Holly Chung

Thesis Title

Commercial Determinants of Equity in Lung Cancer: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Australian Policy Context

Description of Research Project

Lung cancer is Australia’s leading cause of cancer death, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged populations despite being largely preventable. While tobacco industry influence is well-documented, this research asks: what role do other commercial actors (like pharmaceutical companies, medical technology firms, private healthcare providers) play in shaping equity outcomes across lung cancer governance? And critically, how do governance structures themselves (such as policy mechanisms, funding decisions, treatment access pathways) enable or constrain equity in the face of commercial interests?

Using mixed-methods across four integrated studies, this research will: map policy actors and knowledge relationships to reveal who shapes decisions; analyse how equity is operationalised in specific governance mechanisms; compare governance structures across international health systems to identify equity-enabling features; and develop theoretically grounded explanations of knowledge translation in politically-embedded contexts.

Commercial determinants of health remain largely invisible in cancer policy scholarship and practice. This research aims to makes them visible, and to understand how governance structures either amplify or mitigate commercial interests’ impact on equity.

Supervisors

Principal Supervisor:  Dr Jennifer Lacy-Nichols

Co-Supervisors: Dr Sean Docking and Professor Deborah Gleeson

Biography

Holly is a graduate researcher at the Centre for Health Equity, supported by an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship. Her doctoral research investigates the commercial determinants of health and cancer policy, interrogating how structural drivers shape inequitable access to care, treatment, and outcomes across the cancer continuum. Holly also holds positions as Senior Research Officer at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre's Centre for Health Services Research in Cancer and Honorary Clinical Fellow in the University’s Department of Nursing. Her methodological expertise spans qualitative, co-design, and mixed methods approaches, with contributions across cancer supportive care, health services, and health equity research.

Funding/Scholarships

NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship #2049689

ORCID ID:  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1608-4213