Rate My Professor Alison Zucca

Dr. Alison Zucca is a Senior Research Officer and early career researcher in the Health Behaviour Research Collaborative within the School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medicine, at the University of Newcastle, Australia. With over 15 years of research experience, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Honours), a Master of Medical Science completed in 2009 exploring coping mechanisms among cancer patients, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Behavioural Science awarded in 2019 from the University of Newcastle. Her doctoral work was a thesis by publication addressing key issues in psycho-oncology.

Zucca's research specializations include the evaluation of patient-centred cancer care, quality of care, psycho-oncology, patient experiences, and the sustainability of evidence-based public health programs and policies. During her PhD, she was affiliated with the Priority Research Centre for Health Behaviour. In 2023, she joined the Population Health Research Program at the Hunter Medical Research Institute. Her projects encompass population-based surveys assessing cancer survivors' outcomes, development of tools like the QuON survey system for medical research, and investigations into advance care planning, dementia diagnosis support, paramedic training, and digital health interventions. Zucca has co-authored 56 publications, accumulating 1,736 citations. Notable publications are 'Rasch analysis of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (mini-MAC) among a heterogeneous sample of long-term cancer survivors: a cross-sectional study' (2012), 'All's Well That Ends Well? Quality of Life and Physical Symptom Burden in Long-Term Cancer Survivors Across Cancer Types' (2012), 'Prevalence and correlates of cancer survivors' supportive care needs 6 months after diagnosis: a population-based cross-sectional study' (2012), 'General practitioners' perceptions of best practice care at the end of life: a qualitative study' (2019), 'Monitoring systems for public health program and policy implementation in community settings: features and suggested actions from a scoping review' (2026), and study protocols for the RecoverEsupport digital health intervention to support recovery after breast and colorectal cancer surgery (2023–2025). Her research informs clinical practices in oncology, primary care, and public health policy by highlighting survivors' needs, care disparities, and implementation barriers.