The Minds Changing Lives

Every year, more than 1000 Australian women lose their lives to ovarian cancer, and countless others receive the devastating diagnosis of endometrial cancer. Professor Pradeep Tanwar, Director of the Global Centre for Gynaecological Diseases, is at the forefront of raising awareness and making significant strides in this field. In a conversation with host Shahni Wellington, he shares exciting developments concerning innovative blood tests capable of detecting ovarian and endometrial cancers at a time when they’re still highly treatable. Dr Rachel O'Sullivan also provides valuable insights into these diseases and their associated risk factors of which Pradeep and his team have recently made some breakthrough discoveries. We’re also joined by Brian Schloeffel, who tragically lost his beloved wife Nola to ovarian cancer. He is now dedicated to preventing other families from enduring the same unbearable loss and advocates for improved detection methods, such as those pioneered by Pradeep and his team.

Kathleen Folbigg, widely now regarded as the victim of Australia's most egregious miscarriage of justice, was pardoned in 2023. However, a decade earlier, students at the University of Newcastle's Legal Centre, alongside experts and solicitors, would conduct analysis and research that would be of help in paving the way towards an eventual pardon. One of those students, Kate Wielinga, discusses her involvement in the case with host Shahni Wellington. Now a practising solicitor, she shares the life-changing impact of the experience on her professionally and personally. Associate Professor Shaun McCarthy, director of the Legal Centre, discusses the centre’s long-standing history with public interest advocacy and the priceless skills students gain working on real-life cases. Kathleen's Barrister, Robert Cavanagh, also joins the discussion, highlighting the pivotal role played by these dedicated students in advancing Kathleen's cause. Plus, Associate Professor Xanthe Mallett, criminologist and forensic scientist, breaks down the evidence presented in the case and how students with experience in social justice could help create a fairer and more equitable legal system for all.

Drought in Australia presents a multifaceted challenge shaped by a diverse interplay of climatic, geographical, meteorological, and societal factors. According to Associate Professor Anthony Kiem, Hydroclimatologist and Director of the Centre for Water, Climate and Land, it needs a multifaceted solution too. Talking to host Shahni Wellington, Anthony discusses the Employability and Wellbeing Toolkit the Centre is developing with the University of Southern Queensland as part of the Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales (SQNNSW) Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub. Dr. Emma Austin further explores the links between employability and wellbeing, shedding light on the toolkit's co-designed approach to enhance mental resilience and diversify income during drought. Dr. Priscilla Tremain, a Chemical Engineer from the University of Newcastle's Priority Research Centre for Frontier Energy Technologies and Utilisation, breaks down the science behind the Hydro Harvester, a technology capable of generating clean, safe drinking water from the atmosphere. Plus, Southern Downs Regional Councillor Cynthia McDonald shares the sobering reality of drought in regional communities and emphasises the critical need for holistic, community-driven solutions to address this pervasive problem.

Despite the increase in public awareness around young people's use of violence, many community youth programs fail to address the issue at its core. The Name. Narrate. Navigate program (Triple N) is the first of it's kind, harnessing the neuroscience of trauma and Aboriginal knowledge and practices to understand and address the context that's led young people to use violence – putting all the young people who come through the program at the center of their own narratives. Founder of the program, Associate Professor Dr Tamara Blakemore, tells host Shahni Wellington of the program's beginning and the innovative activities grounded in dialectical behaviour therapy, mindfulness and creative methodologies. Aunty Elsie Randall, Triple N's Aboriginal Practice Lead, shares the importance of embedding Aboriginal ways of knowing and doing into youth programs with all young people who use and experience violence - the cornerstone of the Triple N program. We also meet Triple N's Program manager, Louise Rak, whose PhD examining the experiences of young women in the program has shed light on the often-unspoken realities that drive young women toward violence. Plus, we meet Daniel Ebbin, Program Brand Lead, who emphasises the critical significance of training service providers in trauma-informed, culturally sensitive care—a commitment that the Triple N program wholeheartedly embraces.

Despite surviving not one, but two extinction events in its 200-million-year evolutionary history, modern day threats such as fire and disease, might have pushed Australia’s last surviving amphibian – the frog - to its limits. Thanks to the innovative approach taken by the University of Newcastle’s Conservation Science Research Group, this doesn’t have to be where the story ends. Dr Rose Upton tells host Shahni Wellington of the group’s ground-breaking methodology, delving into her work in cryopreservation and how it’s safeguarding the genetic diversity of frog species for years to come. We also meet Dr Chad Beranek, whose post-Black Summer Bushfires research offers surprising insights into population health. Plus, PhD candidate Nadine Nolan sheds light on the life-cycle of frogs and the vital role citizen science play in species preservation.