A new kind of journal

In 2010, Harborside Press launched the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, better known as JADPRO. The goal of the journal was to fill a content gap that existed for a growing number of healthcare providers—nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists, advanced degree nurses, and pharmacists. Finally, this group had a peer-reviewed journal that met their specific clinical, professional, and educational needs. The reaction to JADPRO was overwhelming. JADPRO became a must-read for this group of advanced practitioners caring for patients with cancer.

Taking the show on the road

The success of the journal encouraged its creators to produce a live event. In 2014, Harborside brought the collaborative format found in the journal to a room filled with more than 250 advanced practitioners (APs). This triple-accredited conference, known as JADPRO Live, now welcomes more than 1,300 attendees to a four-day event of education, hands-on skills, research presentations, networking opportunities, and professional development.

A new society is born

Working on a diverse care team is nothing new to APs in oncology. But outside of the hospital, clinic, or comprehensive care center, oncology APs had no place to connect with their multidisciplinary colleagues, and no way to share the clinical knowledge, best practices, and hard-won experiences that would improve their patients' outcomes. The leaders in the advanced practice field wanted to create an organization that would bring these diverse professions together in the spirit of collaboration. In the Fall of 2014, the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology, or APSHO, formed as a society that now boasts over 5,000 members.

Kelly Haviland, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, TGNB-C

Kelly Haviland, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, TGNB-C, is the Manager of Professional Development and creator of the LGBTQI+ Clinical Consult Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, all while maintaining her clinical practice as a nurse practitioner. During her tenure at MSK, she has chaired the APP Professional Development Council, the LGBTQ Clinical Advisory Council, APP Quality Assurance Huddle, and is a member of the Ethics Committee, the Nursing IRB Review Protocol Committee, and the Global Healthcare Disparities Council. Dr. Haviland has led program development in a variety of areas including the initiation of a consultation service for LGBTQI+ patients, a career pathway program for APPs, participation of APPs in a hospital-wide simulation program, and numerous ongoing educational activities for APPs. She has a variety of published research on cancer care for sexual and gender minoritized patients and has presented her work both nationally and internationally.

Please watch the video below to learn more about Dr. Haviland's exceptional work.

Carrie Tompkins Stricker, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, CRNP

Carrie Tompkins Stricker, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, CRNP, is known for her oncology supportive care expertise as an oncology nurse practitioner, as well as for her leadership in using digital health and care delivery innovation to transform cancer care. Dr. Stricker, an associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University College of Nursing and founding director of a graduate program in Transformative Systems Leadership, is a charter member of APSHO and an entrepreneur, health services researcher, and clinician. In 2013, she co-founded Carevive Systems, Inc., whose EMR-integrated cancer care digital platform enables evidence-based cancer care management and patient engagement to improve clinical outcomes. As chief clinical officer, Dr. Stricker saw Carevive's oncology solutions widely adopted and integrated for clinical and research use, and then expanded to include computerized algorithms for symptom management decision support. She is also the executive director of Canopy Cancer Collective, a learning health network of 14 NCI-designated cancer centers, dedicated to improving care and patient-defined quality survival for pancreatic cancer.

Please watch the video below to learn more about Dr. Stricker's remarkable work.

Allyson Price, PA-C

Until recently, Allyson was a physician assistant at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she helped care for patients with leukemia. Allyson's colleagues emphasize her dedication to patients, saying there is nothing she wouldn't do for them.

Not only is Allyson an exemplary clinician and patient advocate, she is a dedicated mentor, researcher, and educator. Among her many accomplishments, Allyson helped create a program to teach her fellow advanced practitioners the most effective ways to communicate with patients and how to explain their diagnosis and treatment so that they become stronger partners in their care. Aside from her clinical practice, Allyson has been involved in research and education. She has coauthored an article on understanding the importance of the interdisciplinary team approach to oncology care in JADPRO and has been an active APSHO member and leader.

Please watch this video below to learn more about Allyson's extraordinary work.

Christina Cone, DNP, APRN, ANP-BC, AOCNP^®
Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, North Carolina

Christina Cone, DNP, APRN, ANP-BC, AOCNP^®, is a board-certified adult nurse practitioner and serves as the Administrative Director of The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center (PRTBTC) at the Duke Cancer Institute, one of the largest brain tumor centers in the world. She also serves as the Administrative Director for the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis, which focuses on the treatment of solid tumor brain and spine metastases. She was previously the Advanced Practice Provider Team Lead at the PRTBTC, where she had been a seasoned nurse practitioner since 2010. Dr. Cone has demonstrated exemplary leadership and dynamic influence in advancing safe and quality care for cancer patients and in educating nurses, healthcare providers, and the community. Under her leadership, she has effectively set up independent APP-led clinics where nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and clinical pharmacists can autonomously practice to improve patient care and access. View the short video below to learn more about this extraordinary clinician.

Jody Pelusi, PhD, FNP, AOCNP^®
HonorHealth Research Institute, Scottsdale, Arizona

Dr. Pelusi is an oncology nurse practitioner and sub-investigator at the HonorHealth Research Institute. She supports over 70 ongoing clinical trials that cover a range of topics, from the feasibility of hydration sensors in oncology patients to survivorship research. She also provides cancer genetic risk assessments, education, and testing for patients at Yavapai Regional Medical Center. Dr. Pelusi is the Co-Founder of the first oncology nurse practitioner intensive course, in which she mentors other nurse practitioners on early drug development; she developed the first oral oncolytic training course in the country for nurse practitioners, oncology nurses, managers, and pharmacists; coordinated the establishment of the Oncology Services department within Indian Health Services at Phoenix Indian Hospital; and she developed the first cancer detection and promotion program for the blind and deaf community in Arizona. Dr. Pelusi earned her PhD from the University of Arizona. View the short video below for more insight into the career of this extraordinary clinician.

Jeannine Brant, PhD, APRN, AOCN, FAAN
Billings Clinic, Billings, Montana

Dr. Jeannine Brant is an oncology clinical nurse specialist, pain consultant, palliative care team member, and nurse scientist for Billings Clinic in Montana. Dr. Brant's repertoire blends her clinical expertise in pain and symptom management with her program of research, which includes improving patient symptoms and focusing on nursing sensitive indicators that lead to quality nursing and interdisciplinary care. Dr. Brant has more than 70 contributions to the literature on cancer, palliative care, pain/symptom management, and other research topics. Dr. Brant is also an internationally recognized speaker and has lectured at more than 200 national and international seminars and symposia. She earned a BSN from Montana State University, a MS in physiological nursing from the University of California, San Francisco, a PhD in cancer nursing from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing in 2014. View the video below about Dr. Brant to give you a bit more insight into the career of this extraordinary clinician.