A short interview with Dr Janet Schloss discussing research on treatment of brain cancer with medicinal cannabis.
Dr Janet Schloss is one of Australia’s leading integrative oncology clinicians and researchers, leading research in hospitals across Australia into the use of medicinal cannabis alongside traditional treatment for high-grade gliomas (glioblastoma), an aggressive brain tumour.
Dr Janet Schloss is a Clinical Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM).
Dr Schloss is an accomplished researcher with extensive experience in coordinating clinical trials. In addition to her academic career, Janet is also a practicing clinical nutritionist and naturopath with over 25 years’ experience.
Dr Schloss was born and raised in Toowoomba, but moved at the age of 17 when she went to uni. Before her current career, young Janet used to play volleyball and beach volleyball at a high level and repped for Australia. She worked for WA Volleyball and Queensland Volleyball, but it wasn’t her passion. ‘I have now found my passion,’ she says.
Supporting people who have cancer
Following the completion of her doctorate in 2015, Schloss has focused her research on supporting people who have cancer, through studying the use of complementary medicines to assist side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
She works with a number of oncologists, assisting patients with nutrition consultation to help decrease side effects and support them whilst undergoing medical treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, immunotherapy and hormone treatment.
Dr Schloss consults extensively with clients being treated for cancer and auto-immune conditions to reduce the likelihood of metastasis, tumour growth and inflammation, while building immune modulation and improving overall health and wellbeing.
Ground-breaking studies
Dr Schloss has completed a number of ground-breaking studies and has over 80 publications in clinical naturopathy, cancer and auto-immune diseases, some of which have gained wide-spread national media attention. Through her critical and rigorous research, she helps patients and practitioners to establish evidence-based practice.
For over 14 years Dr Schloss has lectured in naturopathy, nutrition and supervised student clinics, and she now lectures the masters students at SCU.
She has a strong passion for her profession, with many professional speaking engagements throughout Australia and overseas, including the ASCO Annual Meeting in 2015 and 2021 – the largest, most prestigious oncology conference in the world – where she presented a complementary medicine clinical trial to over 32,000 delegates.
In addition to her role at NCNM, Dr Schloss was a Research Fellow and a member of the International Naturopathic Leadership group with the Australian Research Centre for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), and she’s now the Vice President of the Naturopathic and Herbalist Association of Australia (NHAA).
Dr Schloss has a private practice in Annerley in Queensland.
A woman of many hats
Dr Schloss wears lots of hats, which means her professional life is divided up during the week. ‘I work for SCU four days a week and I am in my private clinic seeing patients two days a week – Wednesday and Saturday mornings – I am also the vice-president of NHAA which I do at either night time or on the weekends.’
Her work can be tricky. ‘There are lots of challenges,’ she says. ‘The stigma with cannabis and natural products; the logistics of working with hospitals and universities, with all the paperwork and levels of approvals required; and the money to support the research are just some of them. In addition, trials have tight criteria so a lot of people don’t make the inclusion/exclusion criteria, which can be heart breaking.
‘But, I really love seeing results that can help people and having evidence to prove it. I also love seeing people feel better and having a better survival chance and quality of life. That fills my heart.’
A sad family story
Dr Schloss says her reasons for doing this kind of work are huge. ‘I have been interested in cancer and chronic disease for a long time. I love the natural medicine approach more than pharmaceutical, hence why I went and studied naturopathy.
‘While I was studying, my aunty was diagnosed with bowel cancer. She chose not to do surgery or chemotherapy as she was afraid of getting a (colostomy stoma) bag. Instead, this unqualified person saying he can cure cancer convinced her to take all these natural products, as his dad cured his cancer.
‘Her bowel cancer progressed quickly – she was passing blood and was in tremendous pain. This man told her it was the cancer leaving her body.’
A tragic death
‘In the end, she died a tragic death and I swore that we need to have good research to support people with cancer and natural products and ensure people who are doing unsupportive therapies that could harm people, be removed.’
Though her professional life is very full, Dr Schloss says down time is not an altogether foreign concept. ‘I like to spend time with my family – husband and children (if they let me), and catch up with friends and listen to music.’
She believes there’s always hope beyond what you see and feel right now. ‘Life is not just about surviving, it’s about thriving. I like to tell people that they are not their cancer or disease. You are you. It does not define your identity and who you are as a person.’
To find out more about Dr Janet Schloss, visit: www.drjanetschloss.com.
*This story and video was produced with the assistance of the NSW Department of Regional NSW Regional Growth Fund
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