Dr Toby Cumming, formerly research Fellow at the National Ageing Research Institute and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, talks with us about his early career and recent pivot to research manager at Sustainability Victoria working on the Victorian Healthy Homes Program. Toby leads the program which is trialling home energy upgrades to 1000 Victorian homes with the aim of improving indoor winter temperatures and reducing household energy bills.
It’s the first Randomised Control Trial ever conducted by an Australian Government agency. Toby describes the trial, the design of the study, the kinds of data collected, and the challenges of collecting data to draw salient conclusions from complex systems like homes and the potential for impacting policy.
We delve into Toby’s first research focus in the field of cognition, studying the mechanisms and impacts of stroke, dementia, and cognitive impairment. Toby describes what it is like to study patients of cognitive impairment using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology and the collection of data to study the potential link between stroke and dementia.
Toby speaks about the ground-breaking research of Philippa Howden-Chapman into household mould and the impacts of dwelling quality on the people’s health, and how this research inspired the Victorian Healthy Homes Program at Sustainability Victoria. We talk about the policy changes implemented in New Zealand and the significant reduction in savings achieved through preventative health.
Toby observes that around the world, excess deaths are recorded in winter months, but that, paradoxically, regions with warmer climates tend to record higher excess deaths in winter than colder climate regions. Toby describes the ways in which homes get built without adequate heating and insulation, resulting in cold homes that contribute to poorer health outcomes.
We discuss the potential policy changes that could be supported by the findings of the Victorian Healthy Homes Program, and how the benefits could be realised without disproportionately favouring homeowners. Toby paints a vision of the future in which our various living and transport systems are increasingly electrically powered and the transition from oil and gas as energy sources.
On a different note, we encourage our listeners to avail themselves of a copy of Toby’s book “The golf courses of Vern Morcom” which documents the story of the 90 Australian golf courses designed by Vern Morcom, one of Australia's most influential golf course architects.
https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/
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