Multi-pronged plan to address childhood obesity crisis

Murdoch Childrens Research Institute

LinkedInWeChat
WhatsAppEmail

Heart health, diet, exercise and sleep will be targeted under a multi-pronged strategy by child health experts to address Australia’s obesity crisis. 

GenHEART, spearheaded by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), is a coordinated plan over 10 years to improve long-term wellbeing and reverse alarming obesity trends among children and their parents.

Health experts across cardiometabolic health, sleep, obesity, nutrition, physical activity, behavioural science and health economics from Victoria, Western Australia, NSW and Tasmania have come together under the bold vision.

With funding, the multifaceted intervention, initially involving four trials, will start in 2027. The trials will draw on data and participants from Generation Australia, which brings together two of the largest, most detailed projects of their kind – Generation Victoria (GenV), involving 50,000 children, and ORIGINS, which follows 10,000 children and their families in Western Australia. 

MCRI Professor Melissa Wake, who will help oversee Generation Australia, said GenHEART was a once in a generation opportunity to finally the shift the dial on rising obesity rates.

In Australia, cardiovascular diseases affect one in 15 people. Cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney conditions cost over $23 billion each year in healthcare spending.

“Good heart health in childhood is crucial to reducing the risk of chronic disease across a person’s lifetime,” Professor Wake said.

“We know the risk factors underlying cardiometabolic diseases such as unhealthy weight gain, high blood pressure, low physical activity and poor sleep often begin in the primary school years.

“These early warning signs predict the likelihood of heart attacks, stroke, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease in adulthood and are also key drivers of dementia, cancer and poor mental health.

“Sadly, once established, these patterns are hard to reverse. Prevention programs have failed to make a difference largely due to either being too small, short-term or narrowly focussed. But GenHEART is designed to address all these issues, simultaneously, via a suite of coordinated prevention trials at whole population scale, using Generation Australia’s reach and infrastructure.”

The four trials, each answering a key prevention question, include:

GenSLEEP. Can bringing a child’s bedtime forward by 30 minutes reduce unhealthy weight gain and improve mental health?

GenWEIGHT. Can weight loss drugs for parents with obesity reshape a household’s food habits, helping to break intergenerational cycles of obesity?

GenPRESSURE. Can blood pressure checks at primary school reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease?

GenMOVE. Can changing school physical activities to focus on strength and lean-mass development lead to better heart health?

Research led by MCRI in 2025 found that half of children and adolescents in Australia are forecast to be overweight or obese by 2050. But it noted with significant increases predicated within the next five years, urgent action now could turn the tide on the public health crisis. 

Megan, a mum of three, has her youngest son, Teddy, 2, enrolled in GenV. She said as a nurse she understood the importance of comprehensive and interlinked data to help researchers explore the best clinical practices.

“Having two of my three children with food allergies, I know how vital research is towards making a difference and improving treatments,” she said. “If we can also instill healthy habits in our children early, the benefits will stay with them for a lifetime.”

The Generation Australia cohort will be progressively invited to take part in GenHEART as their child enters primary school.

“The four trials will be carefully sequenced across childhood,” Professor Wake said. “This approach allows interventions to be introduced at developmentally appropriate stages, while insights from earlier trials inform those that follow.

“Children and families may be assigned to receive one or more interventions or to continue with usual health advice. This will enable researchers to determine which approaches are most effective and at what stages of development.

“While all interventions are designed to be scalable and feasible at a population level, they extend beyond child-focused programs. Some target parents, others focus on family routines and environments, and some involve screening and broader health system responses. This approach reflects the many factors that shape lifelong heart health.”

GenHEART research partners include The Kids Research Institute Australia in Perth, UNSW Sydney, University of Melbourne, Edith Cowan University in Perth, Deakin University, University of Tasmania, Monash University and the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney.

*The content of this communication is the sole responsibility of MCRI and does not reflect the views of the NHMRC.

