The Supportive Cancer Care Research Unit is a health systems-linked research unit supported by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and Cancer Care Ontario, with in kind contributions from McMaster University, and the Juravinski Cancer Centre. The Supportive Cancer Care Research (SCCR) Unit is led by Unit Director Dr. Tim Whelan, who holds a Canada Research Chair in breast cancer research and Associate Director Dr. Jonathan Sussman, a Clinician Scientist. The unit consists of a multidisciplinary group of investigators. Researchers affiliated with the Supportive Cancer Care Research Unit include Dr. Kevin Brazil, a health services researcher in palliative care and continuity of care; Dr. Peter Ellis, a Medical Oncologist with an interest in shared decision making; Dr. Cathy Charles, a medical sociologist who focuses on conceptual models of shared decision-making; and Dr. Amiram Gafni, a health economist whose research interests lie in the area of economic evaluation of health care programmes. Unit staff includes a clinical research manager; four experienced research coordinators and two research assistants, as well as administrative staff.  Over the last 10 years, the SCCR unit has been engaged in a large number of groundbreaking research projects; many of these have been supported by national and international research agencies. Unit research has been presented at numerous international conferences and published extensively in widely read cancer journals. Some of the key studies developed by the Supportive Cancer Care Research Unit have had major impacts on treatment of patients with cancer, improving efficiencies in the cancer system and increasing coordination of cancer services and patient quality of life.

Vision and Mission

The vision and mission of the Supportive Cancer Care Research unit is to conduct research in pivotal areas of supportive cancer care research. Supportive cancer care can be defined as the provision of necessary services to meet the physical, informational, psycho-social, spiritual and practical needs of persons living with or affected by cancer.  Supportive care includes patients at all stages of the cancer trajectory from early diagnosis and on treatment to follow up and palliative phases.  Supportive cancer care has historically been underdeveloped or developed in relative isolation from the main body of coordinated cancer treatment services. The unit is committed to the improvement of supportive care services provided to cancer patients and their families through research and research transfer activities. The goal being to continue to work to improve, through sound research, the overall care being provided to cancer patients. Research is being conducted into studying and examining supportive and palliative care needs of cancer patients, delivery of care models, integration and coordination of care, shared decision making and in-depth clinical studies examining treatment effects on cancer patients to establish a strong evidence base in clinical cancer care and cancer care services

The Unit’s Objectives Are:

• To conduct inter-professional research in the identified thematic areas of supportive cancer care.
• To examine and evaluate the impacts of various models of supportive care treatment and service delivery on cancer patients and the system of care.
• To assist in the direct application of the Unit’s research findings to clinical cancer care. 
• To increase the research productivity in supportive cancer care.