During COVID many of us struggled to understand those in charge of giving the latest health advice. Many of us worried about the best course of action to protect our health. How can those communicating health messages make them easier to understand? Can social media or other platforms help engage and reach our diverse communities? In this episode, …

In this episode, Dr Meron Lewis discusses her Prevention Centre-sponsored PhD research project that measured the cost and affordability of diets in low socioeconomic households. A Research Fellow at the University of Queensland's School of Public Health, Dr Meron Lewis research focuses on food price and affordability monitoring tools, protocols and…

The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre discuss our first decade in chronic disease prevention research. Join host ⁠⁠Gretchen Miller⁠⁠ as she chats with co-directors Professor Lucie Rychetnik and Professor Andrew Wilson and policy advisor Adjunct Associate Professor Jo Mitchell about the evolution of the ideas driving the Prevention Centre, in…

This episode discusses why now is the right time for taking a more strategic approach to chronic disease research investment, based on Australia's most significant problems in health. Join host ⁠Gretchen Miller⁠ as she chats with guests: Professor Helena Teede AO, Director of the Monash Centre for Health Research Implementation. Helena discusses th…

This podcast discusses a community-led program to reduce childhood injury; a successful collaboration between the First Nations community at Walgett and researchers from the University of New South Wales. Join host Gretchen Miller as she chats with guests: Christine Corby AM, Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service (WAMS) Amy Townsend, Goonimoo Mobile C…

Dr Lucy Gunn discusses how the built environment can contribute to better health outcomes, and the importance of basing policies upon research evidence. A Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Urban Research at RMIT University, Dr Lucy Gunn’s key interest is in understanding which urban environments are supportive of health and wellbeing outcomes…

Professor Emily Banks AM is a trailblazer in tobacco and e-cigarette research. Her world-leading review of the global evidence on the health effects of e-cigarettes has sparked national and international discussion. The use of e-cigarettes, or vaping, in Australia poses serious public health risks, especially among young people. In this episode, Pr…

In this episode, Dr Katherine Trebeck takes listeners into a deep conversation asking why our economy is not serving enough people and takes a hard look at the way our economic system operates through a public health lens. Katherine is a political economist, founder of the Wellbeing Economic Alliance, and describes herself as a freelance advocate f…

How do you define and measure health equity and equality? Renowned epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot, Professor of Epidemiology at University College London, discusses the inequities created by the COVID-19 response in the UK. Professor Sir Michael Marmot CH discusses his recent publication, Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review, explains t…

Join Dr Jenny Kaldor, lawyer, researcher, and policy analyst, and Maddie Heenan, Research Officer and PhD candidate, as they delve into how law, policy, and regulation affect public health, and what methods can help us better understand these relationships. Jenny took a brief advisory role in the development of the Prevention Centre's knowledge syn…

In this episode, we discuss with guest Jane Martin, Executive Manager of the Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) and Alcohol and Obesity Policy at Cancer Council Victoria, the tipping points on tobacco and obesity in Australia and how we can leverage advocacy for action. Jane has worked in tobacco control for 20 years, commencing with Action on Smoking …

An unhealthy diet is Australia’s key modifiable risk factor, resulting in more than 500,000 years of life lost to death and disability each year so it’s important that healthcare service providers provide a good role model. ​ Together, Professor Anna Peeters and Dr Miranda Blake, and colleagues, have produced large quantities of evidence that show …

It’s no surprise that half our population searches online to inform themselves, but how does that work for you when English is not your first language? Culturally and linguistically diverse people in Australia are neglected in most academic research, and health is not exempt. In this episode, we discuss with guest, Dr Mridula Bandyopadhyay, how Aus…

There are numerous ways in which population health could benefit if housing was improved in Australia. Join host Gretchen Miller and guest Professor Rebecca Bentley as they discuss the many aspects of this social determinant of health including how poor housing quality can exacerbate chronic disease and mental health, housing security, and how to a…

In this episode, host Gretchen Miller interviews guests Professor Helen Skouteris and Dr Alexandra Chung on the early days of our life's journey and how influential they are in preventing future health issues. Our guests, both from Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, conducted a knowledge synthesis that examined the f…

Join podcast host Gretchen Miller and Professor Cathie Sherrington, Chief Investigator of the Centre of Research Excellence in the Prevention of Fall-related Injuries, as they discuss the rise in fall-related injuries, the various risk factors involved, and what can be done to improve those figures. Is it about physical activity, strength or balanc…

Alcohol use contributes significantly to Australia's health burden (burden of disease) as well as contributing billions of dollars each year in Australia in terms of healthcare and non-healthcare economic costs. The Prevention Centre together with New South Wales Health and Cancer Institute NSW recently produced an Evidence Review on the value of p…

International expert in tobacco control policy Associate Professor Coral Gartner explores an exciting concept and hopefully eminent reality, the beginning of the end for tobacco in Australia. Associate Professor Gartner is Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame and Head of the Nicotine and Tobacco Regul…

