Lisa Cox
Lisa Cox reports on the intersection of climate, environment and public health for Guardian Australia, with a focus on how policy decisions and ecological change translate into risks for people and communities.
Climate and environment correspondent
She works as a climate and environment correspondent for Guardian Australia, covering environmental policy, climate impacts and regulatory responses across government and industry. Her reporting regularly follows federal politics and national decision-making on emissions, resource extraction and environmental protection. She writes on topics such as air pollution and its unexpected climate consequences, including coverage of research linking reduced harmful air pollution to changes in hurricane activity in the North Atlantic. Her beat includes close scrutiny of corporate behaviour around coal and other fossil fuels, for example examining how large superannuation funds increase or withdraw investments in companies like Whitehaven and how those moves square with stated net zero and ESG commitments.
Health risks within environmental change
Within the health beat, she often reports on stories where environmental factors create or exacerbate health risks. One line of coverage examines infectious disease threats emerging from animals and changing ecosystems, such as the first mainland case of deadly H5N1 bird flu in Australia and the concern that outbreak raised at the highest political levels. Her work in this area ties epidemiological developments to climate, land use and biosecurity settings, showing how environmental management decisions influence the likelihood and severity of health emergencies. She also follows public health responses and preparedness, tracking how agencies and ministers assess risk, coordinate surveillance and communicate with the public when new diseases or variants appear.
Policy, regulation and corporate accountability
A recurring theme in Cox’s reporting is accountability for the health and environmental consequences of policy and corporate decisions. She covers government regulation on air quality, biodiversity, land clearing and resource projects, as well as how those regulatory frameworks are tested by new scientific evidence about climate and health impacts. Her articles scrutinise investment decisions by major funds and corporations, highlighting when financial strategies conflict with stated climate or health goals and documenting pressure from shareholder advocates and community groups. She connects these stories to broader debates about environmental, social and governance standards, using specific case studies to show how abstract commitments translate into on-the-ground impacts on emissions, pollution and public wellbeing.
Reporting format and approach
Cox’s work is grounded in news reporting that combines science, policy and politics. She frequently uses explanatory framing to make complex climate and health research accessible, summarising technical findings while keeping the focus on real-world implications for people, ecosystems and the economy. Her stories often cite expert evidence and institutional data, balancing scientific perspectives with responses from governments, regulators, companies and advocacy organisations. She works across straight news, policy analysis and follow-up coverage that tracks how initial announcements or research findings evolve into legislation, funding decisions or changes in corporate practice. Across these formats, her coverage is distinguished by its consistent attention to the links between environmental change and health outcomes, treating climate and ecology not as abstract topics but as drivers of concrete risks and responsibilities.
4 more health journalists.
Abida Tasnim
Abida Tasnim is a health writer for The Daily Star who focuses on clear, practical guidance that helps readers recognise risks early and act before everyday illnesses turn into wider public health problems. She reports on infectious disease prevention, using measles coverage to show how outbreaks start with individual decisions and behaviours, not just hospital statistics. Her work explains what happens during an outbreak and then anchors the story in simple steps people can take, such as avoiding crowded places when symptoms appear, practising good hygiene, and seeking medical advice early. She writes direct, action‑oriented health explainers that turn clinical questions about contagion and disease burden into everyday choices. Across her beat, she stresses early recognition, timely care, and prevention as the foundations of healthier communities.
Adrián Carballo Casla
Adrián Carballo Casla stands out for turning complex cohort data on ageing into clear, food‑level advice on what older adults should eat to protect brain health and slow chronic disease. He is a researcher in nutritional epidemiology focused on ageing and chronic disease prevention and a postdoctoral researcher in geriatric epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet, writing health explainers for The Conversation. He reports on how diet quality, especially Mediterranean and Mind‑style patterns, shapes dementia risk, grey matter loss and neurocognitive ageing, and how healthy versus pro‑inflammatory diets alter multimorbidity trajectories. His articles translate findings on flavonoids, polyphenols, folate, omega‑3 fats and dietary nitrates into specific food choices and small, practical changes. Much of his coverage is anchored in his own studies on multimorbidity, high‑risk older adults and tailored dietary recommendations, often syndicated to other outlets.
Ahmed Elbediwy
Ahmed Elbediwy brings a lab-based understanding of cancer biology and clinical biochemistry to public-facing health reporting, linking drug mechanisms and molecular pathways to everyday choices about medicines and products. He writes for The Conversation on weight-loss injections, cancer overdiagnosis and anti-ageing supplements, focusing on obesity medicine, cancer signalling, screening trade-offs, skincare and supplement science. His pieces on GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro explain why some people do not respond, how gut hormones and appetite signals work, and where psychological support and nutrition fit alongside prescriptions. He co-authors explainers on cancer risk and overdiagnosis and on whether supplements can reverse ageing, separating established knowledge from emerging research. An award-winning senior lecturer at Kingston University, he favours clear, structured explainers, careful definition of key terms and evidence-based appraisal over hype.
Amanda Sheppeard
Amanda Sheppeard is a managing editor and health journalist known for long, detailed explainers that connect complex clinical research, disability policy and political narratives with the daily realities of doctors and patients. She works at The Medical Republic across editorial leadership and commercial content while reporting widely on medicine for its specialist titles. Her real beat spans autism, disability policy, autoimmune disease, infectious threats and system pressures in primary care and hospitals. She covers subjects such as autism diagnosis and the NDIS, rheumatology’s clinical shifts, weight-loss agents in rheumatoid arthritis, infection control, antimicrobial resistance and new modalities like CAR T-cell therapy and microneedles. She reports by doing the synthesis inside the story, linking trial design, molecular targets, funding rules and policy changes to concrete decisions and workflows in clinics and hospitals.