Helena Walston, PhD, MSN, RN, OCN

Helena was a senior nursing student when first assigned to care for cancer patients. What she thought would be a sad and unbearable assignment turned into a life-long career in cancer care. She would not know then that cancer and cancer survivorship would become part of her personal life as well. She lost a sister to cancer; today, her young cousin is surviving a recurrence of breast cancer. A native of Seattle, Helena has devoted almost 15 years to oncology nursing, a great portion of it to cancer survivorship issues. Researcher, investigator, author, speaker and teacher would only partially define her. As much time as she spends in educational pursuits she spends with cancer survivors. Whether one-on-one or in support groups, Helena’s survivors receive the benefit of her expertise and a dose of compassion that is very rare. After receiving her B.S. in Nursing from Mississippi University for Women, Helena obtained a Master of Science in Nursing from The School of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University and in the same year, became certified as an Oncology Certified Nurse. She earned a PhD in Nursing Science from Mississippi University for Women. Helena is the Former Program Director of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.