Jeanette Winterling

I work as a head of the Psychooncology unit for adult cancer patients and the survivorship unit for adults that had cancer as a child at the
Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Theme Cancer) at the Karolinska Comprehensiv Cancer Centre at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.

As a researcher I am conected to Yvonne Wengströms research group at Karolinska Institutet.

Education:

Registred Nurse 1997
Basic education in Psychoterapy 2000
Magister in Caring Science 2002
PhD in Caring Science 2007

Associate professor in Caring Sience 2023

My research has consistently focused on psychosocial aspects of patients and relatives with cancer.

I finished my PhD in 2007 at Uppsala University with the thesis "Hope and Despair - Philosophy of life, expectations and optimism in cancer patient and their spouses”. The thesis involved life situation, philosophy of life, optimism and bereavement in patients with gastrointestinal cancer in a palliative phase, and their spouses, as well as on cancer patients' expectations on the time coming after they finished a curative cancer treatment. I did a postdoc in the Fex-Can research project which included to examine different aspects of children, teens and young adults' situation during and after cancer, such as life situation, school situation, sexuality and fertility.

My research has evolved from primarily focusing on understanding patients’ and family members’ symptoms, life situations, and quality of life during and after cancer treatment, to also encompassing the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions and care models. In 2026, I am the PI for the following research projects:

• The Frailty Project – investigating the use of the Edmonton Frail Scale as a screening tool among elderly (>65 years of age) lung cancer patients at the Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Started in 2021.

• The MyCode Project – adapting, implementing, and evaluating a psychosocial support model for young adult cancer patients (16–30 years of age), including Team Young and the PRISM intervention, at the Karolinska and Sahlgrenska Comprehensive Cancer Centres. Started in 2020.

• The Swedish PanCare4AYA Project – evaluating a long‑term follow‑up program at the Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Centre for patients diagnosed with cancer between 16 and 30 years of age who are now more than 5 years post‑diagnosis. This work is part of a larger EU initiative. Started in 2025.

• The CAR‑T‑Cell Project – exploring patients’ experiences related to CAR‑T‑cell therapy, with a focus on quality of life, symptoms, patient participation, and the experience of receiving treatment at home. Started in 2024.

Being co-PI for:

• The ELEVATE Project – exploring the use of a conversational tool to support communication between patients and nurses in hematological care at the Karolinska and Skåne Comprehensive Cancer Centres. Started in 2025.

Ended projects:

• The aCent research project - It is about developing, implementing and evaluation a model for person-centred care for patients and family caregivers in the context of allogenic stem cell transplantation.
• The Donor research project - It is about investigationd the psychological well being of donors in allogenic stem cell transplantation.

I am course coordinator for the course Rehabilitation within cancer care, 7.5 hp at Karolinska Institutet and are involved in other courses at Karolinska as well as other Universities.