Heather Shepherd

Heather Shepherd is an Associate Professor in the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, at the University of Sydney. She holds qualifications including BA (Hons), RN, DipHE, and PhD. As Principal Research Fellow and Co-Lead of the Implementation Science Theme at the Sydney Health Literacy Lab, she focuses on advancing health literacy and shared decision-making in clinical settings. Her career encompasses significant roles such as NHMRC Public Health Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Sax Institute, Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney from 2008 to 2011, Deputy Director of the Surgical Outcomes Research Centre at Sydney Local Health District since December 2012, and affiliation with the Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG). Shepherd contributes to teaching in the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, including the development of innovative podcast assessments for first-year nursing students to enhance communication of health messages.

Heather Shepherd's research specializations include health literacy, shared decision-making, psycho-oncology, treatment decision-making in oncology, care coordination for cancer patients particularly migrants and adolescents/young adults, internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for depression/anxiety in cancer survivors, and clinical pathways for anxiety/depression in cancer. She has produced 70 publications garnering 2,987 citations. Key publications encompass 'From ideal to actual practice: Tailoring a clinical pathway to address anxiety or depression in patients with cancer and planning its implementation across individual clinical services' (2021), 'A mixed methods pilot and feasibility open trial of internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (iCanADAPT Advanced) for people with advanced cancer with depression and/or anxiety' (2021), 'Randomised controlled trial of internet‐delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for clinical depression and/or anxiety in cancer survivors (iCanADAPT Early)' (2019), 'A low literacy targeted talking book about radiation therapy for cancer: development and acceptability' (2019), and 'Clinician‐patient‐family decision‐making and health literacy in adolescents and young adults with cancer and their families: A systematic review of qualitative studies' (2019). Her work has attracted NHMRC funding, including a Partnership Project Grant awarded in 2025 to support shared decision-making practices and a previous Public Health Postdoctoral Fellowship. Through these contributions, Shepherd influences health services research and implementation science in oncology and public health.

Professional Email: heather.shepherd@sydney.edu.au