Sydney, Tuesday 19 March 2019: What is the impact of western science on today’s society? That’s the question world-renowned burns surgeon and former Australian of the Year, Professor Fiona Wood pondered this evening as she delivered the first Ramsay Lecture for 2019.

Speaking to an audience of high school and university students, medical professionals, journalists, business people and political leaders, Professor Wood argued that despite science’s significant and undeniable benefits, we need to pause and consider what we want science to achieve.

“I witness lives changing in an instant and I strive to bring to the bedside all that modern, or western, science and technology has to offer to reduce suffering,” Professor Wood said. “It is in this context that I am optimistic about the role science plays in our lives. However, I also believe we need to stand back and look at our history to understand and acknowledge the foundations upon which this is all built. As we look to outer space, we need our feet on the ground to consider the impact of our scientific advances on our society.”

Professor Wood, a consultant plastic surgeon from Western Australia, is best known for pioneering the innovative ‘spray-on skin technique’ focusing on reducing the time to healing and life-long scarring in burns survivors, a technique now used world-wide. She is also regarded as a national hero for her work on burns survivors from the 2002 Bali Bombings.

Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation CEO Professor Simon Haines said the great story of western medicine is one we often take for granted, whether it be progress in Fiona’s area of burns, disease eradication, infant mortality, immunization, dentistry and infection control, or the more general truth that we live longer and far more comfortable lives than human beings ever have before.

“As a medical pioneer herself, Professor Wood is in a unique position to analyse the impact western science has had and might continue to have on all the cultures and societies of the world,” Professor Haines said.

The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation was created with an endowment from the late Paul Ramsay AO, founder of Ramsay Health Care, to promote a deeper understanding of western civilisation. The Ramsay Lecture series hosts speakers from all walks of life who have important and interesting perspectives relating to the world and our western heritage.

Professor Wood is the first medical professional and scientist to address the Centre. Her address following lectures last year by economist and columnist Henry Ergas, internationally acclaimed author David Malouf, historian Geoffrey Blainey, sociologist Professor John Carroll, and Dr Pano Kanelos, President of St John’s College Annapolis.

Printed versions of the lectures and video podcasts are available via the ‘News and Events’ section of our website: www.ramsaycentre.org

Media contact: Sarah Switzer 0407 816 098