Episode 118.  Ancient and New: WA’s Cliniface and Lyfe Languages Improving Indigenous Healthcare Through Technology

The podcast visits Western Australia to find out how new technology like Artificial Intelligence is being used to improve healthcare for Indigenous Australians and those living in remote communities.

Cliniface is delivering the world’s first 3D photo library of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples, an innovative medical resource that could improve diagnosis of rare and genetic diseases particularly in children.

And Lyfe Languages is translating complex medical terminology into traditional languages to better bridge the language barriers experienced by many Indigenous communities, in Australia and internationally.

Hosts Caroline Duell and Dr Tracey Wilkinson, MTPConnect's Director of Stakeholder Engagement for WA, meet the driving forces behind these projects. 

Dr Gareth Baynam is a Clinical Geneticist specialising in rare diseases and Head of the Western Australian Register of Developmental Anomalies. Gareth founded Project Y, Cliniface and Lyfe Languages and is passionate about the use of technology to improve the lives of people with rare diseases and address health inequality. Yarlalu Thomas is a medical student and a Precision Public Health Fellow in Genetic and Rare Diseases who is currently working on the Cliniface project and managing the Lyfe Languages program he co-founded with Gareth. Yarlalu is a Nyangumarta Pitjikarli man from the Pilbara Desert who was recognised as the Young West Australian of the Year in 2020. Both Yaralalu and Gareth are based at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Subiaco, WA.  www.projecty.info