Overview
Background
Dr Nienke Zomerdijk is an Early Career Research Fellow in the First Nations Cancer and Wellbeing Research team at the University of Queensland (2023-present), with expertise in the psychosocial aspects of haematological malignancies and stem cell transplantation.
Prior to this, she was the inaugural Research Fellow in Psycho-Oncology jointly appointed between the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance (2019-2023). Nienke earned her doctorate from the University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine in 2019, carried out within the haematology departments of the Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital and Westmead Hospital in Sydney.
Nienke's diverse research portfolio in haematology spans various topics, including investigating the psychological impacts of COVID-19 on haematology patients and their healthcare professionals, exploring the psychological aspects family stem cell donation, and examining the burden of haematological malignancies specifically in First Nations Australians.
She has a strong record of collaborations with key community organisations, such as the Leukaemia Foundation, and has served as a member of the National Blood Cancer Optimal Care Pathways Working Group for two haematological cancer subtypes. Nienke is a member of the Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group (PoCoG) Scientific Advisory Committee and Co-Chair of the PoCoG Early Career Special Interest Group.
As a whole, Nienke's contributions to the psycho-oncology field have received growing recognition, including numerous awards such as the International Psycho-Oncology Society Congress Award in 2021 and the Margot Prior Early Career Research Award in Clinical Science in 2022. She has published a book chapter and over 20 peer-reviewed publications, including systematic reviews. She has attracted over $1 million in grants funded by Cancer Australia, the Leukaemia Foundation, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, and the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital Foundation as a CI.
Availability
- Dr Nienke Zomerdijk is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Business, Queensland University of Technology
- Doctor of Philosophy of Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland
Research impacts
In 2022, Nienke was awarded an Early Career Research Grant from the University of Melbourne for her project, Mitigating the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood cancer patients and their healthcare workers. The results of this project informed the international COVID-19 Blood Cancer Coalition Impact Statement (2022), led to media invitations including the ABC Program 'Big Ideas (2021), and directly impacted Leukaemia Foundation's telehealth care delivery during COVID-19.
Currently, Nienke is co-leading a newly funded program of research in collaboration with Prof Gail Garvey. This program aims to comprehensively understand the physical and psychosocial burden of haematological cancers in First Nations Australians. The findings from this research will inform a National Roundtable discussion, where crucial research, policy, and clinical practice priorities for improving the wellbeing of First Nations Australians affected by haematological cancers will be determined. This research study represents the first national epidemiological study of haematological cancers in First Nations Australians. It addresses significant data gaps and will support the development of an informed strategy to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. This new program is conducted in partnership with the Leukaemia Foundation, as well as Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff members from the University of Queensland’s First Nations Cancer and Wellbeing Research team.
Works
Search Professor Nienke Zomerdijk’s works on UQ eSpace
2018
Conference Publication
Predictors of Negative Psychosocial Outcomes Among Adult Related Stem Cell Donors - An Australian Multicenter Study
Zomerdijk, Nienke, Turner, Jane, Hill, Geoffrey and Gottlieb, David (2018). Predictors of Negative Psychosocial Outcomes Among Adult Related Stem Cell Donors - An Australian Multicenter Study. 20th World Congress of Psycho‐Oncology, Hong Kong, 29 October-2 November 2018. Oxford, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/pon.4878
2018
Conference Publication
Being a Stem Cell Donor for a Chronically-ill Family Member: Results from an Australian Multicenter Study
Zomerdijk, Nienke, Turner, Jane, Hill, Geoffrey and Gottlieb, David (2018). Being a Stem Cell Donor for a Chronically-ill Family Member: Results from an Australian Multicenter Study. 20th World Congress of Psycho‐Oncology, Hong Kong, 29 October-2 November 2018. Oxford, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/pon.4878
2018
Journal Article
Granulocytes are unresponsive to IL-6 due to an absence of gp130
Wilkinson, Andrew N., Gartlan, Kate H., Kelly, Greg, Samson, Luke D., Olver, Stuart D., Avery, Judy, Zomerdijk, Nienke, Tey, Siok-Keen, Lee, Jason S., Vuckovic, Slavica and Hill, Geoffrey R. (2018). Granulocytes are unresponsive to IL-6 due to an absence of gp130. Journal of Immunology, 200 (9), 3547-3555. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1701191
2018
Journal Article
Early blood stream infection after BMT is associated with cytokine dysregulation and poor overall survival
Catchpoole, Elizabeth M., Thirunavukarasu, Caitlin E., Varelias, Antiopi, Schlebusch, Sanmarié, Olver, Stuart, Zomerdijk, Nienke, Osland, Emma, Kennedy, Glen A., Tey, Siok-Keen, Hill, Geoffrey R. and Markey, Kate A. (2018). Early blood stream infection after BMT is associated with cytokine dysregulation and poor overall survival. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 24 (7), 1360-1366. doi: 10.1016/j.bbmt.2018.02.025
2017
Journal Article
Nutritional status and dietary diversity of Kamea in Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea
Goris, Janny M., Zomerdijk, Nienke and Temple, Victor J. (2017). Nutritional status and dietary diversity of Kamea in Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 26 (4), 665-670. doi: 10.6133/apjcn.052016.09
2016
Conference Publication
The Psychosocial Impact of Donating Haematopoietic Stem Cells on Adult Sibling Donors
Zomerdijk, Nienke, Turner, Jane, Hill, Geoff, Gottlieb, David, Ungerer, Jacobus and Barnes, Annette (2016). The Psychosocial Impact of Donating Haematopoietic Stem Cells on Adult Sibling Donors. *, *, *. Oxford, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons.
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Nienke Zomerdijk is:
- Available for supervision
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Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Nienke Zomerdijk directly for media enquiries about:
- Blood cancer
- Cancer
- COVID-19
- First Nations Australians
- Haematology
- Hematology
- Psycho-Oncology
- Stem cell transplant
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