Deborah K. Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN is an advanced practice oncology nurse who has over 45 years of cancer nursing practice, education, research, and management experience. She earned a PhD from the University of Utah, her MSN from Yale University, her BSN from Excelsior College, her Nurse Practitioner Certificate from the University of Maryland, and her diploma from Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing.
Dr. Mayer is past president of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), was a member of the National Cancer Institute’s National Cancer Advisory Board (a Presidential appointment) and Board of Scientific Advisors. Dr. Mayer was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She is active in ONS and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and is a Past Chair of the ASCO Survivorship Committee. She served as the Editor for the ONS’ Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (CJON) from 2007-2015 and has published over 200 articles, book chapters and editorials on cancer related issues. She was awarded the ONS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. In 2016, was appointed as the only nurse to Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel. She became the Interim Director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship at NCI from 2018-2020. In 2021, she was awarded the prestigious Ellen L. Stovall Award from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. In 2023, she was awarded the Joseph Simone Quality Care Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Her presentation can be found here.
At UNC School of Nursing, she was the coordinator for the oncology focus of the adult and gerotonology nurse practitioner program. Her program of research focuses on the issues facing cancer survivors and improving cancer care. She was the Director of Cancer Survivorship at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. As a nurse who worked on the “frontline” with cancer survivors, and as a cancer survivor herself, she brings a unique perspective to her clinical, research and health policy collaborations with the cancer community. As of 2021, she is the Frances Hill Fox Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the School of Nursing. She is currently a Faculty Fellow working with doctoral students at the Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing at Villanova University.