Dr Carolina Sandler

Position

Senior Lecturer, Sport & Exercise Science, School of Health Sciences.

Biography

Carolina is an accredited exercise physiologist and clinical researcher. Her program of research focuses on  fatigue as a sequalae of acute infection (post-infective fatigue, long-COVID) and cancer (post-cancer fatigue). She holds a NSW Cancer Institute fellowship with a project focused on eLearning for diagnosis and management of post-cancer fatigue.

Her research has three areas:

1. the epidemiology, pathogenesis and management of fatigue states after acute infections (e.g., Epstein-Barr virus, SARS CoV-2). A major focus is data analysis from the International Collaborative on Fatigue Following Infection (COFFI) (opens in a new window) which includes 15 prospective post-infective cohorts (n=24,405).
2. the development of online education for patients, General Practitioners and allied health professionals, to improve the understanding and management of fatigue states. Development and evaluation of eLearning includes working with a variety of stakeholders including GPs, consumers, external organisations to collect qualitative and quantitative feedback and adapt content.
3. understanding the role of physical activity and exercise in people with cancer. This research has a focus on pragmatic exercise intervention trials to understand the feasibility, safety and effect of exercise in understudied populations (e.g. ovarian cancer, adult and paediatric brain cancers, metastatic breast cancer). This research also involves epidemiological studies of physical activity and the association with treatment-related side effects, quality of life and survival.

Research Interests

• the epidemiology, pathogenesis and management of fatigue states after acute infections (e.g., Epstein-Barr virus, SARS CoV-2);
• the role of physical activity and exercise in people with cancer.
• the development of online education for patients, and health professionals to improve the understanding and management of fatigue states ((post-infective fatigue, post-cancer fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome);
• Physical activity, exercise and other interventions (e.g., education, behavioural intervention, psychological interventions) for management of cancer & fatigue states

Qualifications & Recognition

• BSc (Health & Sport), UNSW
• PhD, UNSW
• Accredited exercise physiologists (ESSA)

Research & Publications

• For a list of my publications please see my publications page (opens in a new window)
• View my ResearchGate profile (opens in a new window)
• View my ORCID profile (opens in a new window)

Contact Details