On World Health Day, let's delve into the outstanding contributions made by UOW alumni to global health!

Louise is a graduate of the University of Wollongong's sports science program and is currently the founder and director of CommonHealth Kids, passionate about helping children achieve a healthier life through nutritional diets.

CommonHealth Kids is a holistic program designed to help children make healthier choices through interactive classroom presentations and educational books.

Louise also holds qualifications in nutrition and education, and works with dietitians, educators, pediatricians, and public speakers to instill a love for healthy eating in children and to teach parents how to feed their children well and healthily.

Professor Michael Kelso holds a Bachelor's degree in Medicinal Chemistry and has over 25 years of medical research experience, having worked at the University of Wollongong for 15 years, currently serving as the Chief Scientist at Race Oncology.

The company is developing new methods for treating cancer and protecting the heart. At its core is Bisantrene, a small molecule anthracycline chemotherapy drug first developed in the 1970s.

Although the drug showed potential in clinical trials, a series of financial acquisitions coupled with the economic environment of the 1990s led to the loss of priority in Bisantrene's development, thus interrupting the research.

Now taken over and continued by Race Oncology, a biotechnology company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), Bisantrene is at the forefront, committed to changing the lives of cancer patients in Australia and around the world.

Professor Anthony Okely graduated from the University of Wollongong in the 1990s, worked as a physical education teacher, and later became a leader in the field of children's health through his involvement in education and sports research.

Over the past thirty years, Professor Okely's team has overseen the development of Australia's 24-hour movement guidelines for children from birth to five years old.

Prof Okely also led the development of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Standards for Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings, and contributed to the WHO's global guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep for children under five. Additionally, he has led similar projects in South Africa, Canada, the UK, and the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2023, Prof Okely led public health students on a field trip to Tahiti for in-depth research on physical activity among children in low- and middle-income countries.

Scott Penfold and Julia Green are both graduates of the University of Wollongong, currently engaged in cutting-edge cancer treatment research programs (located at the Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research in Adelaide)

Associate Professor Penfold graduated from UOW in 2007 with a PhD in proton therapy, served as a university lecturer and researcher at the University of Adelaide for 7 years, later joined the Royal Adelaide Hospital as a medical physics specialist, where he worked for 14 years. In 2018, he joined the Australian Bragg Centre as the team project manager and was appointed Chief Medical Physicist in 2020.

UOW medical and radiation physics undergraduate program alumnus Julia Green graduated from UOW in 2008 and obtained a Master of Research Science from UOW in 2011. Julia served as the Chief Medical Physicist at the Alan Walker Cancer Care Centre in Darwin, where her achievements earned her the University of Wollongong Young Alumni Award.

Since then, she has joined the Australian Bragg Centre as the Clinical Implementation Project Manager, continuously contributing to equitable cancer care.