Sexual dysfunction is one of the most prevalent and distressing side effects of cancer treatment — yet the majority of survivors never receive the information, support, or care they need to address it. In this session, Dr. Sharon Bober, Director of the Sexual Health Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, provides clinicians with a practical, evidence-based framework for assessing and treating sexual health concerns in cancer survivors. Drawing on her decades of clinical and research experience, Dr. Bober will examine how surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapies each affect sexual function and body image, and review the biopsychosocial model that guides effective sexual rehabilitation. Attendees will leave with concrete tools for initiating these conversations with patients, identifying the right interventions, and building a team-based approach to sexual health that treats it as an essential — not optional — component of survivorship care.
Sharon Bober, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and one of the country's foremost experts on sexual health and cancer survivorship. She is the Director of the Sexual Health Program and Director of Psychosocial Services for the Center for Cancer Prevention and Genetics at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Bober founded and leads Dana-Farber's Sexual Health Program, which is committed to addressing patients' concerns about sexual health as an integral part of cancer care — from diagnosis and treatment through survivorship. The program provides education, consultation, and personalized rehabilitation counseling for patients and their partners, and is inclusive of all genders and sexual orientations.
Her research focuses on developing theory-driven interventions in sexual health and quality of life, with additional interests in self-efficacy and choiceful decision-making in the context of cancer treatment and cancer risk. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on sexual dysfunction after cancer, and her work has helped establish sexual health as a core component of oncology survivorship care — not an afterthought. Her clinical interests span adult psychosocial oncology, cancer survivorship, and sexual health.
Dr. Bober completed her graduate training in clinical psychology at Clark University and her fellowship at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates.