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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Gerontological physiotherapy in falls prevention and prehabilitation
Dr Rik Dawson is a gerontological physiotherapist and health leader dedicated to improving healthy ageing through evidence-based physiotherapy, digital health and health system reform. As a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney, and President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, he combines research and policy to improve access to high quality care for older people.
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Health and economic burden of interstitial lung diseases
Dr Cox’s main research interests focus on respiratory diseases and primarily on the economic burden and economic evaluation of interventions and treatments for their management. She earned her PhD from the University of Tasmania where her doctoral research examined the health and economic burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in Australia, one component of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis, a national project implemented alongside the Australian IPF Registry and the Lung Foundation Australia. This research provided the first epidemiological profile and first costing estimates of the economic burden of the disease in Australia, providing essential evidence for health service reimbursement policies.
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Vision impairment in children and the impact on children and their families
Dr Sue Silveira holds a conjoint academic position with Macquarie University and is the Course Director for their Master of Disability Studies, which is administered and delivered by NextSense Institute in affiliation with the University. She teaches in the areas of vision impairment and disability, and aims to share her knowledge while learning from others, especially people who are blind or have low vision and their families.