Available for interview:

Professor Melissa Wake, MCRI Group Leader, Prevention Innovation 

Associate Professor Jonathan Mynard, MCRI Team Leader, Heart

Megan, whose son Teddy, 2, is enrolled in GenV

Emalka, whose son Shahan, 3, is enrolled in GenV

---

Subject of Research

People

Shedding light on how hydrogen cyanide formed on early Earth

Researchers identify a mineral-mediated chemical pathway for hydrogen cyanide production, compatible with our current understanding of Earth’s history

Institute of Science Tokyo

Facebook

WeChat
WhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

This study identified a chemical pathway promoted by naturally occurring minerals that explains how hydrogen cyanide might have formed on early Earth.

view more 

Credit: Institute of Science Tokyo

Manganese dioxide can convert amino acids into hydrogen cyanide (HCN) without requiring methane, solving a long-standing puzzle about the origin of this key prebiotic molecule on early Earth, as reported by researchers from Science Tokyo. Although HCN is central to origin-of-life theories, recent evidence suggests early Earth's atmosphere didn’t contain sufficient methane needed for classic HCN-producing reactions. The newly found chemical pathway shows that HCN could instead have been continuously supplied from abundant amino acids.

The question of how life first emerged on Earth has been the subject of intense scientific research for decades. At the center of many origin-of-life theories lies hydrogen cyanide (HCN), a small but highly reactive molecule that can give rise to a wide range of biological building blocks. Several laboratory studies, such as the landmark Miller-Urey experiment in 1953, have shown that HCN can produce various amino acids, nucleobases, and sugars under methane-rich conditions with reducing atmosphere, providing the chemical ingredients needed for life on early Earth.

However, recent geological evidence has cast doubt on a long-standing model regarding the origin of HCN itself. Scientists have found that early Earth’s atmosphere most likely did not contain abundant methane, which is a key ingredient in classic HCN-producing reactions. If methane levels were indeed low, it raises an important question: Where did HCN on early Earth come from?

Seeking to address this puzzle, a research team led by Professor Ryuhei Nakamura and Dr. Yamei Li from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), Japan, investigated alternative ways that HCN might have formed on our planet over 3 billion years ago. Their findings, made available online on March 23, 2026, and published in Volume 123, Issue 13 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on March 31, 2026, describe a previously unrecognized chemical pathway that generates HCN in a way that is compatible with our modern understanding of Earth’s history.

The researchers theorized that minerals present on early Earth might have helped transform amino acids into HCN in water. To explore this possibility, researchers screened 38 naturally occurring minerals to test whether they could convert glycine—the simplest and likely the most abundant amino acid in prebiotic environments—into HCN under oxygen-free or non-reducing conditions. The results revealed that one mineral in particular, manganese dioxide (MnO2), strongly promoted the reaction. In fact, MnO2 produced cyanide concentrations up to two orders of magnitude higher than any other mineral tested.

Further experiments showed that this reaction was highly versatile, proceeding under a wide range of conditions resembling those of early Earth. Specifically, HCN formation occurred in water across a broad pH range, from acidic to strongly alkaline environments, and at temperatures between 6 and 60 °C. The reaction also occurred at extremely low amino acid concentrations.

Using isotope-labeling techniques, the researchers confirmed that HCN forms directly from the carbon backbone of glycine; MnO2 effectively oxidizes the amino acid, breaking a carbon–carbon bond and releasing HCN along with byproducts such as ammonia and formate. Importantly, the team also found that several other protein-forming amino acids and even short peptides could generate HCN through the same mineral-mediated pathway. “Together, our results demonstrate that HCN could have been continuously supplied on early Earth without invoking methane-rich air, instead arising from abundant amino acids produced by methane-independent prebiotic pathways or delivered by meteorites,” explains Nakamura.

Beyond identifying a new source of HCN, this discovery also hints at deeper connections between prebiotic chemistry and modern biology. “Because modern biological systems also generate HCN from amino acids through similar intermediates, the newly identified reaction provides a striking chemical parallel between prebiotic processes and contemporary life-evolution pathways, offering a fresh perspective on chemical evolution,” remarks Li.

