Persistent pain after breast cancer - addressing quality of life

Professor Glare is the Chair of Pain Medicine in the Northern Clinical School of the University of Sydney. He has various other leadership roles and currently has two research interests in chronic pain in cancer survivors and digital technology to support health behaviour changes.

Dr Charlotte Tottman is a psycho-oncologist; a clinical psychologist specialising in the treatment of cancer-related distress. Charlotte consults privately, in her clinic in Adelaide, South Australia. She treats cancer patients and their family members and carers, at all stages of their cancer experience. Charlotte is an Editor for the Cancer Council of Australia, has close links with Leukemia Foundation, Ovarian Cancer Australia, the McGrath Foundation, Pink Hope, and CanTeen. Charlotte is a member of the Strategic Advisory Group for Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA). She regularly presents in cancer forums, conferences, webinars, and podcasts.    Charlotte has her own cancer story. Several years after establishing her private practice in psycho oncology, she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. Charlotte’s podcast series Upfront About Breast Cancer - What You Don’t Know Until You Do, developed and produced with BCNA, has seen 100,000 downloads to date.

Naveena Nekkalapudi has lived experience, both through her own diagnosis and as a carer for her mother with differing breast cancers in 2014 and 2022 respectively. Post diagnosis and treatment, Naveena decided to re-evaluate her life and focus on matters that are important to her. She is passionate about improving the experience of future individuals diagnosed with cancer, with particular interests in equity of care, health system navigation, maintaining patient quality of life (especially treatment optimisation and sexual health issues) and the reduction of financial toxicity as a consequence of cancer treatments. In her previous (corporate) life, she was a senior professional with extensive strategy, research, M&A and management skills across a range of industries – dairy, trustee, funds management and private health insurance. Naveena has an M. B. A. from Melbourne Business School and is a consumer representative of BCNA, Cancer Council Victoria, Breast Cancer Trials, VCCC, Eastern Health, Safer Care Victoria and Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research to name a few.