Eavesdrop On Experts

There’s been a growing shift in animal welfare; an increasing awareness of the mental wellbeing of animals rather than purely their biological functioning – that is, an animal’s physiology, reproduction and injury. Mike Mendl, professor of Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Bristol University in the UK, is drawing on animal behaviour, human psychology and cognitive neuroscience to improve animal welfare. “Data from human studies shows that people who are unhappy or depressed tend to be much more pessimistic about the future and they make more careful, cautious decisions about ambiguity,” says Professor Mendl. Professor Mendl is working develop ways of measuring animal welfare scientifically and with aim of improving the quality or conditions for all animals. Episode recorded: May 15, 2019. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer, audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. Banner image: Getty Images.

Previously seen as an older man’s disease, increased rates of prostate cancer in younger men has been associated with an increased incidence of obesity. “There are a number of changes that happen in the body when you have obesity, that could lead to the progression of cancer,” says Professor Watt, Head of the Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne. “Essentially what we’ve found is that, unlike other cancer types, which rely heavily on glucose to fuel both their growth and their proliferation, prostate cancer cells are very highly reliant on fatty acids.” Working with researchers at Monash University, Professor Watt’s group have shown that they can block the capacity of these prostate cells to take up fatty acids which slows their growth dramatically. “We think this has very important implications in understanding both the progression of the disease, but also ways in which we might be able to therapeutically target prostate cancer in the future.” Episode rec

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. By the time we reach the age of 80, around 15 per cent of us will have glaucoma. By using gene therapy, University of Melbourne ophthalmology professor, Keith Martin, and his team are aiming to encourage the cells that connect the eye to the brain to make new photoreceptors that pick up light, replacing those that have been lost. “The cells I’m most interested in glaucoma are called retinal ganglion cells and these are the cells that connect the eye to the brain,” says Professor Martin. “When light hits the eye, photoreceptors pick up that light and they signal through to these retinal ganglion cells that send the messages back to our brain. If we lose that cable that connects the eye to the brain, the picture quality degrades.” These days, if glaucoma is identified early - it can be effectively treated in most cases. But Professor Martin’s research goes a step further. “We’re moving beyond the era where all we could do for this chronic d

Chiptune is the electronic music that was integral to the experience of playing the early computer games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. And the art of composing a chiptune was all about being innovative in the face of the constraints that came with using a simple sound chip. “One of the really nice things about Chiptune is because it is so raw and open and simple, you are forced into a situation where you have no option but to create,” says Professor Kenny McAlpine, a Melbourne Enterprise Fellow in interactive composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and author of Bits and Pieces: A History of Chiptunes. “Because of the constraints of the sound chip, because they could only do limited music, the composers, when they tried to step outside of those constraints and push beyond them, had to look for other ways of achieving complexity and that had to happen through code,” he says. The irony is that despite all the creativity and ingenuity that goes into making a great Chiptune, Professor McAlpine says t

Before paper, we had papyrus - made from reeds in Egypt, or parchment - made from the skin of various animals. And then China invented paper in order to collect Buddhist texts. From there, over the next two centuries, the use of paper moved through Central Asia used by merchants, government and commerce. But, how did we get from Ancient Egyptian scrolls to modern-day office paper? Jonathan Bloom is the now-retired Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College. He is also the soon-to-be retired Hamid Bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. Sheila Blair is the Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at Boston College Emerita, as well as the soon-to-be retired Hamid Bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University. Between them, they have explored how paper spread around the world, transporting ideas and information. Episode recorded: March 12, 2019. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horv

Sir Peter Cook is well known for his ‘big and naughty’ architecture. The Emeritus Professor at University College London, the Royal Academy of Arts and the Frankfurt Staedelschule, Sir Peter co-founded the avant-garde architectural group Archigram and worked on constructions like the radical Art Museum in Graz, Austria. Sir Peter says that buildings and structures must be designed for people. “...it’s also a question of timing, positioning, spacing, iconography, to what extent something is special. Now, that almost comes back to architecture. If you just give a very bland piece of architecture, then you’re putting an enormous amount of onus on the inhabitant to do something special which they may not be up to. The result is boredom into boredom.” Episode recorded: January 31, 2019. Interviewer: Louise Bennet. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Silvi Vann-Wall & Dr Andi Horvath. Banner image: Banner: Roof of Kunsthaus in Graz, Austria/Shutterstock.

