Mieke Van Hemelrijck leads the TOUR (Transforming cancer OUTcomes through Research) Team in the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences at King's.

Prof Van Hemelrijck studied for an MSc in Biomedical Sciences (2001-2005) and an MSc in Statistical Analysis (2005-2006) at Ghent University, Belgium. While doing so, she became engaged in epidemiology research in the field of urology. She continued her epidemiological training by spending two years at the Harvard School of Public Health (2006-2008), where she obtained an MSc in Population & International Health, staying focused on urological research. From 2008-2010, she worked with Professor Holmberg at King’s College London and obtained a PhD in Cancer Epidemiology. In 2012, she was appointed as a Lecturer in Cancer Epidemiology at King’s College London. She leads the TOUR Team and became a Professor in late 2020.

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Whilst urology has been a common thread throughout my research career, from hypospadias, to transsexualism, bladder, prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers, the most important component of my career has been collaborations. A golden standard in research methodology is a multidisciplinary approach, but collaborations can do much more than that. My network of collaborations has instigated research ideas, partnerships, teaching activities, as well as friendships and new avenues of research methods. Hence, molecular/clinical epidemiology, quality of life research, real world evidence/big data, mixed methods, implementation sciences and patient/public involvement are all contributing to my research focused on improving outcomes and experiences of patients with cancer. A variety of examples can illustrate how these local and (inter)national collaborations have always put cancer patients first – a career path I look forward to continuing.

• Our team has been part of the EU-funded PIONEER Consortium – big data for prostate cancer. I lead the work package that developed standardised definitions of prostate cancer outcomes among different stakeholders using the Delphi consensus procedure.
• Our team leads on a variety of projects for the European Organisation of Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Group.
• We have longstanding collaborations with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and initiated Guy’s Cancer Real World Evidence Programme.

Since 2008, I have supervised more than 40 postgraduate and undergraduate students at King's, as well as being a PhD supervisor for over 25 students in the TOUR team (18 completed). My teaching experience covers four BSc Modules focused on clinical epidemiology and population sciences, hosted by the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine. I have published more than 385 articles, of which I am first author on over 50 and last author on over 135.