School of Nursing and Midwifery

Professor Benjamin Tan

Professor Benjamin Tan is Professor of Cancer Nursing in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Edith Cowan University. His research-focused role involves leading cancer nursing research programs, developing partnerships with health services and consumers, and supporting Higher Degree by Research supervision and research capacity building to improve supportive care, symptom management and survivorship outcomes for people affected by cancer.

Background

Professor Benjamin Tan has held full professorial appointments since 2021 and has served in a range of academic and executive leadership roles across Australian universities. Prior to joining ECU, he was Dean and National Head of School (Nursing and Midwifery) at The University of Notre Dame Australia. At Charles Darwin University, he previously served as College Associate Dean (Research), College Associate Dean (International), Head of School of Nursing, and Dean of Graduate Studies (on Secondment). He also held research leadership roles at the University of Southern Queensland. His experience spans research strategy, research training, academic governance, curriculum development, accreditation and international partnerships.

Benjamin’s interdisciplinary research focuses on developing and evaluating evidence-based supportive care programs for people affected by cancer and chronic illness, particularly approaches to reducing physical and psychological symptom distress and supporting self-management. Working with clinical and academic partners in Australia and internationally, he aims to translate research findings into accessible care. His work has informed international and national clinical practice guidelines, professional training programs, textbooks and supportive care interventions.

Benjamin completed his PhD at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, with part of his doctoral training undertaken at the University of Manchester in the UK. He maintains adjunct and honorary academic affiliations in Australia, Hong Kong SAR and China Mainland, supporting collaborative research and HDR supervision.

Benjamin is Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Oncology Nursing and Co-Chair of the Research Standing Committee of the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia, contributing to nursing research, scholarly publishing and research integrity.

Professional Associations

• Editor-in-Chief, European Journal of Oncology Nursing (EJON)
• Co-Chair, Research Standing Committee, Cancer Nurses Society of Australia
• Section Editor (Survivorship), Cancer Control: Journal of the Moffitt Cancer Centre
• International Advisory Board Member, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice
• Research Consultant, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, North Metropolitan Health Service, WA Health
• Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Southern Queensland
• Adjunct Professor, National School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Notre Dame Australia
• Adjunct Professor, School of Clinical Medical Sciences/University Hospital, Southwest Medical University
• Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing, Southwest Medical University
• Honorary Professor, Hong Kong Tung Wah College School of Nursing

Awards and Recognition

• 2026: World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists, Stanford/Elsevier
• 2025: World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists, Stanford/Elsevier
• 2025: University Learning and Teaching Award, Co-Awardee (Edubot Project Team), University of Southern Queensland
• 2025: Exceptional Performance in Research – Experienced Researcher, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Southern Queensland
• 2024: World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists, Stanford/Elsevier
• 2023: World’s Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists, Stanford/Elsevier
• 2021: Outstanding Alumnus, 70th Anniversary, Southwest Medical University
• 2019: Exceptional Performance in Research – Emerging Researcher, College of Nursing and Midwifery, Charles Darwin University
• 2018: Faculty Distinguished Thesis Award (PhD), Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• 2017: Emerging Nurse Scholar, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto

Research Areas and Interests

Methodologies

• Intervention development and evaluation
• Randomised controlled trials
• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
• Instrument development and psychometric evaluation

Topics

• Cancer supportive care and survivorship
• Cancer symptom management
• Non-pharmacological and integrative interventions
• Complementary therapies in nursing
• Self-management in cancer and chronic illness
• Evidence-based practice and knowledge translation