My Expertise
I am a biostatistician and cancer epidemiologist specialising in the use of longitudinal and linked administrative health data to address inequities in cancer outcomes. My research leverages population-wide linked health data and integrates advanced statistical modelling to examine cancer survivorship outcomes in underserved populations, with a particular focus on comorbidity and complex care, cardiovascular health, survival outcomes, and health-related quality of life across the cancer care continuum. I focus on optimising chronic disease management and evaluating real-world patterns of care to inform policy and clinical practice. Through large-scale population data in New South Wales and nationally, my work generates actionable evidence to improve equity, strengthen health systems, and enhance outcomes for people affected by cancer.
Keywords
Fields of Research (FoR)
Biostatistics, Applied statistics, Health equity, Health services and systems, Oncology and carcinogenesis, MultimorbidityBiography
I am a Senior Research Fellow in biostatistics and cancer epidemiology at the Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CCORE), South-Western Sydney Clinical Campus, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW, and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. I completed my PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Statistics at the University of Newcastle in 2020.
My research focuses on applying advanced statistical and...view more
I am a Senior Research Fellow in biostatistics and cancer epidemiology at the Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CCORE), South-Western Sydney Clinical Campus, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW, and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. I completed my PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Statistics at the University of Newcastle in 2020.
My research focuses on applying advanced statistical and causal modelling to longitudinal and population-wide linked health data to address inequities in cancer outcomes. I examine survivorship trajectories, comorbidity and complex care needs, cardiovascular outcomes after cancer, life expectancy and survival outcomes, and health-related quality of life across the cancer care continuum. I have a strong interest in optimising chronic disease management and evaluating real-world patterns of care to inform policy and clinical practice.
I have authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications, presented nationally and internationally, and secured competitive fellowship and project funding. My work aims to generate rigorous, policy-relevant evidence to strengthen health systems and improve outcomes for underserved populations affected by cancer.
My Grants
- 1) EMCR Seed Funding 2025, School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW; Project: Health-related quality of life among Australian Women Cancer Survivors, ($5000).
- 2) Sydney Cancer Partners Conference Travel Grant for a presentation at World Cancer Congress 2024, Geneva ($4000)
- 3) The Daffodil Centre Travel Support for an oral presentation at the World Congress on Epidemiology 2024, Cape Town ($4500)
- 4) Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) Survivorship Research Fellowship 2023-2024
- 5) Sydney Cancer Partners’ Conference Travel Support: COSA Survivorship Conference 2023 ($1000)
- 6) EMCR Boaster Scheme Award 2022, Faculty of Medicine and Health, USYD (AUD 4000)
- 7) Daffodil Centre Fellowship, University of Sydney, Role: Research Fellow, CI: Prof Anne Cust, 2022-2024.
My Qualifications
PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, 2020 ‒ The University of Newcastle, Australia
MSc in Social Science Gerontology, 2014 ‒ University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
MSc in Statistics, 2023 ‒ University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
My Awards
1) Hal Kendig prize for the CEPAR best PhD Thesis 2020, Amount (AUD 1000)
2) Best Publication Award 2020, School of Public Health, The University of Newcastle ($500)
3) Arthur Everitt Award 2019 for a high–quality conference abstract: Australian Association of Gerontology ($1000).
My Research Activities
List of current projects:
1) Cardiovascular disease mortality risk in people with cancer in New South Wales ‒ details about the project available at: https://www.cancer.nsw.gov.au/research-and-data/cancer-data-and-statistics/data-available-on-request/candle-program/candle-projects/cardiovascular-disease-mortality-risk-among-cancer
2) Health-related quality of life, psychosocial factors and patterns of comorbidity in Australian women cancer survivors ‒ This project is based on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health and linked to the Australian Cancer Database. A recent publication from this project is available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11880961/
3) Ethnicity, migration, and cancer care in NSW ‒ This study is based on linkage of the largescale Commomwealth data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Person-level Integrated Data Assets and the NSW Cancer Registry and other health services data.
My Research Supervision
Supervision keywords
Areas of supervision
I am currently available to supervise Higher Degree Research (HDR) candidates, including for PhD programs. If you are interested in undertaking a PhD here at UNSW, please send me an email with your current CV and academic transcript. Quantitative research in the following areas:
1) Biostatistical methods in cancer and health services research
2) Research methods and modelling in the context of health data linkage, service integration and supportive cancer care
3) Equity in cancer outcomes, especially improving outcomes for the underserved populations
4) Cancer survivorship research, with a particular focus on managing comorbidity, health service utilisation, quality of life and mental health among people with cancer
5) Cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people with cancer: how these two diseases interact, shared risk factors, treatment side-effects and better management of CVD in people with cancer
6) Quantifying the burden of cancer, socioeconomic differences and impact on the health system.
Currently supervising
PhD Supervision:
1) Md Sohel Rana, Project title 'The influence of lifestyle factors on breast cancer incidence among Australian women born in different generations' at The Daffodil Centre, University of Sydney.
2) Haoyu Zhang, Project title: 'Population-Based Epidemiological Analysis of Cardiovascular Mortality Risks in A Cohort of Australian Cancer Survivors' at The Daffodil Centre, University of Sydney.
Supervision completed:
MPH Dissertation Supervision: Haoyu Zhang, project title: Comorbidity and health-related quality of life among cancer survivors, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
My Engagement
1) Associated Editor, Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology
2) Co-editor, Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) Cancer Survivorship eNews 2024-2026
3) Executive member, COSA Survivorship Research Group (2024-2026)
4) Member, COSA multi-morbidity special interest group
5) Member, Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (2022- )
6) Member, Statistical Society of Australia (2017-2025)
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6879-2049