Researcher Spotlight: Dr Carolyn Mazariego
Recipient of a $600,000 Cancer Institute NSW Early Career Fellowship
Spotlight on:
Dr Carolyn Mazariego
Deputy Director & Senior Research Fellow
i2i | Implementation to Impact Hub, School of Population Health
Dr Carolyn Mazariego has recently been awarded $600,000 for her project ‘Scalable and sustainable implementation of tumour-specific patient reported outcome collection programs to ensure person-centred cancer clinical care’.
Can you tell us a little about your project?
Cancer patients often have limited time with their healthcare providers, making it challenging to address their full range of concerns within short appointment timeframes. My research focuses on developing and implementing tumour-specific Patient-Reported Modules (PRMs) for prostate, breast, and colorectal cancer patients. PRMs capture patients’ wellbeing and concerns using validated questionnaires that often assess experienced symptoms and general health. Collecting, and more importantly actioning any reported concerns is known to be an evidence-based practice that improves quality of life, satisfaction, and even patient survival rates. By testing these PRMs across diverse NSW regions, I aim to improve person-centred cancer care and set a new standard for integrating patient perspectives into clinical decision-making.
Can you recommend any good podcasts?
I’d recommend the It's All in the Mind podcast. Given my career choice in implementation science, is it cliché like I like a podcast all about the way people think and what motivates us? Probably! But it’s a must listen.