Deborah Bateson is a Professor of Practice in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney and has worked as a clinician, researcher and educator in the field of sexual and reproductive health for around 25 years. In her previous role as Medical Director of Family Planning NSW, she was responsible for clinical service delivery and education related to cervical cancer prevention within the Australian and International Program in the Pacific. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW, Sydney. Deborah has collaborated on a wide range of cervical cancer prevention research projects and is leading an NHMRC-funded study to optimise cervical screening for people with intellectual disability. She is Acting Chair of the National Cervical Screening Program Clinical Advisory Group, and a member of the National Cervical Screening Guidelines Working Party. Deborah is a past Chair Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health Alliance and is dedicated to improving equitable access to high quality reproductive and sexual health information and services across Australia and internationally. She has published widely and frequently provides expert commentary to the media. Deborah is jointly leading a major initiative on cervical cancer elimination in the Indo-Pacific supported by the Australian Government through the Regional Health Partnership Initiative the Minderoo Foundation. This investment joins forces with the Asia Development Bank and industry biotechnology partner Cepheid with in-kind contributions from the governments of PNG and Vanuatu, to provide almost $30 million for the program in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. Deborah was appointed as a member (AM) of the Order of Australia on the King’s Birthday in 2023 for her services to medicine through research and education and to reproductive health, and received the 2024 Cancer Australia Jeannie Ferris Recognition Award.
