Five Minutes With… Dr Matejka Rebolj

6 August 2026

Research papers tell us about discoveries, but they rarely tell us about the people behind them. In our Five Minutes With… series, we're stepping away from the data to get to know the researchers driving innovation in cancer prevention and early diagnosis.

For our latest edition, we caught up with Dr Matejka Rebolj, Senior Epidemiologist at the Centre for Cancer Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis, Queen Mary University of London. Matejka's research focuses on improving cancer screening programmes through epidemiology, implementation research and evaluation, with a particular interest in cervical cancer prevention. We caught up with her to hear about the unexpected journey that led her into screening research, the challenges of translating evidence into practice, and the advice she still carries with her today.

 

You've worked on cervical cancer screening across several countries. What first sparked your interest in cancer prevention research?

Honestly, it was a combination of chance and excellent advisors at every stage of my career. My undergraduate studies were in economics and public administration, and I initially planned to work in health economics. However, I quickly realised that before I could evaluate the economics of healthcare, I needed to understand how health itself is measured. That led me to pursue a PhD in epidemiology and public health. I had my sights set on a particular department, the Department of Public Health at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, and on working with a specific advisor who is an expert in socioeconomic inequalities in health. When he turned out to be unavailable, I accepted a PhD project evaluating cervical cancer screening within the same department instead. At the time, I knew very little about screening beyond a single lecture I had attended during the part of my MSc that I completed at NOVA University in Lisbon. I remember thinking, why not learn something new? What began as an unexpected opportunity quickly became a fascination with the interplay between population health and data. I became so hooked on screening research that I never made my way back to health economics.

 

You've helped shape some of the evidence behind HPV-based screening. Looking ahead, what development do you think will have the biggest impact on cancer prevention over the next decade?

I think the biggest challenge, and opportunity, for cancer prevention over the next decade lies outside the healthcare system. Scientific innovation can achieve a great deal, but its impact will be greatest if it is matched by improvements in the broader conditions in which people live and work. Rising deprivation, widening inequalities, and environmental degradation all have profound effects on people's health and on their ability to benefit from preventive programmes. As researchers, we need to recognise that these factors are not simply background conditions and we cannot design prevention strategies as though they operate in a vacuum. Social and environmental conditions shape who participates in prevention, who benefits from it, and who may be left behind. If we do not engage thoughtfully with these circumstances when designing and evaluating interventions, even the most effective innovations may fail to achieve their full potential.

 

Research often focuses on generating evidence, but you've also worked extensively on implementation. What do you think is the biggest challenge in turning good evidence into real-world practice?

The biggest challenge is that implementation is ultimately about people, from those invited to participate in interventions to those responsible for designing and implementing them. High-quality evidence is essential, but decisions are made in complex environments shaped by competing priorities, resource constraints, human behaviour, judgement, and decision-making, and public opinion with the growing challenges of misinformation and disinformation. We also have a tendency to simplify findings that are nuanced, while the data available to inform decisions do not always capture the full picture. 

 

What's one thing you wish more people understood about cancer screening?

I'd actually like to answer this from a research perspective. I sometimes wish we placed even greater emphasis on scientific methodology. It may not be the simplest and most exciting part of research, but it is the foundation that allows us to distinguish reliable evidence from misleading findings. In clinical medicine, clinicians see the individual patients affected by their decisions. Those of us working in public health do not usually meet the people affected by our recommendations, but they are there. That is why methodological rigour, transparency, and a healthy respect for uncertainty are so important. When decisions affect entire populations, details that may appear academic can have very real consequences.

 

Finally... what's the best piece of career advice you've ever received?

When I was completing my BSc and MSc, my advisor at the University of Ljubljana would often remind me: "Matejka, this is not your PhD thesis." Later, while following my progress during my PhD, he would say: "Matejka, this is not your Nobel Prize submission." Around the same time, one of my advisors at Erasmus MC, after reading an especially complicated discussion section in one of my early papers, simply remarked:

"You know, you don't have to save the world with a single paper."

They never met, but they gave me the same advice: do your work well, aim high, but also be nice to yourself and recognise when something is good enough and ready to be shared. I think about that advice often.

 

Quick Fire

We couldn't finish without asking a few questions beyond the science...

Tea or coffee?

I'm from the Balkans, so it's always coffee. One cup every morning, a little milk, no sugar. The first sip is one of the small pleasures I look forward to every day.

A book you've enjoyed recently?

"In Search of Tito’s Punks - On the Road in a Country That No Longer Exists", by Barry Phillips. I grew up in the former Yugoslavia, and the book resonated with me because the ex-YU music scene formed an important part of my childhood. It is a part of my heritage that continues to colour my memories and perspectives in positive ways.

If you weren't a researcher, what would you be doing?

Organising events. There's no greater pleasure for me than attending discussion evenings and concerts, so I like to think I'd enjoy being part of the team that brings those experiences together.

 

 

Our thanks to Dr Matejka Rebolj for taking the time to share her insights and experiences as part of our Five Minutes With… series.

We hope you've enjoyed getting to know the person behind the research. Stay tuned for future editions of Five Minutes With…, where we'll continue to meet researchers, clinicians and collaborators from around the world who are helping shape the future of cancer prevention and early diagnosis.

Know someone you'd like to hear from in a future edition of Five Minutes With…? We'd love to hear your suggestions.

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