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Professor Susan Prescott MD PhD is a pediatrician, immunologist, artist, and award-winning author, internationally recognised for her cutting-edge research into the early environmental determinants of health and disease. Her work promotes awareness of the interconnections between personal and planetary health in a way that inspires wiser, creative, integrated approaches, grounded in reciprocity, for social and ecological justice and flourishing futures. Her current Positions include
Professor | Paediatrics | Planetary Health, University of Western Australia Director | Nova Network for planetary health: Baltimore, USA Editor-in-Chief | Challenges Journal Basel, Switzerland President | inVIVO Planetary Health (2012-2022) Director | ORIGINS PROJECT Telethon Kids Institute Immunologist and Paediatrician | Perth Children's Hospital, Western Australia Scholar | Nova Institute for Health, Baltimore, USA Adjunct Professor | Family and Community Medicine - University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA She is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the prestigious Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. She has been awarded more than $52 million in research grants as chief investigator and received numerous awards. She was the founding President of the DOHaD Society (Developmental Origins of Health and Disease) of Australia and New Zealand, and a previous Director of the World Allergy Organization. In addition to over 350 scientific publications, Susan is author of several books for the public--The Allergy Epidemic, The Calling, Origins: Early-life solutions to the modern health crisis and gold medal winning book The Secret Life of Your Microbiome. Her inspiration to study medicine came from her grandmother, one of the few women to study medicine in the 1930s. |
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In the spirit of holism required to address complex challenges Susan communicates through both the knowledge base of science and the inspiration of art.
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“Our quest for growth and discovery cannot be separated from inspiration, awe and wonder that sustain us on that path—and the vision and purpose to initiate and sustain meaningful change. Intellectual conversations are not enough. We must speak to people's 'hearts' as well as their 'minds' to inspire the vision, the passion and the inspiration for change. Science and technology are essential for progress, but will lack meaning and dimension without the vision and wisdom to apply them. For all these reasons I strive to communicate with both my art and my scientific endeavours. For me these are vital dimensions of the same story.”
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[Words from Secret Life…..Susan's book on planetary health]:
"I see the world framed by the deep and beautiful connections between all things. Even in the human feats that have created the great global challenges of our time, there is a beauty deepened by the quest to overcome these problems. I believe that the solutions to many planetary dilemmas would lie in understanding the complex symbiotic interconnections between all things—from the level of microscopic microbial ecosystems that reside within us, to the myriad macroscale environmental ecosystems that we reside in and completely depend on for our survival. |
"The answers lie
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"Both human and planetary health depend on the vitality, diversity, and balance of all ecosystems. The same natural laws of interdependence, mutualism, and interconnectivity underpin life in all forms. None are truly separate. Diversity and mutualism buffer and protect us. They stabilise environments and make them more resilient to changes and threats and more robust when facing challenges. We could see the same patterns repeated on every level. Fractals of life. Recurring at progressively larger and smaller scales alike. Governing both biology and behaviour. What we might learn from nature, large and small, we might apply to society. The story of microbes, which are everywhere, is such a good example of how everything is inter- connected, in ways that were once beyond our awareness. There are so many ways in which humans might work together--with nature. Since microbes are nature, that would also mean working with microbes to overcome the many modern challenges facing our planet today.
For centuries, humans have seen nature as something we must dominate, conquer, and tame, progressively eroding the natural resilience of ecosystems, with the loss of many species more vulnerable than our own. This is not sustainable. This must change. It is time to restore balance in our human social ecosystems, and in the many other ecological systems that we are interconnected with.
"Our ancestors lived intimately connected to nature. As part of it. They absorbed the finest details of plants, of rocks, of animals in motion. They experienced the seasonal tilt of the Earth and knew with great precision where the sun’s rays and stars would be at any given point in time. Life was fully dependent upon knowing nature. They accumulated vast knowledge and deep understanding of balance. But they also felt nature’s awe. Its wonder. This knowledge was not merely intellectual, it was also at the very heart of their purpose and spirituality. We know this from the most ancient surviving cultures that still walk the Earth today, the Australian Aboriginals. They have carried not only knowledge of the land for more than 50,000 years, but wisdom. The wisdom of balance. The wisdom of interdependence. There is much we can yet learn from them, before that too is lost.
"This is time to look forward and not repeat the same mistakes. To work together. To use knowledge more wisely. To listen to age-old wisdom as we make new discoveries. To bring the heart back to science. To bring caring back to life. Now more than ever we need to heed the wisdom of the ancient sages. For thousands of years, from countless cultures, the gentle message has been the same—we need to look within to find the answers to life. So, we must all ask: What kind of life do we want?
"The answers lie within all of us. Literally, and in every sense".
For centuries, humans have seen nature as something we must dominate, conquer, and tame, progressively eroding the natural resilience of ecosystems, with the loss of many species more vulnerable than our own. This is not sustainable. This must change. It is time to restore balance in our human social ecosystems, and in the many other ecological systems that we are interconnected with.
"Our ancestors lived intimately connected to nature. As part of it. They absorbed the finest details of plants, of rocks, of animals in motion. They experienced the seasonal tilt of the Earth and knew with great precision where the sun’s rays and stars would be at any given point in time. Life was fully dependent upon knowing nature. They accumulated vast knowledge and deep understanding of balance. But they also felt nature’s awe. Its wonder. This knowledge was not merely intellectual, it was also at the very heart of their purpose and spirituality. We know this from the most ancient surviving cultures that still walk the Earth today, the Australian Aboriginals. They have carried not only knowledge of the land for more than 50,000 years, but wisdom. The wisdom of balance. The wisdom of interdependence. There is much we can yet learn from them, before that too is lost.
"This is time to look forward and not repeat the same mistakes. To work together. To use knowledge more wisely. To listen to age-old wisdom as we make new discoveries. To bring the heart back to science. To bring caring back to life. Now more than ever we need to heed the wisdom of the ancient sages. For thousands of years, from countless cultures, the gentle message has been the same—we need to look within to find the answers to life. So, we must all ask: What kind of life do we want?
"The answers lie within all of us. Literally, and in every sense".