Terry Badger Honored with Jimmie Holland Lifetime Achievement Award

University of Arizona College of Nursing Professor Terry A. Badger, PhD, RN, has been awarded the Jimmie Holland Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS).

The Jimmie Holland Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor conferred by the APOS. Presented annually, it recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the field of psychosocial oncology in leadership, training, research, clinical practice and service to the APOS. It is named in honor of APOS founder Jimmie D. Holland, MD, who was central to the establishment of psychosocial oncology, or psycho-oncology, as a subspecialty within oncology dealing with the psychological, social and behavioral aspects of cancer.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this award named after one of the pioneers in psycho-oncology,” said Dr. Badger, Eleanor Bauwens Endowed Chair at the UArizona College of Nursing and chair of the Community and Systems Health Science Division. “It is especially an honor because I knew Jimmie Holland. She was always willing to talk about research and supportive care for cancer survivors and their caregivers.  She was truly an inspirational leader in psycho-oncology.”  

Dr. Badger, who is a Cancer Prevention and Control Program research member at the UArizona Cancer Center, is internationally recognized for her substantive research focusing on depression, symptom management and quality of life among cancer survivors and their families. She is a pioneer and leader in the field of psychosocial oncology research among cancer survivors and caregivers, and in reducing health disparities among Hispanic women with breast cancer and their caregivers.

"This is an incredible honor, and Terry is most deserving of such a prestigious award," said Joann Sweasy, PhD, the Nancy C. and Craig M. Berge Endowed Chair and UArizona Cancer Center director. "She is a true leader in supportive care, research and training for cancer survivors and their caregivers. All of her colleagues at the Cancer Center are appreciative and proud of the lasting impact she has made in advancing supportive care for our patients.”

For three decades, Dr. Badger has tested psychosocial support interventions with the goal of improving the lives of the growing legions of cancer survivors and their informal caregivers. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, her research focuses on the management of psychological distress and treatment-related symptoms among survivors of solid tumor cancers and their informal caregivers.

She is the principal investigator and founder of the Symptoms, Health, Innovations, Equity (SHINE) research group, which seeks to improve symptom management and quality of life for cancer survivors and their caregivers. Her current research tests optimal personalized sequencing of interventions and determines if addressing depressive symptoms allows cancer survivors and caregivers to cognitively reframe beliefs regarding the efficacy of their actions towards symptom management.  

Dr. Badger has published more than 125 papers in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, including landmark papers on the topic of interdependence of survivor and caregiver outcomes. She has developed an inter-individual model of distress, which provides sound theoretical grounding for psychosocial interventions between two individuals.

Since 2000, she has mentored nearly 50 PhD and doctor of nursing practice students as part of her commitment to nursing education and preparing the next generation of researchers and practitioners.

Dr. Badger, who is a past president and fellow of the APOS, was presented with the Jimmie Holland Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2021 APOS Virtual Conference on March 12. The award comes with a $1,000 honorarium, which she donated back to the APOS.