Doris M. Howell

Doris M. Howell is a Canadian nurse scientist and academic known for her research in oncology nursing and psychosocial oncology. Her work has advanced understanding of symptom management, palliative care, and the integration of patient-reported outcomes into cancer care. She is Emeritus Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and a former Professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto.

Education

Howell earned a nursing diploma from Lambton College in 1975 and a BScN from the University of Ottawa in 1979. She completed an MScN at the University of Toronto in 1987 and a PhD in Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at Toronto in 2003. She later undertook postdoctoral training in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at McMaster University.

Career Howell began her career as a nurse in oncology and palliative care before moving into leadership and research roles. From 2004 to 2020, she held the Royal Bank of Canada Endowed Chair in Oncology Nursing Research and Education at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. She was also appointed as a Senior Scientist in the Supportive Care Department, Princess Margaret Research Institute. She later became Emeritus Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Research Institute.

At the University of Toronto, she was a full Professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing,

She has also served on advisory committees with Cancer Care Ontario, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, and Health Canada, and is the Quality of Life representative for symptom control at the Clinical Trials Group of Canada. She served as President of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology and the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology.

She serves as Program Director and lead for Canada’s first National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC)-accredited Cancer Health and Wellness Coach (Cancer Coach) Training Program.

Research Howell’s research focuses on reducing cancer treatment morbidity through personalized symptom management interventions, patient activation in self-management, and innovations in health service delivery. She has conducted and supervised clinical trials, implementation studies, and knowledge translation initiatives. Her work includes the integration of patient-reported outcomes into routine oncology practice, the development of digital and mobile health interventions, and survivorship care models for cancer patients.

She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and contributed to Pan-Canadian clinical practice guidelines in oncology nursing, psychosocial oncology, and survivorship care.

Honors and recognition Diamond Jubilee International Visiting Fellow, University of Southampton (2014–2017) Distinguished Alumnus Award, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto (2014) Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (2018–present) Research Excellence Award in Psychosocial Oncology, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2018) Leadership Award in Nursing Research, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (2018) Lifetime Achievement Award, Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology (2020) Lifetime Achievement Award, Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (2020) International Researcher Hall of Fame, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (2022)