MedConnect: Food on the front line of health

Join our host ABC journalist Tegan Taylor in conversation with Professor Jason Wu, UNSW Professor and Head of Nutrition Science at The George Institute for Global Health, and Vanessa Matthijssen, Deloitte Asia Pacific ‘Future of Food’ lead for a fascinating look into how the power of nutrition can be harnessed to revolutionise health and wellbeing.

Eat your greens. Five a day. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. We’ve heard them all. Yet more than 20,000 Australians die a preventable death each year caused by an unhealthy diet.

As the social and economic costs of Australia’s poor diet-related health continue to grow, it begs the question: what can be done?

This event is presented by UNSW Medicine & Health.

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About MedConnect

MedConnect is an exciting digital series proudly hosted by UNSW Medicine & Health, where we take time to discuss some of the biggest challenges facing healthcare today and into the future.

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Our speakers:

Professor Jason Wu is a professor in the UNSW Faculty of Medicine & Health in the School of Population Health and the Head of the Nutrition Science Program at the George Institute for Global Health.

His research focuses on improving health and wellbeing through developing innovative ‘Food is Medicine’ programs, evaluation of population food policies, and figuring out how dietary factors drive or prevent diseases. Jason's research has shaped nutrition guidelines and policies in Australia and globally, featuring in the likes of British Medical Journal and American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He lives in Redfern, Sydney and is a happy husband and dad.

Vanessa Matthijssen has 20 years of consulting experience across Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Vanessa leads the Consumer Products industry for the firm and is a senior strategy partner at Monitor Deloitte Australia.

Her purpose and mission in life is to fuel the revolution of food. She is deeply passionate about shaping a healthier and more sustainable future. She works with agriculture, food & beverage and grocery companies to help create a world in which food is produced and consumed in a way that is affordable, healthy and good for the planet. Vanessa is a Faculty member at Singularity University - SingularityU Australia and delivers regular key notes as a global thought leader in Food.

She is also the lead author of Deloitte's Future of Food series. It explores key societal trends, issues and technological advancements that provide commercial opportunities for food businesses whilst allowing them to advance society and our planet.

Tegan Taylor is a health and science reporter for the ABC and co-host of the ABC’s multi-award-winning Coronacast.

She also co-hosts ABC Radio National’s Health Report and hosts the live event series and radio/podcast Ockham’s Razor. She’s been known to pop up on Radio National Life Matters, Triple J and in the Best of Australian Science Writing. In 2020, Coronacast won a Walkley Award and the Eureka Prize for Science Journalism.

Tegan was previously a producer on the ABC's national digital newsdesk, a journalism lecturer at The University of Queensland and, long ago, a newspaper reporter.