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Loneliness seems to be a modern scourge, and on the rise, but how widespread is it across the world? Are there certain demographics or countries that are ‘lonelier’ than others? What can be done to ‘treat’ loneliness?
Professor Melody Ding – leading epidemiologist and population behavioural scientist – takes us through the trends and predictors of loneliness and why it’s a pressing public health issue on this important investigation on this modern disease.
Melody uses global research as well as a very personal perspective to investigate the common human feeling: it is natural to feel lonely at times in life but when experienced for a prolonged period, its impacts are severe, with links to chronic illness and death.
World-leading epidemiologist, Professor Melody Ding from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, has recently led research that examines loneliness and its effects.
In this talk with Sana Qadar, award-winning host and producer of Radio National’s All in the Mind, Melody unpacks the population data to reveal fascinating insights about our culture and systems in society – highlighting what’s working (or not) and what are the gaps to address.
Bookings are essential for this event.
The Women's Club in partnership with the Charles Perkins Centre.
A Rose Scott Women Writers' Festival event.
Speaker Biographies
Professor Melody Ding completed her undergraduate education in marine biology at Ocean University of China and her PhD through the Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health at the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University. She relocated to Australia for her postdoctoral research and is now a senior researcher at the University of Sydney, working across the Charles Perkins Centre, Prevention Research Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health. Ding's research program lies at the intersection of lifestyles, physical activity, epidemiology, and chronic disease prevention and is devoted to generating policy-relevant research outcomes. She aims to identify disease-causing risk factors, develop solutions for prevention, educate the public, and guide evidence-based policymaking. Ding expanded the field of lifestyle epidemiology by studying interactions among lifestyle risk factors and their impact on physical and mental health and longevity, including obesity, physical activity, diet, sleep, social participation and retirement. Examples of Ding’s internationally recognised high-impact research includes leading the first global estimate of the economic burden of physical inactivity as well as the first global analysis of the prevalence of loneliness.
Melody has won numerous awards including the Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science and the Ministerial Award for Rising Stars in Cardiovascular Research, and her work on the global economic burden of physical inactivity has become one of the most frequently cited papers in physical activity and was recognised as one of the Most Impactful Publication by American Heart Association. She has been awarded over $3 million in funding from the NHMRC, Heart Foundation and numerous other organisations to further her research.
Sana Qadar is the award-winning host and producer of All in the Mind, an ABC Radio National program exploring the brain, behaviour, psychology and what it is to be human, covering everything from addiction to artificial intelligence. Previously, Sana reported and produced for ABC News and ABC Everyday. Before arriving in Australia, Sana worked for the BBC, Al Jazeera English, NPR, CTV, Associated Press and China Radio International with stints in London, Washington DC, Beijing, New Delhi and Doha. She has an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from SOAS, University of London, and a BA in Radio and Television from Ryerson University, Toronto.
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