http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/ en celeste.ecuyer@anu.edu.au Copyright 2009 2009-11-05T03:40:10+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/clash_between_genes_modern_life_making_us_sick/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/clash_between_genes_modern_life_making_us_sick/#When:05:59:52Z This address introduces the ideas in Professor Greg Gibson's new book It Takes a Genome. The last two years have seen a revolution in genome scientists' ability to find the genes that influence whether a person is likely to suffer from any one of the major common chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, depression, or dementia. The shocking result, though, is that rather than a few dozen genes in each case, there are hundreds if not thousands in play, each of which contributes a small effect. These are analogous to dark matter in the Universe: they must be there, but we cannot easily see them. As well as explaining this conundrum and discussing the implications, Gibson will present the idea that chronic disease arises out of a very modern imbalance: there is a disconnect between our rapidly evolved human genome and the dramatic transitions in human lifestyles over the past few generations. Public Lecture, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Medicine and Life Science 2009-10-23T05:59:52+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/does_pay_for_performance_improve_the_quality_of_primary_care/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/does_pay_for_performance_improve_the_quality_of_primary_care/#When:05:25:39Z Governments, internationally and in Australia, are increasingly encouraging team-based care in frontline health systems using various incentives. Dr Campbell will provide an overview of the impact of financial incentives on the performance of primary care professionals. Public Lecture, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Medicine and Life Science 2009-10-12T05:25:39+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/working_towards_a_connected_frontline_health_system/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/working_towards_a_connected_frontline_health_system/#When:00:41:03Z Commonwealth Government needs to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Australia's health care system. Primary health care provides the first point of contact for patients and is touted as the cornerstone of a more effective health system, but it is undermined by fragmented services. Frontline clinicians need be able to provide comprehensive, coordinated and personalised care to patients, particularly those with multiple serious illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and depression. Dr Stange looked at the challenges facing the primary care system in the United States that could inform the Australian health community as it grapples with a major reform process. The lecture was based on a series of editorials that will appear in the international journal Annals of Family Medicine, focusing particularly on understanding and organising health as a science of connectedness. Public Lecture, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Medicine and Life Science 2009-10-01T00:41:03+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/obesity_complex_problem/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/obesity_complex_problem/#When:00:47:42Z Obesity has increased dramatically across the world, and there is currently no solution to its control. While obesity is easily understood as the positive imbalance of energy intake and expenditure, this does not explain why it is easy to overeat and underexercise. Explanatory models that feed into energy balance include those of obesogenic environments, thrifty genotype, obesogenic behaviour, obesogenic culture, nutrition transition, political economic structures and biocultural interactions of genetics, environment, behaviour and culture. The last of these models has obesity as an outcome of the complex systems which constitute modern life, and in which biology, environment, sociality, economics, infrastructure, culture and behaviour interact. An attempt to understand obesity as complex system has come with an initiative of the British government, in which a qualitative systems map of obesity for the British population has been generated. In this presentation, various models of population obesity are considered in relation to the idea of obesity as complex system. Public Lecture, History & Archeology, Humanities, Medical & Health Science, Society & Culture, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Medicine and Life Science 2009-09-29T00:47:42+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/working_together_for_better_health_care_system/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/working_together_for_better_health_care_system/#When:06:03:18Z Research findings and government reports indicate Australia's primary health care workforce is facing significant challenges and is lagging behind in its use of teamwork approaches. The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report finds that multi-disciplinary teams could help provide better primary health care services. However, getting GPs, nurses and other health care professionals to work together requires inter-professional learning. Professor Debra Humphris provided an overview of the impact of teamwork development within primary health care in the UK and its implications for the way services are delivered in Australia. Public Lecture, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine and Life Science 2009-08-06T06:03:18+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/become_a_millionaire_without_losing_your_soul/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/become_a_millionaire_without_losing_your_soul/#When:03:54:18Z