Kristy Meiselbach is a Gunditjmara woman and PhD candidate researching cervical cancer diagnosis and follow-up care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. It's a specific problem that sits at the heart of what matters: equity, access, culture, and health outcomes.
The VCCC Alliance has funded Kristy’s work through a dynamic collaboration between the University of Melbourne, the Royal Women's Hospital, the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service, and the Australian National University.
The project will map how colposcopy referrals work across Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations and specialist services.
The goal is straightforward: understand the gaps; identify what's working, and build better connections. "As a proud Gunditjmara woman and researcher, it is a privilege to learn from women, communities, and health services about their experiences of navigating care after an abnormal cervical screening result," she said.
Kristy is committed to "shining a spotlight on the hard work, strengths, and successes already occurring within ACCHOs”.
This includes highlighting how communities and services are creating culturally responsive pathways.
This philosophy has worked for her in the past.
As lead evaluator of the Do It For Yourself project, Kristy documented the first known example of universal access to HPV self-collection being offered through an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
Her evaluation provided evidence for broader use across Australia – demonstrating that rigorous research can drive policy change.
Kristy also works as editorial assistant and capacity-building lead at First Nations Health and Wellbeing – The Lowitja Journal.
In this role, she mentors emerging First Nations researchers, running workshops and webinars and providing one-on-one support. She has been selected as a 2026 Poche Indigenous Leadership Program fellow.
For her current project, Kristy and her partners, will trace how services coordinate and document what helps and hinders – from the patient’s own perspectives, and develop strategies that actually work.
"I am incredibly grateful and excited to receive this funding from the VCCC to support this important work as part of my PhD and to continue working alongside Victorian ACCHOs and communities to improve access to culturally safe follow-up care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women," Kristy said.
The project is collaborative, grounded, and driven by a straightforward conviction: that the women most affected by these systems should have the loudest voice in shaping them.
