BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE IN CANCER SCREENING, CONTROL AND COMMUNICATION
With
Dr Rachael Dodd
Senior Research Fellow,
The Daffodil Centre, a Cancer Council NSW & The University of Sydney Joint Venture
Sydney, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Sydney | April 2025
Dr Dodd completed her undergraduate in Psychology (2007), Masters in Health Psychology (2009) and PhD in Psychology (2016) in the UK. Her PhD focused on the psychosocial impact of HPV in people diagnosed with head and neck cancer, which resulted in the development of an education resource which is being implemented into clinical practice here in Australia and is available online. Dr Dodd relocated to The University of Sydney in Australia in 2017, following the completion of her PhD. Her research capitalised on her expertise in HPV and focused on the changes to the cervical screening program that commenced in Australia in 2017.
Dr Dodd has an established international reputation as a behavioural scientist in cancer control and communication. Since completing her PhD in 2016, Dr Dodd has been awarded a three-year University of Sydney Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2018-2021) and a three-year Research Fellowship at The Daffodil Centre (current). Dr Dodd is the co-chair of the ‘Strengthening and optimising approaches to cancer prevention, screening, and early detection’ hub at The Daffodil Centre (with more than 130 staff and students).
Dr Dodd has published 78 research papers and is a CI on grants worth over $20 million. This has included being the lead investigator of an International Lung Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Grant, to co-design decision support tools for lung cancer screening in Australia and she is leading a consortium to develop the suite of information materials and education resources for the upcoming National Lung Cancer Screening Program.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8080-6359
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Outcomes of Corneal Allergenic Intrastromal Ring Segment (CAIRS) Surgery
Dr David Gunn is an ophthalmologist specialising in cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery at the Queensland Eye Institute and Focus Vision in Brisbane, Queensland. His journey into ophthalmology began during medical school, inspired by a mentor. His current research examines outcomes for patients undergoing Corneal Allergenic Intrastromal Ring Segment (CAIRS) surgery.
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Novel forms of brain stimulation & psychedelic assisted psychotherapy
Professor Paul Fitzgerald is the Head of the School of Medicine and Psychology at the Australian National University. He is an academic psychiatrist with a MBBS degree, Masters of Psychological Medicine and research PhD. He has conducted an extensive range of experimental studies and clinical trials, focused on the development of novel treatment options for patients with mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD, autism and Alzheimer’s disease.
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Applying nanotechnology to chronic pain management
Dr Felicity Han is a Research Fellow and Leader in Pain Relief Innovation, at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in the University of Queensland. Dr Han’s research interests sit at the interface of drug delivery and the pain field. Her overarching research goal is to improve the quality of day to day life of patients suffering from chronic pain, by applying nanotechnology to the development of novel highly effective pain-killer products for improving chronic pain management.
