Invited Speakers

CHERYL BRUNELLE

Associate Director of the Lymphedema Research Program
at Massachusetts General Hospital

Cheryl Brunelle is the associate director of the Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Research Program, an APTA board-certified clinical specialist and certified lymphedema therapist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Cheryl earned her physical therapy degrees at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Cheryl’s clinical focus is on oncology program and staff development within the MGH department of physical and occupational therapy, and the evaluation and treatment of patients during and after cancer treatment, for issues such as surveillance and early intervention for lymphedema, shoulder morbidity, and deconditioning resulting from cancer and its treatment.

Cheryl is a strong proponent of lymphedema screening as standard of care for patients treated for breast cancer. Since 2005, over 7,500 women have been screened for lymphedema after breast cancer treatment within the MGH lymphedema prospective screening program.

Cheryl joined the Lymphedema Research Program in 2014, since which time she has published over 25 papers. She has collaborated on multidisciplinary teams to update hospital policies including recommendations for receiving the COVID vaccine after lymph node removal for breast cancer, as well as collaborated on a recent white paper establishing measurement guidelines for lower extremity lymphedema in research studies. She presents the team’s research works regularly at national and international conferences. Cheryl’s breast cancer-related lymphedema research interests include early intervention, measurement, prospective surveillance, precautionary measures, and breast edema.

CHRISTINE MOFFATT CBE

Professor of Clinical Nursing in Skin Integrity, Nottingham University Hospital
Emeritus Professor of Nursing, University of Nottingham, UK
Visiting Clinical Professor, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

Christine is currently Professor of Clinical Nursing in Skin Integrity at Nottingham University Hospital and was made Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of Nottingham, School of Health Sciences, UK, in June 2018 as well as working with colleagues in Denmark at the Wound and Lymphology Centre in Denmark. She has been involved in wound healing research and practice for 40 years and Lymphoedema for 25 years. She has undertaken extensive research in this field using mixed research methods including running national and international clinical trials. She currently heads the International Lymphoedema Framework, an international charity, whose mission is to develop effective Lymphoedema care throughout the world. Her areas of research include compression therapy; service development and evaluation; psychosocial impact of disease; chronic wounds and Lymphoedema.  She has presented and published internationally. She edited the EWMA position document series and the International Lymphoedema Framework Best Practice Document (2006) and is a member of international editorial boards, NICE boards on leg ulcer management and advisory panels. 

She was awarded a CBE in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List and made a life fellow of the Royal College of Nursing that same year. She has received 7 life-time achievement awards between 2006 and 2023 in recognition of her work. In December 2008 she received a Nursing Times Diamond 20 Award as one of the 20 most influential nurses in the last 60 years and in 2023 she was named as one of the 75 most influential nurses in the history of the NHS.

She received the Vice Chancellor’s medal in 2015 from Nottingham University and the Nottingham University Global Knowledge and Impact Exchange Award in 2016. She has recently led the LIMPRINT study an international epidemiology study with 9 countries that has defined the size and impact of the condition on health services. She is currently leading the first national study in Denmark to determine the prevalence and impact of children and young people with Lymphoedema, a rare condition, funded by a major grant from the ELAB foundation.

Her current work is extending the epidemiology work of LIMPRINT in two low resource countries Uganda and India and undertaking further Limprint studies in Saudia Arabia. She is a co-applicant on a Gates Foundation grant to implement a low resource model of care for Lymphatic Filariasis. Other research in compression includes new methods of adapting compression using electrical stimulation and the development of quality- of- life tools for children and young people with Lymphoedema.

DR KIRA BLOOMQUIST

Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University and The University Hospitals Centre for Health Research (UCSF), Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark

Kira Bloomquist is a Danish physical therapist and postdoc research fellow, currently affiliated the ihop research group at Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University and The University Hospitals Centre for Health Research (UCSF), Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark. Since 2003, her clinical and academic work has been within the field of exercise oncology, specifically during chemotherapy and with a focus on cancer-related lymphedema- an interest prompted by the fear patients had for developing lymphedema and the uncertainty that existed among allied health professionals as to the safety of exercise. The translation of research to practice has been an important driver of her work. She has been a board member of the Danish Physical Therapy Society for Oncology and Palliation since 2018 and has led the development of an accreditation course for physical therapists in oncology in Denmark. She has also been on the planning committee for the 2021 and 2023 International Conference of Physical Therapy in Oncology (ICPTO). Alongside her academic work, Kira still works with cancer patients in chemotherapy  in the ‘Body and Cancer’ program. Further, in 2017, she formed Danish Dragon Abreast- the first Danish dragon boat team consisting of breast cancer survivors, where she still volunteers as a coach.

PROFESSOR J. BRANDON DIXON

Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience
Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr Brandon Dixon is a Professor and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. He joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2009 and has established a research program focused on developing engineered approaches to understanding and treating diseases of the lymphatic system. Prior to coming to Georgia Tech, he was a post-doc at Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne in Switzerland. He received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering in 2006 from Texas A&M University and his bachelors degree from the same university in 2001.  His research has been funded by the NIH, NSF, DOD, Gates Foundation, the American Heart Association, and other private foundations. He is a recipient of the NSF Career Award and the NIH Pathway to Independence Award and is a Fellow in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He is also a co-founder of LymphaTech, a start-up company focused on developing enabling technologies for assessing and managing clinical lymphedema.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LOUISE KOELMEYER

BAppSc(OT) PhD

Associate Professor Louise Koelmeyer is the Head, Department of Health Sciences and Director of the Australian Lymphoedema Education, Research and Treatment (ALERT) program within the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences at Macquarie University. Louise is a lymphoedema therapist (Occupational therapist), educator and researcher with over 30 years of experience in both public and private settings specialising in breast cancer rehabilitation and lymphoedema management. Louise is involved in strategically managing and developing the education, research and treatment arms of the innovative and internationally recognised ALERT “Centre of Excellence” multidisciplinary program.

Louise is a member of the ALERT teaching faculty offering ALA accredited lymphoedema training programs for health professionals.  Louise develops and presents education workshops and advanced skill-based modules on all aspects of assessment and management of lymphoedema locally, nationally and internationally. Her area of interest is on the prospective surveillance model of care in early detection and management of lymphoedema and innovative advances in management.

Louise’s research interests are in achieving better outcomes in innovative early and advanced lymphoedema management through conservative and surgical treatment. Louise is also interested in the assessment and management of Head & Neck lymphoedema, surgical options and the use of Indocyanine Green Lymphography to personalise management. 

Louise’s clinical interests and expertise are in developing a therapeutic relationship with individuals and personalising treatment programs that support the individual’s needs and goals to achieve positive outcomes.