Name:
Dr Vanya Slavova-Boneva
Post-nominal Letters:
MRPharmS, PGDipGPP, IP, AFHEA, mBOPA
Job Title:
Specialist Senior Adult Oncology Programme (SAOP) Pharmacist
Organisation / Company:
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Lecturer in Cancer Care at The Royal Marsden School, UK
Biography:
Vanya Slavova-Boneva is a Specialist Senior Adult Oncology Programme (SAOP) Pharmacist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Lecturer in Cancer Care at The Royal Marsden School, UK. She leads clinical pharmacy services within SAOP, working as part of a multidisciplinary team to deliver personalised and holistic care for patients aged ≥70 years with cancer.
She specialised in oncology in 2014, completing a Postgraduate Diploma in General Pharmacy Practice (UCL) and qualifying as an Independent Prescriber in 2019. In 2022, she became the first pharmacist to successfully complete the SIOG Advanced Course in Geriatric Oncology. She recently completed a Pre-Doctoral Fellowship funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, focusing on developing innovative digital and non-digital approaches to improve medication safety, adherence, and patient education for older adults with cancer, enhancing their quality of life and treatment experience.
Vanya has extensive experience across haemato-oncology and solid tumours, with research and clinical interests in geriatric oncology, medicine optimisation and polypharmacy. She has published in the Journal of Geriatric Oncology, International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and contributes to international guidelines, book chapters and best practice papers. She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences including BOPA, SIOG, CPC and UKOF.
She serves as Chair of the BOPA Geriatric Oncology Advisory Group, committee member of the BOPA Research, EDI, and Immunotherapy groups, member of the Royal Marsden Research and Audit Forum and governance committee member of the SIOG Nursing, Allied Health and Scientists Interest Group. She also collaborates internationally through SIOG,CARG, ISOPP and the UK Immuno-Oncology Clinical Network.
Her leadership and research contributions were recognised with the HSJ Patient Safety Award (2024) as part of the Royal Marsden SAOP team for improving care for older people.