Dr. Brooke Nickel is a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Leader Research Fellow in the School of Public Health at The University of Sydney. Her research addresses critical challenges in healthcare communication, with a focus on ensuring that health and medical information—particularly in the context of cancer—is evidence-based, balanced, and supports informed decision-making.
Dr. Nickel’s work aims to tackle the growing problem of overdiagnosis and the often unintended psychosocial harms associated with cancer screening and diagnosis. She leads research investigating the complexities of breast density notification in Australia, the communication of low-risk cancers, and the impact of misleading medical marketing. These issues are central to her broader mission: helping the public and patients navigate health decisions by improving the clarity, accuracy, and transparency of health and medical information to reduce low-value care and ensure the best possible health outcomes for all.
Dr. Brooke Nickel’s research has had international significance—generating scientific and public debate worldwide on issues related to overdiagnosis and low-value care, and informing national and international health and medical guidelines.
She has led novel research on the communication of low-risk cancers; leads the world’s first randomised controlled trial on breast density (a risk factor for breast cancer) notification, ensuring that changes to population-based breast cancer screening programs are evidence-based; and more recently, her work has examined misleading medical marketing, including the promotion of low-value women’s health tests and direct-to-consumer screening tests on social media, producing landmark findings challenging corporate and social media influencer marketing practices.
Through close collaboration with consumers, policymakers and global experts, Dr. Nickel has ensured her research is aligned with national and international needs and key health and medical priorities.