While progress has been made, men still hold 60 per cent of senior positions within the Australian Medical Research Institute’s 49-member organisations, according to 2018 data. For International Women’s Day, six female leaders in medical research come together to discuss the professional challenges they’ve overcome, to help encourage more women in science to build successful, enduring careers. Professor Fabienne Mackay, head of the School of Biomedical Sciences, joins Professor Kathryn North AC, Director of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute with Laureate Professor Ingrid Scheffer AO and others to dispel some myths about women working at the cutting-edge of medical research. “Role models will not ask aspiring young women what would help them, but rather what stops them,” says Professor Mackay. “At a point in your life something will drive your passion, it will come early or later depending on the person, but once you have that passion nothing should stop you.” Recorded: March 7, 2019. Reporters:

Professor Eva Nogales started her career in a time where barely any women were seen in science departments. In college, she skipped biology to focus on physics, relying on her high-school knowledge of the former to shape her career as a biophysicist. Now, she’s using her understanding of the microtubules in our cells for improving disease management, including slowing the uncontrollable growth of cancer. This niche understanding of our cell behaviour at the molecular level is already improving the lives of humans everywhere, and the technique used by Professor Nogales called “cryo-EM” is taking the world of structural biology by storm. She recently visited the University of Melbourne to receive the 2019 Grimwade Medal, and to deliver the oration titled: Visualising the molecular dance at the heart of human gene expression. Episode recorded: February 14, 2019. Interviewer: Steve Grimwade. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. Banner: Berkeley Lab.

Workplace bullying. Chances are we’ve all seen or experienced it at least once in our lives. From the extreme of sexual or physical assault, to the subtler eye-rolls that exist in the ‘grey area’ of bullying. Dr Victor Sojo, a lecturer and Research Fellow at the Centre for Workplace Leadership at the University of Melbourne, says all these negative behaviours can lead to a toxic work environment and, as a result, impact on productivity. “At the most basic level within organisations, people need to make rules clear about what behaviour is acceptable and what behaviour is not acceptable,” he says. And the #MeToo movement is increasingly defining what’s not acceptable. Dr Sojo says that’s giving people who have been feeling marginalised, disrespected and abused the opportunity to speak up. “We need more women in positions of power so that they could actually have a voice about how we are going to manage the situation. This is very important, because right now, I’m a guy talking about this.” Episode recorded

When we talk about bushfires in Australia, we talk about the devastation. But Professor Cristina Montiel Molina from the Complutense University of Madrid says we need to re-think that. “We don’t consider fire a natural element in our lives, but it’s a part of landscape,” says Professor Molina. “We don’t really know how to live with fire.” In fact, Professor Molina says that mega fires we’ve experienced in Europe, Australia, Chile and California in recent years are our own fault - as result of poor decisions around spatial planning, land management and fire policies. And, in order to manage the risk posed by fire, we have to change our attitude. Episode recorded: December 19, 2018. Interviewer: Steve Grimwade. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Silvi Vann-Wall and Dr Andi Horvath. Banner image: Shutterstock.

The Australian city of Melbourne has been voted the world’s most liveable city numerous times - but does that status make those of us who live here complacent about the city’s long-term future? Professor Lars Coenen is the inaugural City of Melbourne Chair of Resilient Cities - an initiative between the City of Melbourne and University of Melbourne. The aim is to strengthen the city’s resilience in the face of sustainability challenges like global warming. But key to creating a sustainable city is innovation, done in a purposeful way that contributes to our societies, cities and our regions. And that, says Professor Coenen, is where Australia needs to raise its game. Episode recorded: November 29, 2018. Interviewer: Steve Grimwade. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall. Banner image: Shutterstock.

Professor Roy Robins-Browne, renowned vaccinologist who retired from the University of Melbourne late last year, and Professor Myron (Mike) Levine, a microbiologist from University of Maryland are “scientific soulmates”. The two met in 1979, when Professor Robins-Browne’s interest in the varieties of E. coli that cause diarrhoea took him to the Center for Vaccine Development of the University of Maryland in Baltimore. At this time, Professor Levine was working in developing countries on the epidemiology, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Both believed this disease was caused by a pathogen - they just had to convince the rest of the world. Episode recorded: November 19, 2018. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall. Banner image: Shutterstock.

