Born in Nambour and growing up in Rockhampton (Darumbal country), Boden says it was his love of sport and his mother that encouraged him to pursue a career in health.

“She always had me involved in sport (NRL, soccer, rugby, athletics) which fed my passion for health and social connections” Boden said.

Boden studied a degree in Exercise and Sport Science where he began working in athletic development. He later moved into exercise physiology and worked with people suffering from chronic health conditions, mainly diabetes and chronic heart disease.

Boden then made the decision to become a cancer support coordinator thus beginning his journey in the cancer care field.

“The love, compassion and motivation of cancer patients to not only look after their families but overcome the disease, lead me to want to do more to support those affected by cancer in my community” Boden said.

He joined Menzies in 2017 and is currently working on the National Indigenous Bowel Screening Pilot Project as the training and site support officer.

A typical day for Boden consists of liaising between the health centres and project staff handling the implementation and delivery of the pilot project, which involves the centres offering bowel screening kits directly to their clients aged 50-74 years, as an alternative to the usual method of kits being mailed out.

Boden says he loves being part of the Menzies family because of the strong connection with public health, education and community development and being at the coal face of translating the research into real activities which have an impact on peoples lives and their health. One of the key impacts he has seen is the increase in people taking and doing the bowel cancer tests.

Outside Menzies, Boden maintains an active lifestyle and enjoys surfing, axe throwing and CrossFit.