ProfessorAnna Ugalde

My research aims to support the delivery of equitable and accessible cancer care. My work bridges research, policy, and practice to deliver real-world improvements in cancer care, particularly for rural and remote communities.

In my role, I lead a team of early- and mid-career researchers delivering an internationally recognised, transdisciplinary research program. We appraise existing evidence, develop new solutions, tailor them to local settings, and evaluate their impact.

I lead Equitable Cancer Outcomes across Rural and Remote Australia (ECORRA; ecorra.deakin.edu.au), a $7 million program supported by four funding sources, ten staff and over 100 partners and stakeholders. Through this program, I support the implementation of best-practice cancer care, establish national guidance for rural and remote cancer care, identify barriers and solutions, and develop patient-facing supports.

My work is characterised by partnerships with consumers, health services, clinicians, policymakers, and researchers. I appointed and support a 14-person Consumer Advisory Panel to ensure lived-experience voices are embedded across our research, and I collaborate with health services across Australia to support the implementation of evidence into diverse settings. Through these partnerships, I apply co-design, implementation science, clinical trial, digital health and other best-practice approaches to develop scalable, evidence-based solutions that improve cancer outcomes. This work has driven service redesign, supported new models of care, advanced national policy, and generated internationally relevant evidence. My research has informed cancer policy, including contributions to Australia's National Lung Cancer Screening Program—the first new national screening program implemented in more than 20 years.

I have secured more than $31 million in competitive research funding including 4 consecutive fellowships, published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers, and led influential work published in leading journals including CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and the five-paper Series 'Equitable Cancer Outcomes across Rural and Remote Communities' in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific. Internationally, I chair the Psychosocial Group for the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, and nationally I serve on the executive for the Survivorship Group for the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia.

I am passionate about translating high-quality evidence into lasting improvements for patients, communities, and health systems.

For more information about my ECORRA research program, please visit: https://ecorra.deakin.edu.au/