The Justice For LB campaign, which was launched following the death of 33-year-old Connor Sparrowhawk in a British residential unit, has made the issue of preventable deaths among people with an intellectual disability more visible. It’s an issue that can be solved; and that it’s time to start addressing it, say researchers and campaigners. Dr Andi Horvath chats with prominent UK campaigners Dr George Julian and Chris Hatton about what needs to change. For more information about Connor Sparrowhawk and the Justice For LB campaign, visit justiceforlb.org Episode recorded: November 12, 2018. Interviewer: Andi Horvath. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall. Banner image: Shutterstock.

A farm labourer and builder’s mate in England, a porter in Scotland, a new immigrant in Israel; Professor Nigel Rapport’s fieldwork has offered him opportunities to explore the precious reality of human individuality in a wide range of circumstances. Episode recorded: October 18, 2018. Interviewer: Steve Grimwade. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall. Banner image: Jeremy Bishop/Unsplash.

Biologist Professor Randy Schekman received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2013, along with colleagues, for his work on cell membrane vesicle trafficking - a major transport system within our cells. A passionate advocate of the scientific method and open-access journals, Professor Schekman argues that science needs to be vocally defended now, more than ever. Episode recorded: September 19, 2018. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall. Banner image: Shutterstock

“Just being able to say beautiful words, to put beautiful words together, is a way of moving through time and living your life and holding onto your life more valuably.” Professor David Mason, former Poet Laureate of Colorado, on why poetry is so ubiquitous and important. Episode recorded: September 17, 2018. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall. Banner image: Taylor Ann Wright.

Politics in the digital age is increasingly being shaped by tech-savvy activists; the Edward Snowdens and Julian Assanges of the world. But it’s when these ‘nerds’ join with others that true change happens - like Spain’s Indignados movement becoming a force in the country’s mainstream political system. Dr John Postill discusses his new book The Rise of Nerd Politics in this new episode of Eavesdrop on Experts. Episode recorded: September 4, 2018. Interviewer: Steve Grimwade. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall. Banner image: Getty Images.

“If you knock on a door and it doesn’t open, keep knocking. It’s persistence that gets results in journalism.” The Boston Globe’s Editor At Large, Walter V Robinson, was famously immortalised by Michael Keaton in the Oscar-winning movie Spotlight, about his team of investigative reporters that lifted the lid on institutional child sexual abuse in Boston’s Catholic Church. Here he discusses the importance of investigative reporting, and the challenges it faces today. Episode recorded: June 1, 2018. Interviewer: Louise Bennet. Audio engineering: Arch Cuthbertson. Producer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Co-production: Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall. Banner image: Front page of the Sunday Boston Globe on May 8, 2016, featuring details of abuse at a private school in New England. Picture: Getty Images.

Pneumonia is the biggest killer of children worldwide. But when it comes to fighting the disease, particularly in remote communities, the key problem is access to medicine and technology. Oxygen, with antibiotics, is crucial to pneumonia treatment, but not every healthcare facility has oxygen available. In fact, some don’t even have electricity. In 2011, a team of physics researchers - including Associate Professor Roger Rassool from the University of Melbourne - collaborated with colleagues from a wide range of disciplines to develop the first electricity-free oxygen concentrating system, known as FREO2. FREO2 draws water from local river streams and uses it to produce oxygen, without electricity. And now, it’s saving lives. Episode recorded: August 28, 2018. Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath. Producers: Dr Andi Horvath, Chris Hatzis and Silvi Vann-Wall. Audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis. Banner: Getty Images.

In his new book, Transit Life published by MIT Press, Associate Professor David Bissell encourages us to think about how we use our daily commute, and it is shaping our relationships, how we work and how we build our cities. He chats about the joys and pains of commuting to Steve Grimwade. Episode recorded: August 21, 2018 Interviewer: Steve Grimwade Producers: Chris Hatzis, Dr Andi Horvath and Silvi Vann-Wall Audio engineer and editor: Chris Hatzis Banner image: Shutterstock