Professor Rebecca Beeken

Profile

I am Professor of Behavioural Medicine and Head of the Division of Primary Care, Palliative Care and Preventive Medicine. I am also a Yorkshire Cancer Research University Academic Fellow, and I co-lead the Behavioural Oncology Research Group with Professsor Sam Smith. My research focusses on cancer prevention and management through developing and testing evidence-based behaviour change interventions, with a particular emphasis on weight management, physical activity, and equitable access to care for socially disadvantaged and under-researched groups. My academic background is in behavioural science and health psychology and my research spans large-scale RCTs, feasibility studies, and co-production of complex interventions, often in collaboration with multidisciplinary and international teams.

I completed my PhD at the University of Sheffield, where I was awarded a ESRC 1+3 studentship to explore the variables that impact health-related quality of life in cancer patients who have undergone haematopoietic stem cell transplants. Upon completion of my PhD I was appointed to a postdoctoral position with the late Professor Jane Wardle at University College London, working across several projects related to cancer prevention, with a focus on obesity and weight management interventions. These included a pilot trial of a weight management intervention for people with intellectual disabilities, a randomised controlled trial of obesity in primary care (10 Top Tips), and a programme of work exploring the impact of weight loss on cancer risk and the health behaviours in people living with and beyond cancer. During this time, I was also seconded to the MRC as a Clinical Trials Coordinator and Research Design Service Advisor. I joined the University of Leeds in 2017 as a Yorkshire Cancer Research University Academic Fellow focusing on behaviour change for cancer prevention. I was awarded an Australian Endeavour Award to spend 6 months as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice, Bond University (Australia). I hold an honorary contract with the Department of Behavioural Science & Health, University College London, and with the Warwick Medical School Clinical Trials Unit.

I co-Chair the Population Health/Living with and Beyond Cancer Workstream of the NIHR Nutrition and Cancer Collaboration and I am the Immediate Past Chair for the International Society for Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity Cancer Prevention and Management SIG. I am also a core member of the Leeds Unit of Complex Intervention Development (LUCID) and the Leeds Cancer Centre Applied Health Sub-committee. I am an invited grant panel member for Breast Cancer Now’s Improving Public Health, Equity and Wellbeing Committee, the World Cancer Research Fund and the Research Council of Finland: Lifestyle, Life course and Public health. I also regularly join the CRUK Prevention and Population Research Committee and Fellowships Committee as an Expert Reviewer.

Responsibilities

• Head of the Division of Primary Care, Palliative Care and Preventive Medicine
• Co-Lead Behavioural Oncology Research Group
• Postgraduate Research Tutor, LIHS

Research interests

I work on a number of studies focused on developing and trialling complex interventions to improve outcomes for people living with and beyond cancer. I recently co-led a Cancer Research UK funded project (PI with Professor Fisher, University College London) exploring the efficacy of a brief, habit-based intervention for improving dietary and physical activity behaviours in people living with and beyond cancer (ASCOT). I also co-led the Breast Cancer Now funded We Sure Can feasibility trial (PI with Professor Smith, University of Leeds), which piloted a total diet replacement intervention to support weight loss in women with stage II-III breast cancer affected by excess weight. I am currently co-leading (PI with Professor John Saxton, University of Hull) an NIHR-funded Programme Development Grant to prepare and test an equitable weight management intervention for people affected by breast cancer (FORALL). Additionally, I am a co-investgator on two Yorkshire Cancer Research funded studies in this area; the APPROACH study (PIs: Professor Fisher & Dr Lally, UCL) is exploring the potential of a mobile phone application to increase physical activity in Yorkshire cancer patients, and the CANVAS study (PI: Professor Velikova, University of Leeds) aims to develop, implement and evaluate satisfaction with an improved electronic system to engage breast and bowel cancer survivors to self-report symptoms/problems online from home and get immediate tailored advice for self-management or hospital contact. I am the Lead for the behavioural component of an NIHR funded HTA trial evaluating personalised prehabilitation in acute myeloid leukaemia (PROPEL; PIs Professors Dunn & Stanworth, University of Warwick & Oxford University Hospitals).

I am also interested in the the potential for other cancer prevention interventions to be delivered as part of cancer screening programmes. I co-led (PI with Dr Wonitza, UCLH) a Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation funded project to develop and pilot a radiographer-led smoking cessation intervention in the lung cancer screening setting, and I am a co-investigator on the YCR-funded Yorkshire Enhanced Smoking cessation study (YESS; PI Professor Murray, University of Nottingham). I am an expert advisor and collaborator on an evaluation of a lifestyle intervention among participants of the French colorectal cancer screening program, funded by the French National Cancer Institute (PI: Professor Gunter, IARC).

I am a co-investigator on several studies focused on developing and evaluating physical activity interventions for specific patient groups. This includes the NIHR-funded SPACES programme (PIs: Dr Peckham & Professor Gilbody, University of York) to support people with severe mental illness to be more physically active. Other research interests include eating behaviours, the psychological and biological consequences of obesity and weight loss (particularly the impact of weight change on cancer risk), and weight management interventions in the general population. I was a trustee for the charity Weight Concern and a co-investigator on a recently completed EU-funded study exploring the integration of a habit-based intervention for weight management into antenatal care pathways (HHIPBE, PI: Professor McKinley, Queen’s University Belfast).

Qualifications

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• PhD Psychology
• MSc Psychological Research Methods
• BA Psychology & Sociology

Professional memberships

• International Society of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, Cancer Prevention and Management Special Interest Group
• NIHR Nutrition & Cancer Collaborative
• UK Society of Behavioural Medicine
• Association for the Study of Obesity

Student education

I am a Postgraduate Research Tutor to Postgraduate Researchers within the Faculty of Medicine and Health, and previously acted as Lead for Postgraduate Research Studies across LIHS and LICTR (2019-2025). I also deliver lectures and lead seminars and workshops on the topic of health behaviours and behaviour change. I supervise undergraduate students and postgraduate researchers on a range of courses and topics, mostly in the areas of behaviour change and cancer. I have supervised 12 PGRs to completion (10 PhD and 2 D.Clin.Psychol trainees) and I am currently the primary supervisor for 2 PhDs at the University of Leeds (funded by NIHR and YCR), and a co-supervisor for 2 PhDs (funded by NIHR and the ESRC) and 3 D.Clin.Psychol trainees. I am an external supervisor for 1 PGR at Aarhus University.

Research groups and institutes

• Breast Cancer Research Group
• Division of Primary Care, Palliative Care and Public Health
• Leeds Institute of Health Sciences
• Primary Care Oncology
• Cancer