Pioneering Minds

The human brain is one of the great mysteries of life - a remarkable feat of engineering and the seat of imagination, it's something we each possess, but that very few people understand. Dr Simon McMullan of the Department of Biomedical Sciences here at Macquarie, stops by for a chat about the key neurological insights from his research. From neuron activity and the regulation of blood pressure, to sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder, Dr McMullan leads us through the fragile labyrinth of our brains.

This week we're speaking to Associate Professor Annabelle Lukin all about the English language, from the political discourse around poverty, age and war to how English has managed to survive and thrive as the global tongue.

In this week's episode we chat with Dr Adrian Buzo, MQ Korean lecturer, about his life as a translator, the eccentricities of languages and what he learned as a diplomat in North Korea.

This week our special guest has come all the way from Texas A&M to chat with us. A Fulbright Distinguished Chair and women's security expert, Professor Valerie Hudson has come to Australia to share the knowledge gleaned from her work on the WomanStats Database which is the world's most comprehensive compilation of information on the status of women in the world.

In this episode of Pioneering Minds we chat to Dr Monique Crane from the Department of Psychology about a very specific but increasingly visible area of psychology, that of workplace resilience. Throughout the episode, Dr Crane discusses the nature of the modern workplace and explains the simple tools managers can utilise to increase contentment and longevity at work.

On this week's episode, we talk to Lise Waldek from the Department of Security Studies and Criminology about all forms of extremism, from violent to ideological and how online spaces narrow our points of view and shape our perceptions of the world we live in.

In this week's episode we talk to historian and curator of the Macquarie University Art Gallery, Leonard Janiszewski about a little known but fascinating part of Australia's immigration history as well as the relevance of physical art spaces in an increasingly digital world.

In this episode of Pioneering Minds, we chat to mental health expert Associate Professor Viviana Wuthrich about how anxiety and mental health issues affect us differently at different points in our lives, from childhood anxiety in our youth, to HSC stress in Year 12 to dementia after retirement.

How is Australia's healthcare system holding up today?

How will artificial intelligence change the way we think about the industry?

This week on the Pioneering Minds podcast we're joined by Professors Jeffrey Braithwaite, Johanna Westbrook and Enrico Coiera of the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, who discuss these questions and more.

How is Australia's healthcare system holding up today?

How will artificial intelligence change the way we think about the industry?

This week on the Pioneering Minds podcast we're joined by Professors Jeffrey Braithwaite, Joanna Westbrook and Enrico Coiera of the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, who discuss these questions and more.