Overall, this work broadens our understanding of how key prebiotic molecules may have formed, opening new avenues for exploring the chemical steps that ultimately led to life on Earth.

 

***

 

About Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo)
Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo) was established on October 1, 2024, following the merger between Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) and Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), with the mission of “Advancing science and human wellbeing to create value for and with society.”

---

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2515805123 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Mineral-facilitated aqueous synthesis of hydrogen cyanide from prebiotically abundant amino acids for chemical evolution

 

It’s complicated: New research reveals more about the social networks of baboons and African monkeys

New database provides groundbreaking information about primate social structures

Arizona State University

Facebook

X
Bluesky
Email

 

image: 

A band of geladas grazes in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. Photo by Elizabeth Tinsley Johnson, assistant professor at Michigan State University.

view more 

Credit: Photo by Elizabeth Tinsley Johnson, assistant professor at Michigan State University.

Like people, nonhuman primates live in groups that vary in size and shape depending on the species. Some primate groups are small and simple; others are large and more layered.

Over the decades, primatologists have observed that baboons and other closely related monkeys, the African papionins, typically live in two types of social groups: single-level and multi-level societies.

However, a new study led by Arizona State University reveals it’s more complex than a simple divide — and offers fresh insight into how subgroups form.

“Single-level societies are kind of like soccer leagues,” explained Arizona State University primatologist Jacob Feder. “Everyone is an exclusive member of their unambiguous team, competing against other teams to "win" (access to good food, defend their territory). In general, people have positive feelings and relationships with those who are a part of their team, and are averse to those who aren't.”

“Multi-level societies are more like schools,” Feder explained. “Everyone's divided up into their respective classrooms, but they regularly pass by each other in the hallways, cross paths during lunch breaks and mingle during recess. While relationships within classes are generally stronger, there's no ill will (and sometimes even friendships) between classes and plenty of social glue keeping everyone together.”

So, Feder compiled a new database of 135 years of data from 11 species across 13 field sites to quantitatively show how these groups form and if there is a gray area. Dozens of international scientists contributed to the “Comparative Analysis of Papionin Societies (CAPS)” database.

Why baboons and not chimpanzees, our closest living relative? 

“This dataset focused on baboons and papionins because this group of primates has long been used as a sort of model for human evolution. Baboons, geladas and mangabeys were evolving around the same time as our early human ancestors during the Plio-Pleistocene (roughly 5.3 million to 11,700 years ago),” said Feder, a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow with the Institute of Human Origins and School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. 

To map out the societies, Feder used social network analysis and built networks based on grooming behavior. He mapped out how often grooming occurred, how long it lasted and who was grooming whom.

Grooming is unambiguous, and scientists note the behavior the same way. Primates groom to clean each other from lice and bugs, and they groom because it seems to be very relaxing, explained Joan Silk, a research scientist at the Institute of Human Origins and Regents Professor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change.

What did the new networks show? 

“One thing that we discovered in the data, which we had not previously suspected — it turns out that not all of these single-level societies are actually the same,” said Silk. “In some ways, they are very similar, strong kin biases, etc. However, some are more cliquish and some are more cohesive.” 

 Another interesting find is that some of these differences in the structure of the networks are driven by females. Female primates might drive these changes by strengthening their relationship with dominant males or their preference for family and other closely ranked individuals. 

“Females don’t necessarily have more coercive power, but they are creating social structures,” said Silk. “The ecological reasons of how and why you have these multi-level societies are still a big question. And now that we’ve done this work we can go after that.” 

This collaborative work between scientists incorporates new statistical methods and insights into how these primates live and their social networks.  

The article, “Disparate social structures are underpinned by distinct social rules across a primate radiation,” was published in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences. 

