Author Dr Douglas Falconer
Members of the ANZEC Chapter of the Explorers Club and public guests were extremely fortunate to attend the intimate and very informative Worlds first EC50 Science dinner on Wednesday 10th April.
Held within the Licensee Flat at The Oaks Hotel in Neutral Bay, this new location was a perfect backdrop for the two talks by Dr Richie Madden and Honorary Associate Professor Mark Hannaford.
The context of the evening was to acknowledge the tremendous work of our two speakers to be made part of the EC50. Each year, The Explorers Club recognizes 50 extraordinary people who are doing remarkable work to promote science and exploration but remain under the radar and out of the limelight.
Dr Madden started the evening with his talk entitled, “Hepatitis E: Emerging from the shadows”. Dr Madden, affectionately known as the ‘virus hunter’, has an interest in gastroenterology, hepatology and public health. Being a leading expert in Hepatitis E, he shared his vast knowledge about the most common cause of viral hepatitis in the world. His focus centred around the underestimation of this disease and how it can hide in plain sight. The talk was enlightening and gave an insight into the need for recognition and diagnosis of HEV and to reduce the global burden of the disease.
During the break between the speakers an abundance of food followed, to which it must be said it was nothing short of fantastic.
The second speaker Prof Mark Hannaford, who is renowned globally for his significant contributions to the field of extreme medicine, then gave an engaging talk regarding his initiatives that have fundamentally changed medical care provision in extreme environments. The talk “Extreme Medicine – Life on the Edge” – lived up to its title and gave an insight into the DRD4-7R gene, a genetic variant which has become known as the ‘Explorer’s gene’ and is linked to personality traits such as thrill seeking and high-risk behaviours. To finish this thought-provoking talk, the 30 guests present were then invited to be part of a special birthday message filmed by Mark to be sent to NASA and the International Space Station for his close friends birthday. This was a very fitting end to an informative and very special night with much thanks being offered to all those who organised the event, those who came and our esteemed presenters.
A big thank you to Gail Hoole Mako Eyewear for being our generous sponsors of the evening.
Author Dr Douglas Falconer