One of the few attractive ways of escaping the current economic depression is to create new companies and new industries. Scientific research provides perhaps the best starting point. Just how this can be achieved is illustrated by successful examples from Oxford University. From the Chemistry Department alone six members of staff have become millionaires without giving up their university posts or being given dispensation from duties. Professor W. Graham Richards graduated in Chemistry from Brasenose College, Oxford in 1962, and was a Fellow of Brasenose and lecturer, reader and professor at Oxford for over 40 years. For the last 10 years until his retirement in 2007 he was Head of Chemistry, the largest chemistry department in the Western World. This lecture was presented by The John Curtin School of Medical Research. Public Lecture, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine and Life Science 2009-07-27T03:54:18+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/promises_challenges_developing_new_vaccines/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/promises_challenges_developing_new_vaccines/#When:04:01:15Z Learning how to harness the power of the immune system to combat infectious killers has been one of the most dramatic developments in the history of medicine.  Eradication of smallpox and the near elimination of polio serve to remind us that the destiny of disease can be written by human ingenuity.  These and other great feats continue to inspire us all as we strive to combat major infectious killers of the 21st Century.  Success rarely comes easily and we are enormously challenged by various viruses, bacteria and parasites that collectively cause several million deaths per year.  A common thread of the resistance to immunity and vaccine development is the uncanny ability to escape immune attack by altering coat proteins and to further subvert the immune system.  A major strategy of vaccine development is to identify a non variable region of the organism that can be an immune Achilles heel for the germ.  Another approach is to combine the most common immune determinants ('epitopes') of different strains of a particular organism into a single vaccine in the hope that the vaccine will prevent infection with the majority of strains.  Developing effective vaccines requires not only scientific nous but an understanding of the daily challenges of those peoples whose lives are affected.  It is critical that they are centrally involved in the research program and understand both the hope and the limitations of the various approaches.  If not, it is unlikely they will persist in a collaborative program that may take many decades to realise ultimate success.  Malaria vaccine research, as an example, has provided a roller coaster emotional ride over the last 25 years for both researchers and those living in endemic countries. While this can be disconcerting it is critical that we continue for malaria and the many other challenges that we face.  The consequences of not doing so are too awful to contemplate. This was the World Day of Immunology 2009 Public Lecture. Presented by The John Curtin School of Medical Research and Australasian Society for Immunology. Public Lecture, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine and Life Science 2009-05-04T04:01:15+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/sustainable_funding_for_australias_future_health_care/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/sustainable_funding_for_australias_future_health_care/#When:00:29:30Z Like many other countries, Australia is facing significantly increased costs in the future in maintaining the health of its people.  In coming decades we will have more people suffering from chronic and debilitating health conditions such as diabetes, a higher proportion of older people with complex health care needs and burgeoning costs from new diagnostic and treatment technologies including pharmaceuticals. Another motivation for concern with current health financing arrangements is duplication in health insurance coverage.  Duplication arises because the Medicare coverage for public hospital services cannot be used for private hospital services.  Those who purchase private health insurance therefore have to pay a premium that covers the full cost of private hospital services and not just the additional cost of those services.  A large part of private health insurance coverage is therefore duplicate coverage while only a small part is supplementary coverage. Australia already spends around ten percent of its GDP on health care and some estimates show this increasing to over fifteen per cent by 2020 – an additional $50 billion each year. How will we pay for this? Are there better ways of financing and providing health care? This seminar discussed financing options based on Australian and international research undertaken through the Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health (ACERH) at ANU. The Speakers were Professor Jim Butler, Director ACERH; Dr Francesco Paolucci, research fellow ACERH; and Henry Ergas, Chairman, Concept Economics. Seminar, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine and Life Science 2008-09-17T00:29:30+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/immunity_altered_self/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/immunity_altered_self/#When:03:02:00Z World Day of Immunology 2008 Public Lecture What defines us as individuals? What makes us both similar and different to other individuals, other species? These are great philosophical questions throughout the history of human thought, they are a source of angst in teenagers, and they are fundamental issues in medicine. In this lecture