Skip to main content

The Power of Being Proactive

Theresa Hardy

Prior to a vacation in Scotland, Theresa Hardy was reading research about identifying bio-markers for predicting fertility risk in cancer survivors, by Dr. Hamish Wallace, a pediatric oncologist and Dr. Richard Anderson, a reproductive endocrinologist. 

The grant I received from the Oncology Nursing Foundation was crucial to the completion of this study since it funded the lab portion of my research. Theresa Hardy

Since both physicians work in Scotland; she sent Dr. Anderson an email, asking to meet and learn more about their research. They met and decided to collaborate, which led to an international, interdisciplinary collaboration between an oncologist, a reproductive endocrinologist and a Ph.D. nursing student.

Theresa has always been interested in reproductive health within the cancer population. Knowing that one of the Oncology Nursing Foundation research priorities is survivorship, she applied for the Foundation’s Dissertation Research Grant.

“The grant I received from the Oncology Nursing Foundation was crucial to the completion of this study since it funded the lab portion of my research,” says Theresa.“Without quality mentorship from people who were willing to see my potential, foster it and invest in it, including the Oncology Nursing Foundation, I wouldn’t have been able to do this,” she adds.