We have had the pleasure of having Suad Ismail as our guest today! Suad is a mom, survivor of pediatric cancer, social worker, patient advocate and leader, and an amazing speaker.
Suad and Sevtap talked about two topics that are their shared interest: Pediatric cancers and patient partnerships. They touched the following questions:
What are pediatric cancers?
Suad’s pediatric cancer story full of challenges as well as resilience
Importance of seeing both the system and patient side
How to bridge research and healthcare system with patient experience, and why?
Active engagement of patients in everything from knowing their rights in clinic to reach out to others who may help them realize their goals
We cannot thank Suad enough for this very energizing and eye-opening podcast.
Quinn Jesso and Sydney Knapman from Trans Support NL had a chat with Sevtap Savas on healthcare and cancer care for individualstransgender and gender-diverse, what gender affirming care looks like, what barriers exist in accessing healthcare and cancer care, and more.
We are pleased to share this podcast with Stephanie Howlett, Judy D. Whitty, Tracy Slaney, and Sevtap Savas on Patient Voice in Cancer: what it means? how it looks? what can be done to further progress it?
I made two presentations as part of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology (CAPO) annual conference – one about the Public Interest Group on Cancer Research and the other about the Atlantic Cancer Consortium Patient Advisory Committee.
We learnt and grew together – both of these presentations paint a picture of different experiences and learning – take a look
The second one was the Seniors of Distinction award by the Department of Seniors, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador – another amazing recognition 🙂 https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2026/exec/0611n03/
Folks, I am happy that our efforts are making an impact. Together, we can do so much more.
The Public Interest Group on Cancer invites interested folks to their study!
PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY: This study aims to understand how public members and stakeholders envision cancer and cancer care in the future.
The interested individuals will attend a townhall. The townhalls will bring together members of the public, the Public Interest Group on Cancer, and other stakeholders. We plan ideally up to 3 townhalls. At least one of these townhalls is planned to be in-person in St. John’s.
At the end of this project, we anticipate creating list of public priorities, recommendations for the cancer care program, research suggestions for researchers, and a draft vision statement for cancer care. The townhall findings will also help us design a new study.
ELIGIBILITY: If you are 19 years or older and living in NL, you are eligible to take part in this study.
I am excited to note that I will be receiving the Exceptional Leadership in Patient Involvement in Cancer Research Award by the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA) in Nov 2025.
Congratulations to all awardees – what a great cohort of folks who are dedicated to make a difference at the cancer front!
I am so happy to bring this Award to Newfoundland and Labrador, and Atlantic Canada.
This prestigious and national award goes to you folks: Community in #NewfoundlandAndLabrador and in #AtlanticCanada, my collaborator colleagues and assistants, and our funders who transformed me into a public communicator and engager.
Over the last 6 years, together we have been working very hard to make a difference in the lives of people, families, and communities affected by cancer.
The Public Interest Group on Cancer Research has been particularly strong voice in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was formed and sustained by funding provided by the Office of Public Engagement in St. John’s, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Sadly, this wonderful unit, its excellent staff, and its funding do not exist anymore. This is just one example of how the budget cuts impact the community in NL – no one wins here.
The Atlantic Cancer Consortium Patient Advisory Committee is another successful partnership albeit being a young one (formed less than 2 years ago). I thank our funders/MOHCCN for making our work and committee a possibility.
NLSUPPORT has always been there to give us a hand – I cannot thank its wonderful staff.
Among all the units I am associated with at Memorial University, it has been my clinical colleagues at the Discipline of Oncology, who have fully supported and understood what I have been trying to do in my engagement work. Special thanks go to them.
I thank Quality of Care NL for nominating me for this award, and public partners, leaders, and colleagues supporting my nomination.
I always question where my heart and mind are. Nowadays they are with my family. My mom, Nimet Altunbas, died of cancer four years ago. My sister, Mehtap Savas, is a long term survivor of cancer. I would die for them.
I work very hard to make a difference in the lives of people affected (or will be affected) by cancer – I have no regret for working hard, failing, getting up, getting burnt out, and succeeding along the way. My only regret is that my family has not benefited and will not benefit from my hard work. From my young age on, they supported my ideals and not even once complained about me being away from them (since age 11). I proudly note that my sister Mehtap is my biggest supporter, as she understands the gap we have been addressing together with public partners in the lives of people affected by cancer.
Last, I am Turkish and I am an immigrant to Canada. This award is a testament to immigrants’ abilities and contributions to the society and academia in Canada. If there are other immigrant folks out there who would like to start public and patient engagement, please just go ahead – future is brighter.
My commitment to make things better for the next person and family affected by cancer is continuous. Please join me in supporting them in any way you can.
With gratitude
Sevtap Savas, PhD. Oct 21, 2025 St. John’s
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In case you are wondering what we have been doing with public partners, here is a short summary
We have been spending a lot of time creating ideas, figuring out, conversing, and overcoming hurdles to do so
We have been reaching out to the public, engage with them, and share knowledge with them
We have been designing studies and public engagement activities to benefit the public
We have been advising researchers and other stakeholders
We have been organizing public events and conferences
We have been publishing all learnings at both the academic and public levels, so that anybody could benefit from our experiences
We have been learning how to best work together
We continuously progressed and evolved – we even started a public podcast on cancer with currently 28 episodes!