Professor Goodnow explores these questions from the perspective of our immune system, whose raison d’etre is to distinguish our self from the legions of viruses, bacteria and other microbes that would wish to take part in or take over our self. He will give examples of progress, opportunities and challenges in improving health outcomes from the struggle between our self, our genome and our microbes. Public Lecture, Biological Sciences, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine and Life Science 2008-05-06T03:02:00+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/just_war_theory/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/just_war_theory/#When:23:45:00Z For several thousand years, philosophers, lawyers, and theologians have developed a theory of the just war, where rules are set for deciding when a war should be fought and what tactics can be employed in war. During the entirety of that period chemical and biological weapons have been banned. In this public lecture, reasons are given for thinking that just war theory cannot support a complete ban on such weapons, unless a similar ban on the use of bombs is also endorsed. Public Lecture, Law, Justice & Law Enforcement, Medical & Health Science, Policy & Political Science, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Arts and Social Sciences 2007-11-26T23:45:00+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/great_pandemics/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/great_pandemics/#When:03:25:00Z The last five years have seen a remarkable increase in the level of financing and commitment in the war against AIDS, TB and Malaria. This period has also witnessed remarkable innovations in the business of development finance. The Global Fund has played a central role in both of these phenomena. Professor Sir Richard Feachem, who lead the Global Fund from its inception in 2002 until March 2007, discusses the fight against the great pandemics and the need to find a new architecture for development finance drawing on the experience of the first five years of the Global Fund. Professor Sir Richard will be cautiously optimistic about the struggle against HIV/AIDS, ambitious in his remarks on malaria, and provocative in his prescriptions for fundamental change in the way in which aid is provided. Public Lecture, Biological Sciences, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Medicine and Life Science 2007-05-18T03:25:00+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/cowboy_cloners_the_ethics_morality_of_scientific_communities/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/cowboy_cloners_the_ethics_morality_of_scientific_communities/#When:03:44:00Z Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned, there has been much debate in the media and public spheres about the ethics and morality of genetic research. But little attention has been paid to how scientific communities accomplish this important area of 21st century research. In this lecture, Professor Peter Glasner considers some of the organisational and ethical issues that arise from debates about the selection, modification and engineering of human and other species, and their implications for improving health and extending human life. Examples range from the applications of stem cell technology in India and the UK, enabling the emergence of ‘cowboy cloners’, to analysis of proteomics and systems biology, and the issues surrounding the creation of ‘virtual’ life. Public Lecture, Medical & Health Science, Philosophy & Religion, Society & Culture, University, Arts and Social Sciences 2006-10-12T03:44:00+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/seduced_by_dna_from_chromosomes_to_cancer/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/seduced_by_dna_from_chromosomes_to_cancer/#When:04:50:01Z In this lecture, Professor Cory will give a personal perspective on her career, covering how she came to become a molecular biologist and how her fascination with chromosomes led her into cancer research and the quest to develop better cancer drugs. This lecture was sponsored by the ANU College of Science as part of their 2006 Dean's Lecture Series. Public Lecture, Biological Sciences, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Science, Medicine and Life Science 2006-09-22T04:50:01+10:00 http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/window_on_the_brain/ http://www.anu.edu.au/discoveranu/content/podcasts/window_on_the_brain/#When:04:43:01Z There are more nerve cells in the human brain than there are stars in the Milky Way. The brain is probably the most complex thing on earth, and yet we know very little about how it works. New brain imaging technology called MEG allows us to see when and where different parts of the brain become active in response to thoughts or actions.  Dr Kristen Pammer from the School of Psychology in the ANU Faculty of Science outlines what we can expect to learn with this technology about conditions like synaesthesia, which is where some people experience strange sensory combinations like seeing sounds or tasting colours. "Fundamentally I am interested in how the brain works – Why do we cry? How do we see colour? Why do we get tired? How many parents have been embarrassed when their child runs up to a strange man and calls them daddy? How many people have walked into a room and forgotten why they are there? Did you know that if you turned a face upside down it takes you much longer to recognise it – but this is not the case for any other object?" Dr Kristen Pammer This lecture was sponsored by the ANU College of Science as part of National Science Week 2006. Public Lecture, Behavioural & Cognitive Sciences, Medical & Health Science, ANU College of Science, Medicine and Life Science 2006-09-22T04:43:01+10:00