Content
Podcasts
Podcasts
- » Water: elixir of life or harbinger of disease? - 12 September 2008
- » Direct-to-consumer DNA testing - Professor Ron Trent - 4 September 2008
- » Your DNA: a case of 'buyer beware'? - Vijaya Nagarajan - 21 August 2008
- » Young, groundbreaking and inspiring: Professor James Whisstock - 6 June 2008
Podcast series
Podcasts
Water: elixir of life or harbinger of disease?
Water is a vital ingredient for every living thing on earth. But how do we stop that same water from bringing disease, even causing death?
A leading expert on water quality from the World Health Organization, Dr Jamie Bartram, explains to Marilyn Chalkley that it can take more than just the first-world water and sanitation infrastructure we enjoy in Australia.
Direct-to-consumer DNA testing
How reliable are direct-to-consumer DNA tests? What do the test results really mean and do we need help interpreting them?
Professor Ron Trent, Chair of the NHMRC Human Genetics Advisory Committee, warns that even your doctor may need help interpreting the results before being able to explain them to you.
Your DNA: a case of 'buyer beware'?
Current Australian laws to protect consumers seeking DNA tests have limited impact on local testing companies and none on those overseas, where many online operators are based. Consumer law expert Vijaya Nagarajan explains why there is a crying need for more education on DNA testing so consumers can make better-informed choices.
Young, groundbreaking and inspiring
When is being wrong a good thing? What role do enzymes play in human disease? What do genes and computers have in common? Professor James Whisstock on inspiration, discovery and what happens when the knowledge era meets biology.
Podcast series: Great minds in health and medical research
6 August 2008 - Professor Ian Frazer
The road to realising a medical breakthrough can be a long and bumpy ride, Professor Ian Frazer discovered, but finally reaching your destination can be immensely satisfying.
Now the director of the Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, Professor Frazer spent more than 20 years studying the human papilloma virus and developing the world’s first vaccine that helps prevent cervical cancer, Gardasil.
In this podcast he tells Dr Mark Bradley about the twists and turns, potholes and dead ends in his extraordinary journey of discovery.
24 July 2008 - Jane Hall
What’s an economist doing in health? Professor Jane Hall says it’s to ensure we get value for money from our scarce health-care resources.
Professor Hall is the founding director of the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation and a former member of the Academy of Social Sciences.
In this podcast she gives her take on the issues facing Australia’s health-care industry.
10 July 2008 - Fiona Stanley
Can health and medical research contribute meaningfully to society while being commercially successful, personally satisfying, exciting and fun? Professor Fiona Stanley, founding director of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, thinks it can. Here she explains how her Institute’s collaborative, multidisciplinary approach reaps financial benefits while making a difference to society’s problems. She also invites budding researchers to experience the immense satisfaction of working in the exciting world of research.
26 June 2008 - Wendy Hoy
Australia is working harder than ever to close the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
Professor Wendy Hoy, an Australia Fellow and director of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Chronic Disease, has spent many years researching chronic disease in indigenous populations, both in Australia and overseas.
Here she talks about the root causes of poor health among Aboriginal people, and suggests practical ways we can solve the problems.
15 May 2008 - Tony McMichael
During the late 1980s it became increasingly clear to Professor McMichael that the emerging evidence of new, global and environmental changes — such as the then-controversial greenhouse effect — posed very real and significant risks to human health. In this conversation, Professor McMichael discusses the challenges he now faces: to understand better how climatic conditions affect human health; to detect the emerging impacts of climate change on health; and to estimate the likely future impact.
Highlights version
» Download the audio file (MP3, 12mins, 11.2MB) 
» View the transcript of the podcast
Full version
1 May 2008 - Barry Marshall
Barry Marshall is Professor of Microbiology at the University of Western Australia. In 2005 Professor Marshall, along with his colleague Dr Robin Warren, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.
In this conversation, Professor Marshall talks about growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, how he became interested in studying medicine, and the discovery of a germ that lives in the stomach and causes ulcers.
17 April 2008 - Caroline McMillen
Professor McMillen is the Director of the Research Laboratory for the Early Origins of Adult Health and heads a research group of about 15 staff and students. Her research focus is pregnancy and foetal development and the role that the nutritional environment, before conception and during the early stages of gestation, plays determining cardiovascular and metabolic health in later life.
In this conversation, Professor McMillan describes her passion for research and supporting the bright young minds who will be the next generation of scientists and medical researchers.
3 April 2008 - John Hopper
Professor Professor John Hopper is a mathematician and statistician who went on to become a world leading researcher in genetic epidemiology. Professor Hopper's current population-based studies look at genes and the environment together in breast cancer, bowel cancer and prostate cancer.
In this conversation, Professor Hopper talks about the power of statistics and letting the data speak for itself.
20 March 2008 - Doug Hilton
Professor Hilton is a pioneer in the field of haematological research. His groundbreaking discoveries include how the body's cells communicate with each other.
In this conversation, Professor Hilton talks about his current work-which may one day lead to identifying genes that may be targeted to treat many debilitating diseases. He also shares his passion for nurturing and encouraging young researchers.
7 March 2008 - Judith Whitworth
Overcoming childhood polio, Professor Whitworth decided as a young girl to marry her love of science with her fascination with the world of the staff she watched during her long stays in hospital.
In this conversation, Professor Whitworth talks about her life’s work so far—as a practising medical doctor, former Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer, and a pioneer in the field of hypertension research.
22 February 2008 - Warwick Anderson
Professor Anderson is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and has many years experience in health research leadership and management. He is a recognised researcher in his own right — he has published over 150 scientific papers, primarily in the area of hypertension and renal physiology.
In this conversation, Professor Anderson discusses the NHMRC and its role in shaping the future of health and medical research — in Australia, and around the world.
Vodcast series: International leaders in health research seminar
Professor Edward Holmes
Professor Edward Holmes is the Executive Chairman, National Medical Research Council, Singapore. In this vodcast, he talks about the opportunities for collaboration in the Asia Pacific Region.
Professor Elias Zerhouni
Professor ELias Zerhouni is the Director, National Institutes of Health, United States of America. He has been leading a change of agenda for the NIH and has developed a roadmap for research. In this vodcast he speaks about the future directions of the NIH and opportunities for collaboration.
Professor Sally Davies
Professor Sally Davies is the Director General, Research and Development at the Department of Health, United Kingdom. She is responsible for implementing the 'Best Research for Best Health' strategy that was published in January 2006. Her expertise is in health services research. In this vodcast, she discusses the implementation of this strategy and future directions for research in the UK.
[top]
