Rate My Professor Claire Foster

Professor Claire Foster is Professor of Psychosocial Oncology and Co-Director of the Centre for Psychosocial Research in Cancer: CentRIC in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Southampton. She obtained her BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Warwick in 1992, MSc in Psychological Research Methods from the University of Exeter in 1995, and PhD from the University of Exeter in 1998, with a thesis on the psychosocial impact of cystic fibrosis on young people and their families. A Chartered Health Psychologist since 2003, her career includes senior research fellow positions at the Institute of Cancer Research from 1997 to 2004. At the University of Southampton, she served as Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Macmillan Research Unit from 2004 to 2007, Reader in Health Psychology and Director of the Macmillan Survivorship Research Group from 2007 to 2015, and has held her current professorship since 2015. She supervises PhD and Masters students from Health Sciences, Psychology, and Medicine.

Foster's research specializations encompass cancer survivorship, self-management support in cancer care, psychosocial implications of cancer and its treatment, genetic testing, and family communication following a cancer diagnosis. Her programme involves large prospective cohort studies, qualitative research, development and testing of digital interventions to aid decision-making about treatment and genetic testing, and evaluation of service transformations. Key projects include the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Global Initiative to Compare and Reduce Variation (PRO-CRV) funded by Movember, Improving support for decision making after breast cancer diagnosis funded by Cancer Research UK, and Macmillan-funded initiatives such as HORIZONS, ENABLE, and CREW. Her research has secured approximately £11.6 million in funding from Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, National Institute for Health Research, Breast Cancer Now, and others. Among her highly cited publications are 'Critical research gaps and translational priorities for the successful prevention and treatment of breast cancer' (2013, Breast Cancer Research), 'Psychosocial implications of living 5 years or more following a cancer diagnosis: a systematic review of the research evidence' (2009, European Journal of Cancer Care), and 'Recovery and self-management support following primary cancer treatment' (2011, British Journal of Cancer). She has received the Worldwide Universities Network Internationalisation Award (2011), Staff Achievement Award (2013), Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (2007), and CRUK Professional Accreditation in Higher Education award (2002). Foster serves on the Editorial Board of Psycho-Oncology, the International Psychosocial Oncology Society International Scientific Committee for the 2023 World Congress, and the Bowel Cancer UK Scientific Advisory Board.