A new age: the future of women’s health and longevity

Monash University Art, Design and Architecture is an open connected community of creative thinkers, makers and professional practitioners.We dissolve the boundaries between disciplines, creating new spaces to imagine real change - transforming the world around us.

Monash University Art, Design and Architecture

Please join us for a panel discussion brought to you by Monash University, Be Well, Vitelle. Hosted by Deloitte.

Deloitte

<p>This event brings together experts from women’s health, public policy, design for health and the women’s health startup ecosystem to discuss and debate pathways forward for supporting and celebrating the health and longevity of women throughout all life stages.</p><p>There are 3.8 billion women in the world, and over 13 million in Australia. Improving women’s health throughout their lifespan and ensuring healthy life expectancy, longevity and healthspan, is a goal that can not be achieved without multiple stakeholders coming together. Women will be best served if policy, clinicians, holistic care practitioners and technology come together to create a multi-pronged system ensuring women age healthier and happier. </p><p>This event is brought to you by <a href="https://www.monash.edu/future-healthcare" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Monash University</a>, <a href="https://bewell.com.au/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Be Well</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.vitelle.co/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Vitelle</a>. Hosted by <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/home.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Deloitte</a></p><p>Join us for drinks, canapes &amp; networking.</p><h2>Chair/MC</h2><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Owen_(entrepreneur)" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Jan Owen AM</a> is a lifelong learner, entrepreneur and futures thinker committed to living life healthier, longer, better. Her vision for an inclusive, imaginative and courageous world finds her advising on strategy and innovation to CEO's around the globe; keynoting and providing thought leadership on child and youth advocacy, the future of work, the next generation workforce and the transformation of education and learning. Jan has been the recipient of many Awards including being named one of Australia's True Leaders in 2018; the Inaugural Australian Financial Review and Westpac Woman of Influence in 2012; membership to the Order of Australia in 2000 for services to the Australian community. She has been awarded two honorary Doctorates from the University of Sydney and Murdoch University in Perth; is the New Work Bites podcast host; and co-author of Every Childhood Lasts a Lifetime (1996) and The Future Chasers (2014).</p><h2>Co-host </h2><p><a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/design/people/leah-heiss" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Associate Professor Leah Heiss</a> is the Eva and Marc Besen International Research Chair in Design at Monash University and the Chair of the Victorian Premier’s Design Awards. She is committed to the role of design in improving the lived experience of technologies, systems and services. Her co-design approaches have been used to evolve new systems of care for low birth weight, cancer care, eating disorders, aged care, voluntary assisted dying and acquired brain injury. She is currently working with the World Health Organisation, using design strategies to improve the uptake and implementation of WHO guidelines. She co-leads Monash University’s ambitious <a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/research/project/future-healthcare" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Future Healthcare</a> initiative, leveraging the University’s deep sector expertise, and using interdisciplinary co-design processes to understand and address the challenges of complex health ecosystems. </p><h2>Panellists</h2><p><a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/susan-davis" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Professor Susan R Davis AO</a>, MBBS, FRACP, PhD, FAHMS is Director, Monash University Women’s Health Research Program and past President of the International Menopause Society and of the Australasian Menopause Society. Her research has been pivotal in the understanding of sex hormones in women across the life span in multiple non-reproductive target tissues including the brain, cardiovascular system and other tissues (fat, muscle, joint cartilage and bone). She has received numerous prestigious research awards, most recently the Elizabeth Blackburn Award of the NHMRC (2023) and Ross Hohnen Award of the Australian Heart Foundation (2022). </p><p><a href="https://www.dralisondesouza.com.au/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Dr Alison De Souza</a> graduated with honours from Monash University and trained in Obstetrics and Gynaecology through the Mercy Hospital for Women in Victoria. She obtained her  Fellowship in 2005 of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Post fellowship training in Urogynaecology has led to expertise in the management of bladder and bowel dysfunction including incontinence, prolapse and sexual dysfunction. This affects women throughout all aspects of life but particularly middle and older ages. She is also a member of the Australian Menopause Society and assess and treats women with menopausal concerns. <a href="https://www.dralisondesouza.com.au/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"></a> </p><p><a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/denise-goodwin" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Denise Goodwin</a> is the Co-Director of Health and Social Programs at BehaviourWorks Australia (BWA). She is a behavioural scientist with extensive experience in conducting research to understand individual and community level changes in attitudes, social norms, priority issues and behaviours. Her work is underpinned by the BWA method, which is centred on the need to understand drivers and barriers of behaviour in order to make informed, evidence-based assessments of which behaviour change tools have a greater likelihood of success, for whom, and in what circumstances. As such, Denise has worked with industry experts in a wide-range of areas, applying behavioural insights to projects to increase their likelihood of being adopted in practice. Her current behavioural research spans a wide range of policy areas, including clinical and preventative health, education, sustainability, and social inclusion.</p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/hon-jill-hennessy-487a1624a/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Honourable Jill Hennessy</a> is former Victorian Attorney-General, Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services. She is currently a company director (private companies and NFP), private advisory services and Professorial Fellow with Monash University.  She is a director of the Hudson Institute for Medical Research and has a strong passion for women’s health. Jill led significant law reform including new laws requiring safe access zones around women’s health clinics, Victoria’s first Sexual &amp; Reproductive Health Strategy, decriminalisation of medicinal cannabis, voluntary assisted dying laws as well as law reforms to protect women workers including workplace manslaughter and wage theft. She is passionate about the translation of medical research into health practice.  She is the author of "Respect" (Monash University Publishing) and was awarded the Thornett Award for the Promotion of Reason.</p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/romavanderwalt/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Roma Van der Walt</a> is founder of <a href="https://www.vitelle.co/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Vitelle</a>, a women’s metabolic health start up. spent almost a decade as a professional athlete, representing Germany in the Modern Pentathlon before transitioning to a public servant role within the United Nations in NY. She subsequently developed a maternal health training method and founded a community that helped over 1000 parents. She has coached hundreds of athletes in distance running, led women through challenging health conditions and partnered with organisations, institutions and companies to improve approaches and outcomes for women at all stages of their life. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Hennessy_(politician)" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"></a></p><p><a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/denise-goodwin" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"></a></p>