Rachel Webster, PhD

Improving long-term health after childhood cancer requires more than documenting late effects; it requires identifying the modifiable factors that shape survivorship outcomes and developing interventions that can change them. My research focuses on psychological distress, health behaviors, and family and social factors that influence whole-person health in childhood cancer survivors.

A major focus of my work is understanding psychological distress as both a survivorship outcome and a driver of future health risk. Across studies involving more than 17,000 childhood cancer survivors, my research has characterized the health burden associated with distress and related behaviors and identified modifiable psychosocial influences, including caregiver emotional health, family functioning and social support. Building on this evidence, my current work develops and tests scalable interventions to strengthen coping, reduce distress and support long-term well-being.

My research also addresses health behaviors that can compound survivors’ risk for chronic health conditions, including poor diet, inadequate sleep and low physical activity. These challenges often begin during treatment and may persist into survivorship, underscoring the need for early, developmentally appropriate intervention. By identifying when health behavior patterns emerge and what psychosocial barriers sustain them, this work informs strategies to promote healthier routines before long-term patterns become entrenched.

Across my clinical and research program, I aim to move survivorship science toward actionable, patient-centered strategies that reduce distress, support healthy behaviors and improve quality of life for childhood cancer survivors and their families.