The full list of authors are: Susan C. Alberts, Elizabeth A. Archie, Małgorzata E. Arlet, Alice Baniel, Jacinta C. Beehner, Thore J. Bergman, Alecia J. Carter, Marie J. E. Charpentier, Kenneth L. Chiou, Catherine Crockford, Guy Cowlishaw, Federica Dal Pesco, David Fernández, Julia Fischer, James P. Higham, Elise Huchard, Auriane Le Floch, Julia Lehmann, Amy Lu, Gráinne M. McCabe, Alexander Mielke, Liza R. Moscovice, Benjamin Mubemba, Megan Petersdorf, Caroline Ross, India A. Schneider-Crease, Robert M. Seyfarth, Noah Snyder-Mackler, Larissa Swedell, Franziska Trede, Jenny Tung, Anna H. Weyher, Roman M. Wittig, Jason M. Kamilar. 

Funding for this project was provided by The National Science Foundation Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)  Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SMA-2313739). 

  

A female gelada sits while her groupmates peer at and groom her newborn. Photo by Jacob Feder.

Credit

Photo by Jacob Feder.

 

Some papionin species form cohesive single-level societies that contain multiple males, multiple females, and their dependent offspring. Males disperse from these groups when they reach the age of sexual maturity. Three species of papionin primates form layered multi-level societies in which one-male units (the blue circles) are aggregated into larger social herds. In these species, dispersal patterns are variable. Graphic by Jacob Feder. 

Credit

Graphic by Jacob Feder

---

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2520774123 

Article Title

Disparate social structures are underpinned by distinct social rules across a primate radiation

Article Publication Date

1-May-2026

 

New insight could change how we break down "forever chemicals"

Scientists identify hydrogen radicals as the key driver in PFAS breakdown, opening the door to more effective and chemical-free water treatment methods

Aarhus University

Email

PFAS, often called “forever chemicals”, are notoriously difficult to remove from the environment. Their extreme chemical stability means they can persist in water and the human body for decades, creating a major global pollution challenge.

Now, researchers have made an important discovery that could change how we tackle the problem.

In a new study, scientists found that PFAS can be broken down using intense light, without adding chemicals. But the real breakthrough is how this happens. The study shows that hydrogen radicals - highly reactive species formed from water under UV light - play a central role in the process.

This is significant because it challenges previous assumptions. Earlier research mainly pointed to other reactive species as the key drivers of PFAS degradation. By identifying hydrogen radicals as the main actors, the study provides a clearer understanding of the underlying mechanism.

Why does that matter? Because knowing what actually drives the reaction makes it much easier to design better treatment technologies.

Hydrogen radicals are extremely reactive and can attack PFAS molecules, gradually stripping away fluorine atoms and breaking the molecules into smaller, less persistent compounds. The study also shows that this process is most effective under high-energy UV light, particularly at wavelengths below 300 nanometers.

According to Associate Professor Zongsu Wei from Aarhus University, who led the research, this insight is a key step forward:

“We know that PFAS are extremely stable because of the strong carbon-fluorine bonds, and breaking those bonds is the main challenge. By identifying hydrogen radicals as a dominant driver, we now have a clearer direction for how to design more efficient and sustainable technologies to actually destroy these chemicals, rather than just removing them,” he says.

Wei emphasizes that most current solutions only move PFAS from one place to another:

“Today, many technologies can filter PFAS out of water, but they don’t eliminate them. The real goal is degradation: to break the molecules down completely. Understanding the mechanism is essential if we want to achieve that in a green and scalable way.”

The findings do not solve the PFAS problem overnight. The process is still relatively slow, and some intermediate compounds may form along the way. But by identifying the true driver of the reaction, the research provides a crucial piece of the puzzle.

In short, the study shows that even the most persistent pollutants may be vulnerable, if we understand the chemistry well enough to target them effectively.

--------------------------

WHAT ARE PFAS?