Did you know, Australia is looking at doubling our current figures to a projected 1 million people with dementia by 2056? While our lifestyles have been shown to impact the chances of getting dementia, there is no national prevention plan because we don't yet know enough about the disease to fully advise. Our guests for this episode, Professor Henr…

Professor Penny Hawe, Professor of Public Health, University of Sydney and a member of the Prevention Centre's Leadership Executive, is a champion for prevention and finding creative ways to get the preventive health message to cut through with the public. "I just want to make prevention science interesting. I want the public to think that populati…

In this episode, Professor Steve Allender, Professor of Public Health and Founding Director, The Global Obesity Centre (GLOBE), Deakin University, discusses how systems thinking can help solve complex problems at the community level. This approach values community-led research that builds capacity, and where power is equally shared between research…

Join Prevention Centre Senior Research Fellow, Dr Melanie Pescud and Senior Systems Engineer, Matthew Vella as they go back to basics to discuss the fundamentals of systems thinking across their respective disciplines of public health and engineering. They reveal similarities and differences in perspectives and share lessons learnt and next steps f…

The Prevention Centre's Co-Director Professor Andrew Wilson chats about his years of experience in public health, the current health crisis, and what the future holds for the prevention of chronic disease in Australia.By The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre

Our guest for this episode is Dr Nick Watts, a population health and public policy expert in health and climate change. This conversation is one of the many we need, to raise public consciousness. We are in a climate and a health emergency and the Prevention Centre needs to be at the forefront of evidence-based solutions around chronic disease and …

What is hate? Is there an antidote? Join us for a critically reflective conversation about hate and how to redress it with Professor Sandro Galea - considered one of the most important and innovative voices in American health and medicine.By The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre

Traditionally science is based on the idea that if you work out the causes of a problem, you know how to solve it. But this reductionist view won't work for complex problems. Professor Diane Finegood discusses why we need a more integrative approach to produce the kind of evidence we need.By The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre

This episode we're talking about scaling up. That's where you take a program that's worked and bring it to larger populations - a challenge for policy makers all over the world. Why do we struggle with scaling up? Why isn't it consistently handled, why do so many promising projects that could be scaled up die on the vine, and, of course, what can w…

Prevention Works visits Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney to meet with Professor Fiona Blyth, who is leading a study into the prevention of chronic pain for the Prevention Centre. Listen to Fiona explain the difference between acute and chronic pain, the massive scale of the problem in Australia, and why primary care is key.…

The Cancer Council is the only cancer charity that works across all cancer types and in several ways, from prevention to research, from support to advocacy. Now they're bringing that expertise to bear at the Prevention Centre, partnering with us to reduce the number of deaths from cancer in Australia. In this episode, host Gretchen Miller chats to …

Dr Chris Nolan used to see all his pregnant mothers with diabetes in a morning. Now, he's swamped. He joins Louise Freebairn to discuss why so many pregnant women are presenting with this dangerous condition, and how dynamic simulation modelling is providing some answers on how to intervene in the ACT.…

People with a mental health condition are among the most vulnerable to the risk factors for chronic disease, like smoking, drinking too much and poor nutrition. Professor Jenny Bowman's research is finding ways of protecting both people's physical as well as mental health.By The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre

Professors Helena Teede and Louise Baur have spent their careers addressing child obesity from very different perspectives. They chat to host Gretchen Miller about what needs to be done.By The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre

ACT Chief Health Officer Dr Paul Kelly discusses the realities of making the case for prevention in this wide-ranging discussion on issues from obesity to pill testing to the nanny state.By The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre

With Australia's population set to double by 2050, understanding the public health implications of urban planning is now more important than ever. Gretchen Miller sits down with Australia's leading expert in liveability, Professor Billie Giles-Corti, to talk about how urban planning profoundly influences population health, her ground-breaking Natio…

One-fifth of Aboriginal people living in urban areas are food insecure, meaning they don't always know where the next meal is coming from. In this episode of Prevention Works, Gretchen Miller sits down with three experts in the field: Dr Sumithra Muthayya, Study Director of SEARCH (Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health); Da…

Poor diet is the number one preventable cause of ill health globally. So what can researchers and policy makers do to make the easiest food choice the healthiest? Gretchen Miller talks to Professor Amanda Lee, Senior Adviser with The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, about the work she has done over the last 35 years in nutrition, obesity, …

When a lot of Australians think about public health law, they think about the "nanny state". However, we have laws to thank for a lot of the policies we take for granted today, such as gun control, pool fencing regulation, seat belt use and bike helmet legislation. In this episode of Prevention Works, host Gretchen Miller talks to Janani Muhunthan,…

Australia is a nation of beautiful beaches and parks, temperate weather and safe streets. And yet, Finnish people are more active in the depths of their cold, dark winter than we are. In this episode, Gretchen Miller sits down with Adrian Bauman, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney and one of Australia's foremost researchers into…