From population health in the last issue of MEDICUS, in the very first issue of 2023, we explore environment and health—how our environment affects health outcomes, and how challenges such as air pollution, antimicrobial resistance, newly emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases can impact our health including our microbiome.

I also pondered, aloud in an exploratory meeting, if scientists should approach scientific questions with a child-like curiosity. Over all the decades of my life, I have never let go of my own child-like curiosity. And not satisfied with my colleagues’ concurrence, I even asked ChatGPT the same question. It agreed. So if even an AI-assisted chat bot can corroborate my approach to work and life, why shouldn’t our scientists?

 
It only leads to creative and imaginative thinking, especially valuable in scientific research where new and innovative approaches are often needed to solve complex problems. Approaching work with an open and curious mindset can help us avoid becoming overly attached to preconceived ideas and theories, instead making us receptive to diverse range of perspectives and approaches. And scientists who approach work with a child-like curiosity may be better able to explain complex scientific concepts in a clear and accessible way. Helping even the non-science-trained lesser mortals, like me, to become more interested in science.

As we were planning our podcast for this issue, we explored inviting a child to ask our scientists questions to help us make sense of the complex inner working of health and disease. The guest in question being Juno, the 11-year-old daughter of our serial podcaster aka Senior Editor, Nicole Lim. Juno had about a million questions for Associate Professor Ashley St John, an immunologist with the School, who sportingly agreed to answer them. Have a listen to find out how the immune system can be reprogrammed to allergens in our diet and elsewhere.

In Insight, Dr Chua Li Min reports that while it may not seem or smell like it, but the air we breathe can easily include particles from a range of sources, from vehicles plying the roads to emissions from factories, and all of them can be bad for us. Individual risk factors for certain diseases, such as smoking, may not apply to the entire populace, but something in the environment like air pollution or weather variations, tends to impact the entire population. And since we can’t avoid breathing the air around us, we need to study the impact on our health so appropriate measures can be taken.

We also interviewed two towering figures in their fields for you in this issue—Serge Morand, an ecological pioneer who throws the spotlight on the interrelatedness of pandemics, globalisation and climate change, and Duane Gubler, our very own “Indiana Jones” who shares the story of his life and career which he dedicated to bringing dengue out of the world’s neglect. And following our curiosity led us to take a dive into the latest news about regenerative medicine in this issue—from restored kidneys to fixed hearts.

Without further ado, let me invite you to the latest issue of MEDICUS and the insightful stories we have curated for you. As always please let us know how you like (or not) about our magazine so we can truly make it a publication of choice for you. 

Anirudh Sharma
Editor-in-Chief