freelance science journalist and author
Medical reporting
From The Guardian, 20 October 2025: The first thing Annie and her partner do when they wake up in the morning is ask each other how well they slept. “And I literally say, ‘I’m not sure yet, let me check,’” – and Annie, a chief people and safety officer, reaches for her smartwatch. Annie started … Continue reading The rise of the sleep data nerds: ‘The harder you try, the harder it is to sleep’
From Medscape Medical News, 31 October 2025: People with knee osteoarthritis (OA) who took part in a 12-week online, unsupervised tai chi program showed significant improvements in both knee pain and function compared to controls. Clinical guidelines for knee OA strongly endorse tai chi as a recommended exercise option, and systematic reviews have shown improvements … Continue reading Online, Unsupervised Tai Chi Program Achieves Significant Improvements in Pain and Function in Knee Osteoarthritis
From BMJ, 7 October 2025: Australia’s drug regulator has issued a safety warning about imported unregistered melatonin gummies, many of which contain far more of the hormone than labelled.1 Testing by the Australian drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), identified eight unregistered brands of melatonin gummies that were advertised as containing 1-10 mg of … Continue reading Melatonin gummies: Australia’s drug regulator issues safety warning over popular sleep “supplements”
From Medscape Medical News, 29 August 2025: Gay and bisexual men, including those taking preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection, can now donate plasma in Australia without any waiting period after recent sexual activity, according to new donation criteria from the government-funded blood supply organization Lifeblood. Lifeblood is also moving toward gender-neutral sexual activity … Continue reading Australian blood service removes sexual activity wait times for most plasma donors
From the BMJ, 15 September 2025: After decades in the making, legislation to create Australia’s first Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has been put before federal parliament. Australia’s incumbent Labour government first promised to create a CDC while in opposition in 2020,2 at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. It has now delivered the legislation, … Continue reading Australia to establish its own CDC
From Medscape Medical News, 9 July 2025: Australia has launched a government-funded lung cancer screening program that provides biennial low-dose CT scans to patients who are either current heavy smokers or who have quit in the past decade. The screening program is a “game-changer” for Australia, Lucy Morgan, MD, PhD, respiratory physician at Concord and … Continue reading Australia launches lung cancer screening program for smokers
From The Saturday Paper, 5 July 2025: Standing ovations are rare at scientific conferences. Infectious diseases physician Professor Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, still gets “tingly” at the memory of about 10,000 attendees surging to their feet at the 25th International AIDS Conference in Munich a … Continue reading Will miracle HIV drug go on the PBS?
From Medscape Medical News, 18 June 2025: At the recent World Congress on Osteoarthritis (OARSI) 2025 Annual Meeting in Incheon, South Korea, speaker after speaker presented on studies that were carefully designed to identify even the smallest benefit of interventions, including drugs, physical therapy, exercise therapy, and even surgery, compared with placebo. And in many cases, the … Continue reading Osteoarthritis has a placebo problem, and it’s challenging both research and clinical practice
From Medscape Medical News, 13 June 2025: An app that alerts bystanders trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a nearby out-of-hospital cardiac arrest can increase survival if volunteer responders arrive before emergency medical services (EMS), according to an Australian study. The analysis of more than 9000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Victoria, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, showed that, … Continue reading Early smartphone-activated bystander CPR can boost survival
From Medscape Medical News, 19 May 2025: Australia has recorded its highest number of cases of the tropical bacterial infection melioidosis, which is thought to have been triggered by major rainfall and flooding. The outbreak has placed pressure on already strained hospitals in the area. The northeastern state of Queensland has recorded an unprecedented 215 … Continue reading Flooding triggers major melioidosis outbreak in Australia
Bianca Nogrady 