Today marks the launch of How Researchers Changed the World, a new podcast that will help listeners to gain an insight into the fascinating world of academic research.

Every episode follows the story of one passionate researcher and their journey from the initial spark of an idea through to world-changing findings.

Immerse yourself in their story, unpack their motivations for the subject area, understand the challenges of the research, and discover how it has gone on to impact the world and shape all of our worldviews – from influencing political decisions, to changing public opinion, to revolutionizing practices in healthcare.

The first episode explores Dr Orii McDermott’s paper The Importance of Music Therapy for People with Dementia and her personal drive to improve the daily lives of dementia patients. Around the world 10 million people develop dementia every year, with the World Health Organisation declaring it a public health priority. In this opening episode Dr McDermott explains her personal experience of working with dementia patients and the inspiration for her research, leading to the development of a new method of assessment for dementia patients undergoing music therapy.

How Researchers Changed the World is presented by Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, an academic scholar who specializes in digital and modern culture, gender studies, and
new technology. The podcast will cover a broad range of research topics, including these next three episodes:

Episode 2 – Ron Wasserstein on the p-values controversy
Episode 3 – Seline Meijer on agroforestry and conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa
Episode 4 – Steve Omohundro on the ethical concerns of artificial intelligence