Sara MacLennan

Sara MacLennan is a Personal Chair (Professor) at the University of Aberdeen, affiliated with the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition. She serves as Deputy Director of the Academic Urology Unit and Director of Operations for UCAN (Urological CANcer charity). Additionally, she holds an honorary contract with NHS Grampian and is an Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck University of London.

Dr. MacLennan is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and a registered health psychologist with the Health & Care Professions Council. Her academic journey has established her as a leading figure in psychosocial oncology and health psychology with expertise in qualitative research methodology.

Her research focuses on understanding the impact of cancer and treatment on individuals' lives and developing methods for involving diverse stakeholder groups in care design and delivery. She leads the Aberdeen Applied Cancer Research Group (ICANTREAT) which employs an interdisciplinary approach building global partnerships across academia, patient communities, non-profits, professional organizations, and policymakers. Her work spans cancer survivorship, supportive care, stakeholder engagement, and implementation science in healthcare contexts.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on cancer care, particularly prostate cancer and urological cancers, with significant involvement in large international consortia including PIONEER (prostate cancer big data) and OPTIMA (AI for solid tumors). Her research integrates patient perspectives with clinical practice guidelines, often using mixed-methods approaches to bridge qualitative insights with quantitative outcomes in healthcare implementation.

• European Cancer Organisation Steering Committee for Survivorship and Quality of Life
• British Psychosocial Oncology Society Executive Committee
• National Cancer Research Institute – Living With and Beyond Cancer Workstream
• European Association of Urologists Patient Advocacy Group

Dr. MacLennan currently leads eleven funded projects totaling £5,644,624 across three main themes: stakeholder engagement in cancer care design (including ICANBE and EVOLVE), implementation of better cancer care (including OPTIMA and PARTNER), and delivery of care for urology and long-term conditions (including CATHETER II and PACFIND). She actively supervises PhD students interested in cancer survivorship and supportive care.

She leads the ICANTREAT research group which focuses on understanding the impact of cancer on individuals' lives and improving patient involvement in care design. Her current projects include ICANBE (managing fear of cancer recurrence), EVOLVE (giving patients voice in clinical guidelines), ICANTREATNEPAL/ICANTREATINDIA (increasing participation in cancer screening in low-resource settings), and PIONEER (enhancing prostate cancer diagnosis through big data).