The Minds Changing Lives

Content warning: This episode discusses mental health and suicide. Every day in Australia, an average of seven men will die by suicide. For years, the conversation about men’s mental health has followed a similar pattern: Men don’t talk. They don’t seek help. They’re too stoic and closed off. But what if the problem isn’t with men? University of Newcastle researcher D...

This episode tackles one of the biggest environmental and public health challenges of our time: PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals”. They’re found in everything from non-stick cookware to firefighting foam. When PFAS contamination was discovered around the Royal Australian Air Force base near Newcastle, residents like Lindsay Clout were left searching for answers about what t...

What happens when a common ear condition in kids goes untreated for months, or even years, because the right care is out of reach? For Indigenous children, and those living in rural and remote communities, delayed treatment doesn’t just affect hearing. It impacts learning, confidence and connection. In this episode, we talk with Professor Kelvin Kong – Australia’s first Indigenou...

Coal has powered the Hunter Valley for decades. Now the region faces a defining question: what comes next and who gets to decide? As some mines approach closure – and proposals to extend other operations are debated – communities are grappling with what the future looks like. In this episode, we explore the economic, environmental and cultural voids that will be left from open-cut coal...

When a stroke strikes, every minute matters. Science has traditionally approached stroke as a race against time. But rather than racing faster, what if we could instead slow the damage down? Join host Shahni Wellington as she explores groundbreaking research aimed at buying more time for stroke patients, particularly those in rural and regional communities. In this episode, she talks with Dr Danie...

For decades, health and medical research was built largely around men, with women’s experiences – and women’s needs – largely dismissed. That's decades of missed understandings. Decades of data that didn’t include women. Decades of questions that no one had thought to ask. The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health has spent 30 years closing that gap, s...

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 deve...

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...

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 Toolk...

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 youn...

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 tel...

Every year, 1800 students from refugee backgrounds step into a NSW school for the first time; many carrying unimaginable traumas. Educators worldwide have faced the challenge of not only accommodating these students but also helping them flourish – until now. In a compelling conversation with host Shahni Wellington, Professor Scott Imig presents his ground-breaking research, offering educators a t...

It’s a sad reality that gender bias in sports leads young girls brimming with skill and potential to quit by the time they reach High School. Tackling the problem head on, the world-first Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered program equips fathers and their girls with the emotional and physical skills to identify inequities, be brave and succeed in sports. Founder of the program, Professor Phil...

The positive influence of creativity on the ageing brain is well reported, but until now, scientific evidence of its impact on cognitive function has been lacking. Associate Professor Helen English and Professor Frini Karayanidis from the University of Newcastle are undertaking critical research to investigate the impact of creative ageing on cognition with programs that invite older adults to par...

Being accused of a crime we didn’t commit is the stuff of nightmares for many. It’s an injustice The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative is helping correct by connecting criminology and law students with real cases where new evidence suggests a miscarriage of justice has occurred. Associate Professor Dr Xanthe Mallet, renowned forensic anthropologist and criminologist who established an extension...

Submarine landslides pose a significant tsunami threat to coastal communities, and, in May of 2022, eight undergraduate students and a team of researchers from The University of Newcastle set sail on the CSIRO RV Investigator to explore this risk. Dr Hannah Power, Associate Professor of Coastal and Marine Science and Alternate Chief Scientist on The Voyage, explains the potential impact and origin...

Green Hydrogen could play a significant role in the global effort to decarbonise with researchers from the University of Newcastle leading the charge in the production and manufacturing of the captivating chemical. But what is hydrogen and how can it be green? Dr Jessica Allen, senior lecturer in chemical engineering, de-mystifies the nexus between hydrogen and energy production and we also meet o...

High-contact sports like rugby league are synonymous with conversations around physical safety and concussion. Someone who knows that all too well is Timana Tahu, a Barkindji man, NRL legend and Senior Manager of Elite Indigenous Pathways. Timana has spent years trialing safer tackling techniques on the field, and now, with the help of neuropsychologist Dr Andrew Gardener at the University of Newc...

Starting kindergarten without the skills to be able to speak clearly is a reality many children face. Waitlists as long as two years to see a speech pathologist disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.  It’s an issue the University of Newcastle, the Gunawirra Organisation, Scribbly Gum Dalai and Dalaigur preschools, and the Vonwiller Foundation are working hard to...

For children diagnosed with diabetes, adjusting to frequent painful finger-pricks can be mentally and physically draining. But thanks to breakthrough technology from the University of Newcastle, diabetics worldwide may soon be able to swap the needle for a pain-free saliva-based test which could be printed from the comfort of your very own home one day. Host Shahni Wellington sits down with mum Te...

Removing needles from the diabetes testing process, research that could change the travel industry forever, these are just some of the breakthroughs that you’ll hear about in this podcast designed to stimulate your mind. Meet the people that are pioneering change through research and join host Shahni Wellington, in partnership with The University of Newcastle, as she explores the stories of online...