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Professor Eila Watson

Professor in Supportive Cancer Care, and Deputy Director (interim) of OxINMAHR

Oxford School of Nursing and Midwifery

Eila Watson
Role
Research
Publications

Role

Eila joined Oxford Brookes in May 2007 as Professor of Supportive Cancer Care.  She is also the Deputy Director (interim) of the Oxford Institute of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research (OxINMAHR).  Additionaly, within the Oxford School of Nursing and Midwifery, Eila co-leads the Centre for Nursing, Midwifery, Health and Social Care Research (CNMHSCR) and leads the Supportive Cancer Care and Long Term Conditions Research Group.  

Eila's research is focussed on cancer survivorship.  Working with a wide range of multi-disciplinary colleagues she has secured over £8 million in research funding (includiing awards from NIHR, Cancer Research UK, Prostate Cancer UK, Pancreatic Cancer UK and Blood Cancer UK), and has published over 100 articles in peer reviewed journals.

Eila is a member of the National Cancer Research Institute Living With and Beyond Cancer Group and a member of Yorkshire Cancer Research Advisory Panel.  Eila is also an advisor on the NIHR Research Design Service (South Central).  She was previously Chair of the British Psychosocial Oncology Society (2015-2019), and is a past member of the Tenovus Charity Psychosocial Advisory Committee (2010-18) and South Coast Research for Patient Benefit Committee (2013-16).

Areas of expertise

  • Quantitative and qualitative research methods
  • Systematic Reviews
  • Complex intervention trials
  • Patient involvement in research

Teaching and supervision

Courses

Supervision

Eila is co-lead of Applied Health, Nursing and Midwifery Doctoral Training Programme,  Faculty Health and Life Sciences.

Research Students

Name Thesis title Completed
Angela Bygrave Griffiths Does a raised body mass index affect patient’s quality of life, symptoms and experiences following catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation? Active
Sara Matthews The psychosocial experiences and needs of oropharyngeal (HPV+ve) cancer patients and their primary informal caregivers following radical (chemo)radiotherapy Active
Francesca Tabacchi Nutritional support in cancer patients during treatment. Active
Claire Coughlan Optimising follow up for patients treated for bowel cancer from seldom heard groups 2024
Hilary Brown Optimising the care and support for people with inoperable pancreatic cancer and their family-carers 2023

Research

Eila's research is focussed on understanding the experiences and needs of patients and their families/ carers following a diagnosis of cancer, and developing and trialling interventions to address unmet needs and improve health and quality of life outcomes.  Her research spans a range of cancer types including prostate, breast, pancreatic, lung and blood cancers and addresses all stages of the cancer pathway, with a particular focus on cancer survivorship issues.

Research impact

                              All             Since 2016

Citations                8968         3192

h-Index                 43             25

i10index                92             59 

Centres and institutes

Groups

Projects

Projects as Principal Investigator, or Lead Academic if project is led by another Institution

  • Management of pain and cachexia in pancreatic cancer: Systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials and network meta-analysis (led by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) (01/04/2022 - 31/12/2024), funded by: National Institute for Health Research, funding amount received by Brookes: £11,728
  • Improving outcomeS for Women diagnosed with early breast cancer through adhErence to adjuvant Endocrine Therapy (SWEET) - led by Newcastle University (18/05/2020 - 17/01/2027), funded by: National Institute for Health Research, funding amount received by Brookes: £559,683
  • Mammo-50: Mammographic surveillance in breast cancer patients aged 50 years or older (led by University of Warwick) (01/09/2014 - 31/08/2023), funded by: National Institute for Health Research, funding amount received by Brookes: £6,400

Projects as Co-investigator

  • Development of the Storytelling Promoting Alcohol Choice, Empowerment, and Sharing (SPACES) intervention for alcohol reduction in mid-life women(01/10/2024 - 31/12/2025), funded by: Medical Research Council (MRC), funded by: Medical Research Council (MRC)
  • NIHR Research Design Service (South Central) 2023-2028 (led by University of Southampton)(01/10/2023 - 30/09/2028), funded by: National Institute for Health Research, funding amount received by Brookes: £430,024, funded by: National Institute for Health Research
  • Alcohol consumption and breast cancer: co-production of a behaviour change intervention to reduce risk in mid-life women.(01/03/2023 - 29/02/2024), funded by: Prevent Breast Cancer, funding amount received by Brookes: £29,772, funded by: Prevent Breast Cancer
  • PET NECK 2 (led by University of Birmingham)(01/12/2020 - 30/11/2026), funded by: National Institute for Health Research, funding amount received by Brookes: £88,781, funded by: National Institute for Health Research

Publications

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