Dr Melissa Merritt’s research utilises epidemiological studies to evaluate risk factors for women’s cancers with a focus on gynaecological (ovarian and endometrial) cancers. Her goal is to develop better strategies for their prevention. She also hopes to improve the health of women diagnosed with gynaecological cancers by studying modifiable factors that may influence survival following a cancer diagnosis. Dr Merritt has led studies to investigate diet, reproductive factors, metabolic and obesity-related factors and medication use in relation to cancer risk and/or survival using data from several epidemiological cohort studies. She has also trained in molecular biology and she conducts studies to evaluate the biological pathways that underlie established risk factor-disease associations and pathways that may explain differences in disease outcomes. She has over 80 publications and was recognised by Nature in their 2018 “world at their feet” list. Dr Merritt was recently selected for a Department of Defense, Ovarian Cancer Research Program, Ovarian Cancer Academy Early-Career Investigator Award to support her work in the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium (OC3) focusing on how pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis aspirin and non-aspirin non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use may influence survival among ovarian cancer patients in the context of patient characteristics and tumour immune marker profiles.
View Dr Merritt’s full academic profile at the University of Sydney