Dr Ruth Pape

Dr. Ruth Pape is a senior lecturer in medical imaging science at the University of Papua New Guinea (PNG), with a strong academic and research background in radiography education.

She has led significant reforms in curriculum and assessment practices, particularly in the final-year Research Project course, resulting in improved student outcomes and published research.

Dr. Pape has collaborated extensively with Charles Sturt University (CSU) over the past twelve years, contributing to international research on breast cancer screening in PNG.

She recently completed her PhD at CSU in August, 2026, generally focused on strengthening mammography positioning techniques, mammography clinical education and addressing critical health workforce gaps in PNG.

The specific topic of her PhD research is to explore the impact of the female body habitus, female thorax, image receptor angle and breast size on mammographic image quality, particularly breast tissue inclusion and subsequent breast cancer detection.

Her work aligns closely with PNG national development priorities and reflects a commitment to evidence-based leadership and international collaboration. Dr. Pape’s final PhD experiment in mammography was completed at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital in Melbourne in October 2024. Her research yielded significant results in breast tissue inclusion. Her contributions to medical imaging aim to enhance diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes, making a substantial global research impact in both clinical and educational settings.

Through her research, Dr. Pape has been invited to present her PhD findings at the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT) and the New Zealand Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (NZSMIRT), published her research in the Q1 Radiography Journal (United Kingdom) and the Innovative Practices in Breast Health Journal (France), and during the same period she represented CSU at the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards in Melbourne.

Dr. Pape is a former resident at St. Martins College from 2022-2023. During that time, she had a wonderful experience of meeting new students, both locally and overseas. She met so many friends who studied from various programs, including both undergrad and higher degree by research programs. Dr. Pape had her fair share of challenges whilst undertaking her PhD journey including writing an extensive literature review, supervisory challenges, ethics approval to collect data, and conducting multiple studies within a short period of time.

Despite these challenges, she has demonstrated leadership roles in welcoming new students to reside at the College, participated in Christian ministry, and distributing Gideon’s bibles to new students. This enabled her to be awarded the Marie Thompson Award from the College and Graham Armstrong Memorial Award from the Rotary Sunrise Club of Wagga. In addition, Dr. Pape has managed to overcome those challenges through hard work, perseverance, resilience and great commitment. These virtues strengthened her faith in God Almighty, who is the Giver of all good things to those who earnestly wait on Him. Finally, Dr. Pape is encouraging any new CSU students looking for residential accommodation to contact the College as they will never regret as it will be a home away from home experience.