Lumen Summer 2013 - Flipbook - Page 27
story by Ben Osborne
story by Genevieve Sanchez
Lasting
Recognition
Growing Markets
for Vietnam’s Veggies
Dr John Last
(MBBS, 1949)
Two illnesses – one which
killed millions, and another which
almost killed him – have shaped
the career of Dr John Last,
pictured above with wife Janet.
Admission as an Officer of
the Order of Canada is the
culmination of his life’s work in
the field of epidemiology (the
science of public health).
After graduating, Dr Last
worked at an inner-suburban
Adelaide general practice, where
he saw firsthand the impact
of the 1958 Asian influenza
pandemic.
“It killed several people my
own age, including two young
friends,” he said.
“At the monthly meeting of the
partners in the practice, there
had been rejoicing at the huge
amount of money we had made
during the pandemic.
“I didn’t share the rejoicing,
recalling the sad face of a
woman who had insisted on
paying me for fruitless visits I
had made to her son, a young
man about my age, who died of
influenza.
“That was a moment of truth
for me: I realised I didn’t want
to spend my life getting rich
because other people had the
misfortune to fall ill.”
After the epidemic subsided,
Dr Last himself became seriously
ill with a life-threatening virus
pneumonia.
“For a few days both I
and the doctor caring for me
thought I might die,” he said.
“During my convalescence, I
had time to think deeply about
what to do with the rest of my
professional life.
“I realised that a higher aim
in life than treating sick people
one at a time was to identify
and control the causes of
sickness in the population as
a whole. In other words, to
become a specialist in public
health sciences, especially
epidemiology.”
With his beloved wife, Janet
Wendy – a New Zealander he
met in Adelaide – and three
children, Dr Last trained in
epidemiology in Sydney and
London before further stints
in Edinburgh and ultimately
Ottawa, where he has been
based for more than 40 years.
Before deciding on medicine,
Dr Last harboured thoughts
of becoming a writer and
later found he could combine
his love of writing with his
epidemiological pursuits.
He has co-authored
important public health and
epidemiology textbooks, and
was the first editor of the
Dictionary of Epidemiology.
“The dictionary has been
translated into 15 languages
and is used by epidemiologists
all over the world and it’s what
I’m best known for in the field,”
he said.
Rebecca McBride
B Sc (Ag Sc) 2008, M Ag Bus
2010, Prof Cert Int Trade 2010
Rebecca McBride has been
helping farmers in Vietnam take
their vegetables to market.
As agricultural marketing
officer working on an Australian
Centre for International
Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
project, Rebecca spent 12
months helping women from
poor families in the north-west
highlands to grow and market
local indigenous vegetables in
rapidly transforming markets.
The influence of agriculture
was a big part of Rebecca’s
upbringing and, growing up on
her family’s cattle and sheep
grazing farm in Kingston in the
south-east of South Australia,
she was involved with all
aspects of farm work.
Rebecca combined her
farming background with
an interest in science, going
on to complete a degree in
Agricultural Science at the
University of Adelaide, followed
by a Master of Agricultural
Business.
“My degrees opened me
up to new ideas and areas of
study and work that I had not
heard of or considered before,”
Rebecca says.
In the final year of her
Masters, Rebecca’s name
was put forward to work on
a project in Vietnam with
Australian Youth Ambassadors
for Development (AYAD), an
AusAID funded volunteer
program. She was accepted for
the position and later that year
moved to Hanoi, Vietnam to
start her first job.
Rebecca assisted the project
team with research, marketing
strategies and promotional
events aimed at helping farmers
to better market a selection of
indigenous vegetables. This
included a cooking challenge
where restaurants in a popular
tourist destination competed
in a cook-off designed to
showcase three indigenous
vegetables.
“The project succeeded
in increasing the profile of
the vegetables among the
restaurants and tourists and
was followed up with the
production of recipe cards for
higher end retailers in Hanoi,”
says Rebecca.
Another goal of Rebecca’s
work was to build capacity
in her host organisation, the
Vietnam Women’s Union –
Rebecca says she thinks they
learned a lot from each other
throughout the year.
“I made the most amazing
friends while living in Hanoi and
they are one of the best things
I will take from my experience,”
she says.
Now working as a
graduate officer with ACIAR’s
agribusiness program, Rebecca
is passionate about the future
for agriculture and the positive
impact that projects such as
this can make in developing
countries and Australia.
“My sister and I used to say
that she would cure the world
(she is now a doctor) and I
would feed them, but it wasn’t
until I started my Masters
degree and then went on to be
an AYAD in Vietnam that I saw
how I could actually contribute
to agricultural development.”
The University of Adelaide | Alumni Magazine 25
