Stefanie Plage

Dr. Stefanie Plage is a Research Fellow with the Life Course Centre at the School of Social Science, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at The University of Queensland (UQ). Her multi-disciplinary work focuses on qualitative research methods including longitudinal and visual approaches to explore complex social issues related to health, disadvantage, and social care systems.

Dr. Plage earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the Centre for Social Research in Health at The University of New South Wales, where she employed longitudinal qualitative interviews and visual elicitation methods to explore the lived experience of people with cancer. She also holds a Masters (Coursework) from the University of Essex.

Her research interests span:

• Sociology of Health and Illness, particularly the lived experience of chronic illness and cancer
• Health and homelessness
• Educational inclusion, participation and outcomes of children with cancer
• Sociology of emotions and disadvantage

Dr. Plage has published extensively across multiple formats including 46 journal articles, 4 book chapters, 10 conference papers, 20 research reports, 9 working papers, and 2 creative works. Her recent research examines housing instability, cancer survivorship, and the interactions of families experiencing social disadvantage with social and health care systems. She has developed expertise in participant-produced photography and narrative methods to explore complex health and social issues.

Her research has been supported by funding from St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland, Queensland Mental Health Commission, Micah Projects Inc, Anglicare Southern Queensland, and the Commonwealth Department of Social Services.

Dr. Plage serves as an Associate Advisor for multiple PhD candidates at UQ, supervising research on wellbeing in young cancer patients, online dating experiences of cancer survivors, digital health interventions, gender inequality, and climate change impacts. Her teaching experience includes introductory and advanced courses in sociology and medical sociology, research design, and qualitative inquiry, including the use of software for qualitative research (NVivo).

She maintains extensive collaborations with researchers across multiple institutions, particularly with colleagues at UQ including Cameron Parsell, Rose-Marie Stambe, Ella Kuskoff, and Rebecca Olson. Her work bridges sociology, health studies, and social policy through interdisciplinary approaches.