Lea Baider (born 1939), is a professor of medical psychology,^[1] and considered one of the founders of psycho-oncology.^[2] She is the director of psycho-oncology at the Sharsheret Institute of Oncology at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.^[3] Baider is also a member of the Middle East Cancer Consortium.^[1] Baider runs workshops in psycho-oncology to expand the field.^[4]

Baider was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina.^[5] She graduated with a B.A in education 1957 from the University of Buenos Aires.^[5] In 1963, she graduated from with a M.A in clinical psychology from the University of Buenos Aires.^[5] Between 1967 and 1968, she was a research fellow at Tufts University and at Harvard University.^[5] In 1973, she earned her Ph.D. from Brandeis University, where she wrote her dissertation: Family Structure and the Process of Dying: A Study of Cancer Patients and their Family Interaction.^[5]

Baider started her career as a consulting psychologist in at Boston University Medical Center.^[5] She then became a clinical psychologist in the oncology department of Shattuck Hospital, while running group therapy for drug-addiction at Boston University Medical Center.^[5] She then became the supervisor for Boston University Medical Center's "family therapy training program".^[5] She then moved to Israel and became a postdoctoral fellow at the Tel Aviv University Medical Center in Family Medicine.^[5]

In 1982, Baider built the psycho-oncology department at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.^[1] In 2012, she established the psycho-oncology department in Assuta Medical Center located in Tel Aviv.^[1] She is a past president of the international psycho-oncology society.^[3] In May 2015, Baider participated in a workshop teaching doctors about psycho-oncology at the Sacred Heart training center.^[3] In 2018, she ran another workshop at Babes University.^[2] She continues to practice psycho-oncology by giving support to women support through treatment and recovery of breast cancer.^[6]

As of February 2018, Baider continues to run workshops about psycho-oncology, training others to practice it as well.^[4]

Baider has received Arthur Sutherland memorial award for psycho-oncology.^[3] In 1974, she was awarded a Guggenheim Latin America and Caribbean Fellowship for psychology.^[7] She wrote a book called Cancer and Family, and released a second edition of the book.^[1] She has also published around 200 articles in scientific journals like The Oncologist and Future of Medicine.^[1] She also helped with research on behalf of Multi-international Association of supportive care in cancer. There she helped review research on the 6th vital sign.^[8]

One of her more notorious publications was her book Cancer and the Family.^[9] The book is about how cancer affects the family dynamic, as well as each member of the family.^[9] It discusses how children react to cancer and new clinical information on the role family plays in cancer and cancer treatment and recovery.^[9]