Senior Research Fellow, Screening & Test Evaluation Program, University of Sydney

Kirsten McCaffery (BSc(Hons) Psychology, PhD Health Psychology ) is a Senior Research Fellow within the Screening and Test Evaluation Program at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney and holds a NHMRC Career Development Award. Her first degree was in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh and she completed her PhD at University College London at the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Unit. The current focus of her research is women’s perceptions of Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the psychosocial impact of HPV testing and HPV vaccination.

She has carried out several studies examining women’s attitudes to, understanding of and the psychological response to HPV and has published 12 peer reviewed papers in this area since 2003. Her research has informed the design of HPV education materials in Australia and internationally, and has raised awareness of the need to consider psychosocial issues in the area of HPV testing and vaccination. Her research uses both quantitative and qualitative methods and she has a particular interest in the psychosocial implications of screening in different social, ethnic and cultural groups.

She is a founding member of the Sydney Health Decision Group and her recent work has focused on the development of decision tools to facilitate informed health decision making in screening for patients with low education and literacy.

She has published over 30 peer reviewed papers in international journals, 3 book chapters and has been awarded 11 research grants. She is a regular reviewer for several international journals and donor organisations.