Feminist narratives about women taking control of their health, originally rooted in women’s health movements, are increasingly being used by companies and social media influencers to market health products, tests, and treatments. However, many of these health interventions lack strong scientific evidence or ignore existing research that shows there is no benefit.
Hear Drs Brooke Nickel and Tessa Copp from Sydney Health Literacy Lab talk about their leading research into how areas of women’s health, from fertility testing to menopause hormone therapy, are increasingly being hijacked by vested interests to market unproven health interventions using the language of empowerment. They make the case that this can lead to overdiagnosis and potentially costly overtreatment, ultimately putting many at risk – and what's needed to counter the inappropriate medicalisation of women's health.
| Date & time | Wednesday 28 October, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm |
| Location | The Sibyl Centre |
| Entry | Free and open to all with registrations essential |
| Accessibility | Wheelchair and lift access and accessible bathrooms are available |
Brooke Nickel is an NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow in the Sydney Health Literacy Lab, School of Public Health at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on evidence-based healthcare communication and decision-making, with a particular interest in public health communication and informed decision-making around screening tests.
Her research has been published in high-impact international medical journals and featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and the BBC. She won the 2025 NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award, 2025 NSW Premier's Outstanding Early Career Cancer Researcher Award, 2023 International Lisa Schwartz Prize for "communicating the benefits, harms and limitations of medicine", and has been listed in Stanford University/Elsevier top 2% of Scientists since 2023.
Tessa Copp is an NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow in the University of Sydney School of Public Health. She is part of the Sydney Health Literacy Lab and Wiser Healthcare National Collaboration.
Her research focuses on evidence-based healthcare and overdiagnosis, with a particular focus on women's reproductive health. Her research on polycystic ovary syndrome and the anti-Mullerian hormone test has been published in high impact journals in the field, including The BMJ and Human Reproduction.
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Header image: Photo by Natalia Blauth via Unsplash
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