Welcome to the ANZAAS Website

Almost every aspect of our life is touched by science. Without science our way of life would be almost unimaginable and sustainability of life in the future will be impossible. Despite this there is great public suspicion of science. Much of this is based on lack of understanding, but past failures of science to recognise public concerns about the nature and direction of progress contribute to distrust. The future is too important for such attitudes to continue. ANZAAS exists to promote dialogue and understanding between the public, science and government and to advance science and its utilisation for maximum benefit.

next ANZAAS Science Talk, Melbourne

Wednesday 19th March 2025, 6:30 pm

Professor Peter van Wijngaarden

CEO and Executive Director, Florey Institute

“Imaging the eye to see the brain”

This talk will introduce ocular imaging techniques that are providing insights into diseases of the brain, including Alzheimer’s disease. Peter will focus on a retinal hyperspectral imaging, a method that his research group has pioneered. The talk will address the interface between optical physics, biology, machine learning and clinical medicine. This visually engaging presentation will be of interest to anyone with a curiosity for science.
Professor Peter van Wijngaarden is a clinician-scientist who serves as Executive Director of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. Peter undertook his medical training at Monash University before embarking on a PhD at Flinders University in the field of retinal vascular biology. Following specialist training in ophthalmology he undertook a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge in the field of myelin regeneration in multiple sclerosis. Peter returned to the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and the University of Melbourne in 2013 where he led a team of researchers devoted to ocular imaging and machine learning. He was Deputy Director of CERA from 2017-2024.

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Forthcoming talks:

          Wednesday 16th April     Professor Andrew Peele, Group Executive for ANSTO Nuclear Science and Technology

          Wednesday 21st May       Professor John Long, Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders University

          Wednesday 18th June     Professor Ricky Johnstone, Executive Director Cancer Research, Peter Mac

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We are pleased to acknowledge the support by CSL and Bio21 for the ANZAAS Melbourne science talks series
Further Info: David Vaux   davidlaurencevaux@gmail.com

http://www.anzaas.org.au/victoria/

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 Click HERE to see past ANZAAS Science Talks

Tony Heyes November 2024
Disability, Innovation and Spin-offs

David Vaux August 2024
Cell death: Bench to Bedside

Peter Cowan July 2024
Xenotransplantation: Custom-Designing Pig Parts for People

Richard Olive May 2024
The West Gate Bridge Disaster – A Failure at the Engineering, Organisational and Personal Levels

Greg Moore November April 2024
Urban trees are vital for sustainable, liveable cities

Rachelle Buchbinder March 2024
Hippocrasy, how doctors are betraying their oath

Daniel Mathews November 2023
Topology and the shape of space

Beth Ebert October 2023
Improving early warnings of epidemic thunderstorm asthma

David Komander September 2023
Playing Tag with Ubiquitin

David Vaux August 2023
A short history of cancer genes

Chris Greening May 2023
The atmosphere as a hidden energy source for life

Jim Goding March 2023
Transistors, the Microchip & the Second Industrial Revolution

Paul Lasky November 2022
A new window on the Universe

Peter Currie October 2022
Regeneration: Myths and monsters and modern medicine

Heather Mack September 2022
Injecting eyes with antibodies to treat problems of the retina

Helen Green August 2022
Dating Australia’s Rock Art

Mahdi Jalali July 2022
Transport electrification and integration of EVs within the electricity grid

Grant McArthur June 2022
Science led inroads into melanoma – Australia and New Zealand’s disease

Alan Duffy May 2022
Darkness visible down-under

Timothy Clark April 2022
The importance of reproducibility and integrity in science: a fishy perspective

Tilman Ruff March 2022
Ending the nuclear weapons era evidence, challenges and pathways

Brian Abbey November 2021
The colour of cancer: could ‘smart’ microscope slides transform tissue diagnostics?

Cameron Simmons October 2021
Creating stop signs in mosquitoes; is this the end-game for Dengue?

Madhu Bhaskaran September 2021
Unbreakable sensors the future is here

Anne Marie Tosolini August 2021
Fossil Leaves from Cretaceous and Paleogene Polar Environments

Geoff Brooks July 2021
Green Steel: Can we decarburise steel production?

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Message from Nobel Laureate Professor Barry Marshall

I would like to congratulate ANZAAS on its reinvigoration and an exciting new website.  ANZAAS was born to help launch scientific endeavour in Australia and New Zealand in the late 19th century and has since maintained a powerful advocate for public engagement with science. The new ANZAAS seeks to support and enliven a new phase of public involvement in science – we might call it mobilisation – in support of a sustainable culture for scientific literacy and a solid foundation for international competitiveness. The new path of action for ANZAAS is to stir the community at large into motivating more of our youth to explore the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. There are many issues facing our society as we move into the 21^st century – new challenges and exciting opportunities in medicine and health, critical decisions to be made with respect to the planet and engineering innovations of which we can only dream in the present. ANZAAS seeks to engage you in vibrant and productive exchanges as together we tackle these future challenges.

I urge you all to join me in actively supporting ANZAAS in its new endeavours.

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