Marie Bakitas, DNSc, CRNP, AOCN®, FAAN has had a sustained program of substantive research, focused primarily on the issues of persons with cancer that has spanned 30 years. Her trajectory is unique, in that she began making significant research contributions as a member of an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center prior to earning her doctoral degree in 2006. Toward the end of the 1990s, Dr. Bakitas realized that while pain and symptom management of patients with cancer was improving, the overall progressive illness and end-of-life experience was in critical need of attention. She and her colleagues developed ENABLE (Educate, Nurture, Advise Before Life Ends). The ENABLE early palliative care approach became the primary focus of her subsequent research career. In 2001, when most oncology professionals were unaware of the potential benefit of early palliative care, Dr. Bakitas received the ONS/Trish Greene Quality of Life Lectureship award to present the findings of Project ENABLE. The lecture described how she made a philosophical shift in her oncology nursing clinical career to focus solely on palliative care. Discover how her clinical and research careers have intermingled with and impacted the evolving evidence supporting the integration of the fields of palliative and oncology care.
