A year for medical innovations – 2018 highlights series

Of all the stories we researched for the Victorian Connection this year, it was those involving public health intervention and medical technologies which captivated our readers most.

We spoke to a number of Victorians involved in this sector and discovered extraordinary innovations as well as ambitious solutions to global health challenges.

Read on to learn more.

Melbourne’s fight against eye health crisis

Can preventable blindness in Australia’s Indigenous communities be phased out by 2020? Laureate Professor Hugh Taylor and his team at the University of Melbourne are working on it. Read more about their work.

Melbourne’s bid to make malaria history

That mosquito-borne illness that most Victorians only think about when poolside in South-East Asia, Malaria, has had a resurgence. What happened in Victoria in April could prevent it. We spoke to Dr Leanne Robinson from the Burnet Institute and Dr Amanda Caples, Victoria’s Lead Scientist, about the disease and the work towards eradication.

A chat with…bionic eye trailblazer, Dr Lauren Ayton

A younger brother’s lazy eye was just one reason Laura Ayton wanted to research vision problems. She is now a leading bionic eye researcher in New York. She talks us through her career journey.

Melbourne start-up Atmo Biosciences clinches international prize

And potentially one of the most far-reaching medical breakthroughs was an ingestible capsule which can help identify gut disorders, something that affects one in five people. We chat to the team to find out more.

Wearable patch to detect UV rays earns prize for RMIT

A team from RMIT university has invented an award-winning product that could help detect harmful levels of UV radiation that cause melanoma. We chat to the team who have in invented an award-winning product.

In complement to this story, why not review the others in our end of year highlights series?

1. Video highlights part 1: Festivals, events and exhibitions.

2. Video highlights part 2: Business insights, launches and celebrations.

3. For those who appreciate insightful conversations with compelling people, we recommend our favourite interviews and profile pieces from 2018. 

4. And finally, in no particular order, the all-round most popular articles from across The Victorian Connection over the last 12 months.