·  PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a large group of man-made chemicals used since the 1940s

·  Found in everyday products such as waterproof clothing, food packaging, firefighting foam, and non-stick cookware

·  Known as “forever chemicals” because they are extremely difficult to break down in nature

·  They accumulate in water, soil, animals, and humans

·  Linked to health risks such as cancer, liver damage, and hormone disruption

·  Most current water treatment methods remove PFAS but do not destroy them

---

Journal

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.5c16178 

Article Title

Mechanistic Insights into Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Photolysis under Intensified Simulated Solar Light

 

Researchers propose a new inspection method to improve online collaboration platforms

North Carolina State University

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

Remote collaboration software tools, such as Zoom or Google Docs, have become essential for teamwork – but they often overlook the fact that people do not all approach collaboration in the same way. Researchers have now developed a new human-computer interaction (HCI) method called RemoteCollabEval (RCE) to identify barriers to collaboration and inclusivity, allowing designers and developers to build software features that better support diverse teamwork styles.

The work is part of the broader HCI field, which examines how people use digital systems and how interfaces can be optimized for clarity and ease of use.

“At present, most remote collaboration platforms are evaluated by designers and developers using established HCI inspection methods,” says Sandeep Kuttal, the principal investigator behind the work and an associate professor of computer science at North Carolina State University. “One of the most widely used inspection methods is a ‘groupware walkthrough,’ where designers essentially play out how a collaborative effort might unfold between two or three hypothetical users. However, these methods typically assume all users behave in similar ways.”

“It’s well-established that people from various backgrounds often have different collaboration and communication styles,” says Kuttal, who is senior author of a paper on the work. “Existing HCI inspection methods don’t account for these differences, which limits how inclusive and effective these tools can be. That’s what we set out to address.”

As a first step, the researchers drew on established social science and software engineering research to identify six key personality facets that influence collaborative behavior:

• Leadership style: Does the individual take a democratic or authoritative approach?
• Interruption style: Does the individual interrupt others or wait for cues?
• Non-verbal cues: Is the individual expressive or reserved in digital spaces?
• Relationship-seeking: Does the individual focus on building rapport or primarily on achieving goals?
• Social awareness: Is the individual attentive to or unaware of what their teammates are doing?
• Collaborative self-efficacy: How confident is the individual in the group’s ability to perform?

The researchers then created hypothetical users called “personas,” which are detailed representations of different types of users that incorporate descriptions of each of the six facets. These personas allow designers to simulate interpersonal friction and uncover “inclusivity bugs” that might otherwise go unnoticed during standard testing.
“Because we have descriptions of all six facets for each persona, we can incorporate those key characteristics into our assessment of how well a given platform allows for effective collaboration between people of different backgrounds,” says Kuttal.

The researchers then modified existing groupware walkthrough methods, requiring designers and developers to explicitly consider these six facets as part of the process and created a specialized walkthrough. This combination of personas that account for personality facets and the specialized walkthrough forms the RCE method.

As a proof-of-concept study, the researchers recruited 29 undergraduate and graduate students and split them into 10 teams. Five teams inspected an existing remote collaboration platform using the conventional Groupware Walkthrough method; the other five teams inspected the same platform using RCE.

“The teams who used the RCE method identified six times more inclusivity issues than the conventional method,” says Kuttal. “Essentially, RCE did a better job of identifying when conflicting styles would make collaboration between personas difficult.

“This is important, because identifying these challenges gives designers and developers an opportunity to modify features and user interfaces to improve these remote collaborative platforms,” says Kuttal. “And, ultimately, to improve collaboration itself.

“Because RCE is a standardized, systematic method, it can be used by designers and developers anywhere. It doesn’t require a huge budget, or an expensive research effort. It’s a method that can easily be used to make these platforms better.”

The paper, “Equity by Design: A New HCI Method for Surfacing Inclusivity Issues in Remote Collaboration Software,” will be presented at the ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS 2026), being held June 13-17 in Singapore. First author of the paper is Shandler Mason, a Ph.D. student at NC State.

This work was done with support from the National Science Foundation under grant 2313890.

---

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Equity by Design: A New HCI Method for Surfacing Inclusivity Issues in Remote Collaboration Software

Article Publication Date

15-Jun-2026