Professor Joan Cunningham

Senior principal research fellow

Qualifications:

Doctor of Science (Epidemiology), Harvard School of Public Health, 1994; Master of Liberal Arts (Psychology), Harvard University, 1991; Bachelor of Arts (Sociology), Harvard University, 1985.

Approved level of HDR supervision at Charles Darwin University:

Principal Supervisor for PhD

Location:

Melbourne

Biography:

Professor Joan Cunningham is a social epidemiologist with a core focus on equity in health and health care.

Her work on the social and system determinants of Indigenous health has illuminated critical shortcomings in health system performance for Indigenous Australians and identified pathways to improve equity of access and outcomes.

Prof Cunningham's work is wide-ranging and she has published seminal papers on topics such as interpersonal and institutional racism, the health and wellbeing of Indigenous people in urban areas, the care and experiences of Indigenous end-stage kidney disease patients, socioeconomic gradients of various chronic diseases, cervical screening participation and outcomes, and cancer epidemiology.

Prof Cunningham currently co-leads a Centre of Research Excellence on improving cancer services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and holds a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship.

She has a long record of success in building research capacity and in mentoring and developing emerging research leaders, including Indigenous researchers, and was awarded the Australasian Epidemiological Association’s Mentoring Award in recognition of her achievements.

She has a strong, sustained history of highly productive multidisciplinary research collaborations, underpinned by the development and nurturing of respectful partnerships with Indigenous colleagues, organisations, community members and students.

Prof Cunningham regularly serves on Grant Review Panels and has been a Member of the Editorial Board of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health since 2004.

She has been supported by more than $28 million in grants and consultancies since 2000 and has over 100 publications to date

 

  • TACTICS Centre of Research Excellence: Targeted Approach to Improve Cancer Services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
  • Embedding community driven models to improve cervical screening via HPV self-collection to improve cervical cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women; an implementation trial
  • Improving cardiovascular health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer: towards optimal, cost-effective, and equitable cardio-oncological care in Australia
  • Developing an Australian cardiovascular risk assessment tool for people with cancer aged 45 years and older
  • Assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Patients’ Experiences in Private Hospitals in Eastern Australia: A collaboration between St Vincent’s Health Australia Ltd and Menzies School of Health Research
  • A flexible model to improve access and equity in bowel screening for Australia’s First Nations people through home care services
  • What Matters to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Adolescents’ Wellbeing: Developing a wellbeing measure for adolescents (WM2A Project)
  • Yarning with our mob about HPV vaccination: Understanding the factors influencing HPV vaccination uptake among Indigenous adolescents
  • Optimising equitable access to cancer research participation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: Development of culturally responsive resources to guide informed decision-making
  • A feasibility study of an Indigenous Patient Navigator-led brief health behaviour intervention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer survivors
  • Supporting Our Carers: Assessing supportive care needs of Indigenous cancer survivors' caregivers
  • Collaboration and Communication in Cancer Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: The 4C’s Project improving patient-centred care and treatment outcomes
  1. Griffiths, K., Diaz, A., Whop, L.J., Cunningham, J. (2022). The health and wellbeing of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples around the globe: ensuring and promoting best practice in research. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 19(1):261. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010261 
  2. Cunningham, J., Garvey, G. (2021). Are there systematic barriers to participation in cancer treatment trials by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer patients in Australia? ANZ J Public Health, 45, 39-45. doi: 10.1111/1753-6405.13059.
  3. Garvey, G.,* Anderson, K.,* Gall, A., Butler, T.L., Cunningham, J., Whop, L.J., Dickson, M., Ratcliffe, J., Cass, A., Tong, A., Arley, B., Howard, K. (2021). What Matters 2 Adults (WM2Adults): Understanding the Foundations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 18:6193. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18126193
  4. Green, M., Anderson, K., Griffiths, K., Garvey, G., Cunningham, J. (2018).  Understanding Indigenous Australians’ experiences of cancer care: Stakeholders’ views on what to measure and how to measure it. BMC Health Services Research, 18:982. doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3780-8.
  5. Whop, L.J., Baade, P., Garvey, G., Cunningham, J., Lokuge, K., Brotherton, J.M.L., Valery, P.C., O’Connell, D.L., Canfell, K., Diaz, A., Roder, D., Gertig, D., Moore, S.P., Condon, J.R. (2016). The first comprehensive report on Indigenous Australian women’s inequalities in cervical screening: a retrospective registry cohort study in Queensland, Australia (2000-2011). Cancer, 122(10),1560-9.
  6. Anderson, K., Cunningham, J., Devitt, J., Preece, C., & Cass, A. (2012). “Looking back to my family”: Indigenous Australian patients’ experience of hemodialysis. BMC Nephrology, 13:114.
  7. Paradies, Y., & Cunningham, J. (2012). The DRUID study: Exploring mediating pathways between racism and depressive symptoms among Indigenous Australians. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology,47(2), 165-173.
  8. Cunningham, J., Rumbold, A.R., Zhang, X., & Condon, J.R. (2008). The incidence, aetiology and outcomes of cancer in Indigenous peoples in Australia. Lancet Oncology, 9(6), 585-95.
  9. Cass, A., Cunningham, J., Snelling, P., Wang, Z., & Hoy, W. (2004). Exploring the pathways leading from disadvantage to end-stage renal disease for Indigenous Australians. Social Science & Medicine, 58(4), 767-785.
  10. Cunningham, J. (2002). Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures among Australian hospital patients identified as Indigenous. Medical Journal of Australia, 176(2), 58-62.
Click here to view more Joan Cunningham publications in PubMed.
  1. MEDIA RELEASE | Menzies researchers in the top 2 per cent

    MEDIA RELEASE | Menzies researchers in the top 2 per cent

    Date

    Menzies School of Health Research is celebrating the work of its researchers who have been ranked amongst the world’s top scientists.

  2. MEDIA RELEASE | Professor Joan Cunningham honoured with Menzies Medallion

    MEDIA RELEASE | Professor Joan Cunningham honoured with Menzies Medallion

    Date

    Professor Joan Cunningham has been awarded the 2022 Menzies Medallion in recognition of her leadership in working towards improving equity of access to healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and her contribution to public health as a higher degree research supervisor.

  3. Media release | Unique study uncovers barriers to cervical screening for Indigenous women

    Media release | Unique study uncovers barriers to cervical screening for Indigenous women

    Date

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s voices are at the center of a new study in to barriers to Australia’s cervical screening program.

  4. Taking science to the parliament, to enrich the people

    Taking science to the parliament, to enrich the people

    Date

    The stakes are high at Science meets Parliament (SmP). They encompass the future of research and discovery in Australia.

  5. Media Release | THE 2nd WORLD INDIGENOUS CANCER CONFERENCE

    Media Release | THE 2nd WORLD INDIGENOUS CANCER CONFERENCE

    Date

    Indigenous communities, consumers and health experts from around the world have come together at the opening of the second World Indigenous Cancer Conference (WICC) at the Calgary Telus Convention Centre in Canada.

  6. HealthLAB expands educational offering through Heart Foundation partnership

    HealthLAB expands educational offering through Heart Foundation partnership

    Date

    People living in remote NT communities will benefit from an expanded health education offering through a partnership between Menzies and the Heart Foundation.