UNSW Centre for Ideas

With Australia on track to be among the first countries in the world to eliminate the transmission of HIV, there is a lot to be optimistic about. Yet globally the rates of transmission and AIDS-related deaths are predicted to rise, disproportionately impacting marginalised communities and people living in low and middle income countries.  
Weakening US political commitment and recent funding cuts are threatening the delicate global healthcare architecture designed to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. High-income countries, like Australia, have a crucial role to play in enabling accessible research, testing, treatment, healthcare and public education with international communities. 
Hear renowned leading infectious disease researcher and President of the International AIDS Society, Dr Beatriz Grinsztejn, in conversation with Australia’s Dr Norman Swan. From diversifying funding sources to strengthening universal public health systems and promoting community involvement, Dr Grinsztejn and Dr Swan will discuss how to overcome the setbacks deepening the inequities between who gets care and who goes without.
Co-presented by the UNSW Centre for Ideas, Kirby Institute and UNSW Medicine & Health.
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In an era of increasing productivity, efficiency and automation it’s important not to lose sight that education – the learning and teaching that we all pursue – is about human connection and transformation.
Tune in to learn from Dr Gabi Nudelman, a Senior Lecturer in business sustainability and ethics, on how kindness could be our secret weapons against disconnection in our work and school environments.
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The blood-brain barrier prevents 98% of medicines from reaching the brain. This prevents the effective treatment of neurological disorders, from cancer to Alzheimer’s. If we knew how to create drugs that could pass through this barrier, then we’d be able to create targeted, effective treatments. But doing so requires a lot of trial and error, and there aren’t a lot of effective, ethical, targeted treatments. Until now.
Tune in to learn from Dr Alexis Minchaca Acosta, a Research Officer at the Children’s Cancer Institute, on how her work in lab-made blood brain barriers could change the game for neurological disorders.
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Our coastal marine habitats are suffering from the man-made degradation of climate change. From coral reefs to seagrass meadows, oyster reefs and kelp forests, these ecosystems are vital nurseries for marine life and natural coastal buffers against storms and we’re losing them at a rapid pace. But all is not lost. We have the tools and the know-how to restore these environments.
Tune in to learn from Ann Flemming Nielsen, a PhD student at the Centre for Marine Science and Innovation, on how we can use human engineering to build back the coastal environments in severe decline and give nature a chance to recover.
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Light has unlocked many technologies over the course of human history. The more we learn about what light is and what it can do, the more applications we find to advance our lives. When we study light at the smallest scale possible, at the atomic level, we can unlock some pretty amazing, pretty weird capabilities.
Find out from Dr Alison Goldingay, an award-winning Postdoctoral Fellow at UNSW in the School of Physics, about how the study of light is making quantum computing a reality.
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