Monday Lunch Livestream

With Dr Noushin Nasiri

14 February 2022

Head of the NanoTech Laboratory at Macquarie University, Dr Noushin Nasiri, provides an informative look at SunWatch, a personalised technology platform to measure sun exposure. This innovation has the potential to save lives and dramatically reduce treatment costs for melanoma and other skin cancers.

Australia has the highest melanoma rates in the world with a diagnosis every 30 minutes, and over 2,000 people dying from the disease each year. It accounts for more diagnoses than all other cancers combined, and costs more than $750 million annually to treat.

UV radiation is the most important environmental factor in the development of skin cancer. According to the Cancer Council Australia, it may take more than 12 hours after overexposure to UV radiation for the signs of the erythemal reaction – the characteristic redness of sunburn – to appear. This makes it extremely challenging for an average person to determine their sun-safe exposure limits.