The Minds Changing Lives

Oct 23 2023 9
The Minds Changing Lives Podcast artwork

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 publication Hippocampus.

RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


The pioneers prolonging premature goodbyes: advancing gynaecological cancer research and innovation

Oct 23 2023 36 mins  
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 shar

Classroom to courtroom: How students helped change Kathleen Folbigg's fate

Oct 08 2023 37 mins  
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 Wieling

The resilience-building research and tech set to turn the tide on drought

Sep 20 2023 31 mins  
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

Can cultural insight and the neuroscience of trauma change the conversation around young people's use of violence?

Sep 04 2023 33 mins  
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 – pu

One giant leap forward for the preservation of Australia’s last amphibians

Aug 14 2023 33 mins  
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

The research making sure no child gets left behind

Jul 31 2023 29 mins  
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, offe

The game-changing program revolutionising female participation in sport

Jul 17 2023 35 mins  
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 progr

Could creative ageing be the key to preserving cognition?

Dec 04 2022 34 mins  
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 old

Second chances and social justice: the program giving the wrongfully convicted a voice

Nov 20 2022 34 mins  
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 estab

Uncharted territory: uncovering the secrets of the seafloor

Nov 06 2022 35 mins  
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 i