astronomy

Karen Canfell

Karen Canfell is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Karen Canfell rather than just read about it. In short: Karen Canfell is an Australian epidemiologist and cancer researcher. After being awarded a D.Phil. from Oxford in 2004 with a thesis entitled Use of hormone replacement therapy as a potential co-factor in the neoplastic progression of HPV-related cervical disease, Canfell returned to Australia to work for the Cancer Council in Sydney where she continued to work on cervical cancer in particular and all its ramificati…

Key takeaways

Karen Canfell belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Karen Canfell to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Karen Canfell from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Karen Canfell is an Australian epidemiologist and cancer researcher. After being awarded a D.Phil. from Oxford in 2004 with a thesis entitled Use of hormone replacement therapy as a potential co-factor in the neoplastic progression of HPV-related cervical disease, Canfell returned to Australia to work for the Cancer Council in Sydney where she continued to work on cervical cancer in particular and all its ramifications, as well as the epidemiology of breast and other cancers.

Screening for Human Papilloma Virus With the advent of HPV vaccines and the mass HPV vaccination programs in Australia for girls (starting in 2007) and boys (starting in 2013) to prevent HPV infection, her interests turned to monitoring the effects of such programs, appropriate screening for cervical cancer in Australia and other countries. A major focus has been how to do this effectively in developing and low-income countries as well as in high-income countries. Together with her team, her work was fundamental in Australia making the 2017 transition of their national cervical screening program from cytology (pap smears) to a 5-yearly HPV DNA-based screening, and her work both with respect to other countries and in Australia means that Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer by 2028.

Career Canfell worked for the NSW Cancer Council from approximately 2004 to 2011. By 2012, she was affiliated with both the Cancer Research Division of the Cancer Council and the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney. By 2013, she was a professor at UNSW (Prince of Wales Clinical School) and continued there until at least 2019. From approximately 2020, she has been the director of The Daffodil Centre at the University of Sydney (a joint venture with the Cancer Council). She is a co-leader of the World Health Organization (WHO) Cervical Cancer Elimination Modelling Consortium. Canfell is a member of the NHMRC Public Health and Health Systems Committee 2024–2027.

Awards In 2019 she was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science, and in 2020 won an Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator grant award for leadership in Health Services Research. In 2015 she won the National Health and Medical Research Council National Award for Research Excellence and was also nominated that year as a Woman of Influence by Westpac and the Australian Financial Review. In 2021, she was invited to give the prestigious Richard Doll Seminar at Oxford where she spoke as co-leader of the World Health Organization (WHO) Cervical Cancer Elimination Modelling Consortium on the topic of the WHO's strategy for the elimination of cervical cancer (The road to cervical cancer elimination). Canfell was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours for "eminent service to medicine as an epidemiologist, particularly through cancer research, to tertiary education, and as a mentor and leader".

Selected publications Brisson, M; Kim, JJ; Canfell, K; Drolet, M; Gingras, G; Burger, EA; Martin, D; Simms, KT; Bénard, É; Boily, MC; Sy, S; Regan, C; Keane, A; Caruana, M; Nguyen, DTN; Smith, MA; Laprise, JF; Jit, M; Alary, M; Bray, F; Fidarova, E; Elsheikh, F; Bloem, PJN; Broutet, N; Hutubessy, R (2020). "Impact of HPV vaccination and cervical screening on cervical cancer elimination: a comparative modelling analysis in 78 low-income and lower-middle-income countries". Lancet. 395: 575–590. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30068-4. PMC 7043009. PMID 32007141. Canfell, K; Kim, JJ; Brisson, M; Keane, A; Simms, KT; Caruana, M; Burger, EA; Martin, D; Nguyen, DTN; Bénard, É; Sy, S; Regan, C; Drolet, M; Gingras, G; Laprise, JF; Torode, J; Smith, MA; Fidarova, E; Trapani, D; Bray, F; Ilbawi, A; Broutet, N; Hutubessy, R (2020). "Mortality impact of achieving WHO cervical cancer elimination targets: a comparative modelling analysis in 78 low-income and lower-middle-income countries". Lancet. 395: 591–603. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30157-4. PMC 7043006. PMID 32007142. Simms, KT; Steinberg, J; Caruana, M; Smith, MA; Lew, JB; Soerjomataram, I; Castle, PE; Bray, F; Canfell, K (2019). "Impact of scaled up human papillomavirus vaccination and cervical screening and the potential for global elimination of cervical cancer in 181 countries, 2020-99: a modelling study". Lancet Oncol. 20: 394–407. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30836-2. PMID 30795950.. Bosch, FX; Broker, TR; Forman, D; Moscicki, AB; Gillison, ML; Doorbar, J; Stern, PL; Stanley, M; Arbyn, M; Poljak, M; Cuzick, J; Castle, PE; Schiller, JT; Markowitz, LE; Fisher, WA; Canfell, K; Denny, LA; Franco, EL; Steben, M; Kane, MA; Schiffman, M; Meijer, CJ; Sankaranarayanan, R; Castellsagué, X; Kim, JJ; Brotons, M; Alemany, L; Albero, G; Diaz, M; de Sanjosé, S (2013). "Comprehensive control of human papillomavirus infections and related diseases". Vaccine. 31 Suppl 6: G1-31. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.10.002. PMID 24331817..

References

External links

WorldCat: Karen Canfell publications Karen Canfell publications indexed by Google Scholar

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Karen Canfell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Karen Canfell claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Karen Canfell before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Karen Canfell ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Karen Canfell

In research: Karen Canfell appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Karen Canfell in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Karen Canfell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Alumni of the University of Oxford, Australian epidemiologists, Australian women epidemiologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Karen Canfell outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Karen Canfell in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Karen Canfell means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Karen Canfell out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Karen Canfell in simple terms?

Why does Karen Canfell matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Karen Canfell?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Karen Canfell.