IPOPC NEWSLETTER

News and updates in research, education, and community engagement in psychosocial oncology and palliative care.

SPRING 2026

Welcome from the Director

Greetings from Director Dr. Anao Zhang

I am thrilled to share this inaugural newsletter from the Center for Interdisciplinary Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Research and Practice (IPOPC) at the University of Washington School of Social Work. On behalf of our entire team, welcome! This newsletter marks the beginning of what we hope will become a regular and meaningful channel of communication - one that keeps our partners, supporters, and stakeholders informed about the initiatives, collaborations, innovations, and achievements emerging from IPOPC.

Our mission is grounded in a simple yet powerful belief: high-quality cancer and serious illness care must attend not only to the body but also to the psychosocial, behavioral, existential, and palliative dimensions of health, and should be accessible to all.

I invite you to celebrate the exciting milestones we have achieved as we renew our commitment to IPOPC's mission and to collaborate on mutually beneficial initiatives that ultimately serve individuals impacted by cancer and life-limiting illness. Specifically, I want to highlight our recently completed draft of IPOPC's strategic plan, now available for public comment. I am also delighted to introduce IPOPC's stellar national external advisory board (EAB), chaired by the center's co-founder and UW School of Social Work alum Dr. Lynn Behar.

THANK YOU for being part of this growing community. Together, we can advance psychosocial oncology and palliative care in ways that are evidence-informed, equity-centered, and deeply responsive to the lived experiences of individuals and families facing cancer and serious illness.

Anao Zhang, PhD, LCSW, ACSW, OSW-C, ACBT

Behar Endowed Associate Professor in Psychosocial Oncology

Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Research and Practice

University of Washington, School of Social Work

IPOPC Strategic Plan (Draft)

Strategic Planning Summary

We invite you to read and share your thoughts on the draft of IPOPC's strategic planning summary for 2026 to 2028 and beyond.

External Advisory Board

We are thrilled to announce the formation of IPOPC's inaugural External Advisory Board (EAB) to guide the strategic growth of the center, and to reflect our commitment to excellence, accountability, and national impact. True to our mission, the EAB embodies interdisciplinary collaboration. Our EAB members are (top row left to right) Lynn Behar, Jesse Fann, Susan Hedlund, Barbara Jones, (bottom row left to right) Randy Jones, Peggy Maguire, Alice Ryan (Ex Officio), and J'May Rivara (Ex Officio).

To learn more about our exceptional EAB members, Click Here

Carol LaMare Information Session

Professor Alice Cagampang Ry an, director of the Carol LaMare program, held an information session in January 2026 for potential applicants who are interested in applying to the Carol LaMare Scholars Program. More than 20 prospective applicants participated in the session, accompanied by Carol LaMare field instructors and current Carol LaMare scholars. The 2026-27 cohort is being formed now, and we look forward to sharing our incoming Carol LaMare cohort with you in future issues of the newsletter.

Selected Achievement for Celebration

Associate Professor Emerita J'May Rivara, who served as the Co-Director of the Carol LaMare Program, was awarded the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Legacy Award. Congratulations, J'May

In addition, we also celebrate J'May's recent appointment as senior advisor to the director at IPOPC.

Dr. Anao Zhang started his tenure as Editor-in-Chief for the journal Psycho-Oncology, the official journal of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and the British Psychosocial Oncology Society. Dr.

In addition, Dr. Zhang's academic achievement was recently recognized by Stanford/Elsevier as one of the world's top 2% scientists and ranked in the clinical medicine category.

IPOPC welcomes Yiwen Yan, the center's very first visiting doctoral student from Nankai University. Yiwen received the most prestigious China Scholarship Council fellowship, a fully funded, one-year program at a top-ranked university worldwide. Yiwen will study with Dr. Anao Zhang to further strengthen his research in intervention research involving children and their parents in healthcare settings.

Announcement for Carol LaMare

For Carol LaMare Alums, Save the Date for the Carol LaMare Zoom Reunion

Anao Zhang's EndWell Talk

With the tremendous support of Dr. Lynn Behar, IPOPC co-founder and EAB chair, Anao Zhang delivered a talk at the 2025 ENDWELL, representing oncology social workers, on the radical bravery of confronting silence at the end-of-life. We invite you to watch Anao's 13-min talk.

IPOPC Founder's Vision

"The center envisions a world where people with cancer and those at the end of life receive the care they want from compassionate, competent, and family-centered practitioners."

-- Lynn Behar, PhD, FAOSW

Land Acknowledgement Statement

The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot nations.

Connect with us

Email: ipopc@uw.edu

IPOPC website: https://socialwork.uw.edu/research/research-innovation-centers/integrative-oncology-palliative-care/

Carol LaMare website:

https://socialwork.uw.edu/academics/traineeships/carol-lamare-scholars-program/