Fellow

Professor Phyllis Butow, BA (Hons) Dip Ed; MPH, M Clin Psych, PhD, has worked for over 20 years in the area of Psycho-Oncology and has developed an international reputation in this and the area of health communication. She is currently Professor and NHMRC Principle Research Fellow in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. She directs the Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED), and chairs the Australian Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Trials Group. She chairs the Communication Skills Advisory Group of the National Breast Cancer Centre and has taken a leading role in Australia in promoting and facilitating communication skills training for Oncology health professionals. Much of her research concerns the impact of communication strategies on doctor and patient outcomes, and this has been translated into a number of communication skills modules for cancer health professions. Prof Butow has over 200 publications in peer reviewed journals, most of which relate to psychological issues in cancer.

• Juraskova I, Butow P, Lopez A, et al (2008) Improving informed consent: pilot of a decision aid for women invited to participate in a breast cancer prevention trial (IBIS-II DCIS), Health Expections 11:252-262.
• Shepherd H, Tattersall MHN, Butow P. (2008) Physician identified factors affecting patient participation in reaching treatment decisions, Journal of Clinical Oncology 26(10): 1724-31.
• Butow P, Cockbum J, Girgis A, et al. (2008) Increasing oncologists' skills in eliciting and responding to emotional cues, Psycho-oncology 17(3): 209-218.
• Butow P, Kirsten L, Ussher J, et al (2007) What is the ideal support group? Views of Australian people with cancer and their carers, Psycho Oncology 16(11):1039-1045.
• Butow P, Harrison J, Choy E, et al (2007) Health professional and consumer views on involving breast cancer patients in the multi-disciplinary discussion of their disease and treatment plan, Cancer 10:1937-1944.