ADVOCACY WORKING GROUP 

Merel van Klinken, the Netherlands, Co-Chair

Merel van Klinken graduated as a nurse in 2006. She has been working as a registered oncology nurse since 2009 and is currently also working as a palliative care nurse in a specialised oncology hospital in the Netherlands. She holds an MSc in nursing sciences and is looking to improve the quality of palliative care in her own hospital setting and in the Netherlands. She’s passionate about safety for patients and nursing staff and building resilience among young cancer nurses. She teaches within the speciality training for cancer nurses in her own hospital. Merel has been a Board member since February 2021.

Grażyna Suchodolska, Poland, Co-Chair

Grażyna began her nursing career in 2005, gaining clinical experience in critical care, emergency medicine, and oncology. Grażyna is the Specialist Oncology Nurse and was the first Breast Cancer Nurse in Poland. Since 2018, she has remained dedicated to this role, currently working in Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Day Unit at the University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk.

In 2023, Grażyna accomplished her PhD at the Medical University of Gdańsk, where she continues to share her expertise and passion for breast cancer with nursing and medical students as a lecturer.  

Beyond her clinical role, Grażyna actively advocates for breast cancer nursing in Poland and participates in initiatives aimed at raising awareness about breast cancer and its prevention among Polish women. She is a member of the Polish Society of Oncology and holds the position of Vice President for the local Polish Oncology Nurses Association.

Lena Sharp, Sweden

Lena Sharp is the Head of Cancer Care improvement, Regional Cancer Center, Stockholm, Sweden. She was previously the Chief Nursing Officer and Patient Safety Coordinator at the Department of Oncology, Karolinska University Hospital and has a long experience in cancer nursing, clinical work, leadership, teaching and research. Lena’s main research focus is Health Care Communication and Patient Safety. Lena has a PhD from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Lena is the current Advocacy Working Group Chair and Past President of the European Oncology Nursing Society.

Nuno Salgado, Portugal

Nuno is a registered nurse, specialised in psychiatry and mental health nursing, with a master’s degree in health sociopsychology, a graduation in citizenship, violence and intervention and a differentiated added competence in clinical supervision conferred by the Portuguese council of nursing. Currently he is researching for a master’s in psychiatry and mental health nursing. He has worked at the radiotherapy department of the Portuguese Oncology Institute, in Coimbra, since 2007 and has also collaborated with the Nursing School of Coimbra since 2014. Scientific Interests: symptom management, psycho-oncology, integrative nursing, complementary and alternative medicines, promotion of psychological wellbeing and advocacy.

Ana Rita Dias, Portugal

Ana Rita started working as a nurse in 2005 in the surgery area, but her major interest has always been the empowerment of those undergoing oncology treatment, their family and others close to them during the transition to home care, which ultimately led to change her intervention area. Since 2011, after finishing her specialised training and master’s degree in oncology, she started working as a cancer nurse in the haematology-oncology department at Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Central, E.P.E. – Pólo Hospital Santo António dos Capuchos. Although her major interest is cancer nursing – reflected in several projects which she is involved in and managing – she maintains interests in other areas such as clinical supervision, in which she is a postgraduate.

Paraskevi-Maria Prapa, Greece

Paraskevi-Maria has been a nurse for almost 30 years, with a clinical experience ranging from paediatric care to chronic patients and cancer care. For the last 10 years she has been head nurse of the Oncology Unit of 3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Sotiria General Hospital for Chest Diseases, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

She has a master’s degree in Primary Health Care and a PhD in Sleep Medicine. She is also an educator in various classes in Nursing Universities in Greece. As an active member of the Hellenic Oncology Nurses Society, she participates in oncology congresses and is involved in research projects. Her current research interests focus on symptom management, psychosocial care, immunotherapy and targeted treatments and patient education and advocacy.

Mary Tanay, UK

Mary is a Lecturer and Associate Dean for Postgraduate Taught Studies at the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King’s College London. She previously worked in various clinical cancer nursing and cancer research nursing roles. She completed Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila and a specialist Cancer Nursing Diploma from the Royal Marsden School, London. Mary has a Master of Science in Nursing Research and Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Education obtained from King’s College London. She is also a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.  Mary received a fully funded Doctoral Research Fellowship by the National Institute of Health and Social Care Research in the United Kingdom. She completed her PhD in 2023 at King’s College London entitled ‘Developing a behavioural intervention for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy using experience-based co-design and the Common-Sense Model’ and was awarded King’s Outstanding Thesis 2022-23. Her research interests are supportive care in cancer, CIPN and co-design methodology. Mary has authored book chapters and published in peer-reviewed healthcare and nursing journals. She has been invited as expert speaker for topics relevant to cancer care and has presented in national, European, and international conferences. [Contact on X: @MerryTea and Linked In: Mary Tanay]

Pilar del Valle, Spain

Eva Pape, RN, MSc, PhD works as a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) digestive oncology at Ghent University Hospital and is a clinical professor at Ghent university in Belgium. She counsels patients with rectal cancer. In 2022 she obtained her PhD at Ghent University Hospital and the University Center for nursing and midwifery at Ghent University. In her PhD she explored the experiences, needs and perspectives of several stakeholders (patients, informal caregivers and healthcare professionals) about low anterior resection syndrome after rectal cancer treatment. Eva is also an executive board member of two national societies: the national society for oncology nurses (VVRO) and the national society for CNS (BVVS). In this last society, she leads the research working group. Next to that, she is a member of the research working group of the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS).  

İlknur Yazıcıoğlu, Turkey

I am İlknur Yazıcıoğlu. After my undergraduate education in nursing, I worked in the oncology service and currently I work as a research assistant at a nursing school. At the same time, I continue my PhD education and work on my thesis. My goal is to ensure that individuals suffering from cancer, which have a challenging and long process, have better conditions and receive high-quality and evidence-based nursing care. 

Gizem Cakir, Turkey

Gizem completed her Bachelor's degree in Nursing in 2015, followed by a Master's degree in Pediatric Nursing in 2018. She has clinical experience in the newborn intensive care unit, pediatric infectious diseases clinic, and women's health clinic. She is currently in the final stages of her doctoral studies, preparing for the defense of her dissertation titled "Efficacy of the Web-Based Return-to-School Adaptation Program for Children with Cancer: A Meta-Theory-Based Action Research." As part of her doctoral education, she participated in a six-month international mobility program at Turku University of Applied Sciences in Finland. 

Gizem is a researcher at the Faculty of Nursing, Department of Child Health and Disease Nursing. Her research interests in pediatric oncology include symptom management, evidence-based nursing practices, supportive care, the management of the return-to-school process, and the empowerment of nurses. In addition to her research activities, she contributes to the education of undergraduate nursing students through laboratory and clinical training. 

She has authored book chapters in pediatric oncology and published in peer-reviewed healthcare and nursing journals. Gizem has been playing an active role in Oncology Nursing Associations in Türkiye, particularly within pediatric and research working groups. Since 2024, she has been an individual member of the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) and the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP).