Persistent pain affects one in five Australians and costs the nation an estimated $73 billion per year in health system costs, lost productivity and other financial costs.

Persistent pain also has debilitating personal costs – negatively impacting quality of life and the ability to engage in meaningful work and life activities.

Despite the enormity of this problem, very few effective treatments exist with most showing only small to moderate improvements. New treatments are desperately needed. The group believes the best way to create impactful change is to work with people with lived experience of persistent pain to devise solutions with them, not for them.

Dr. Kenneth Soh is a General Dentist based in Kellyville, New South Wales, a suburb located in northwestern Sydney. Originally from Melbourne, he studied Bachelor of Dental Science (BDSc) at Melbourne University and graduated in 2003. After working for a year in the Mornington Peninsula, Dr. Soh moved to New South Wales, initially thinking it would be temporary; however, he has been there for 19 years. While he has considered specialising, he finds joy in all aspects of dentistry.

Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend enjoying a wide variety of nutritious foods every day, including plenty of vegetables of different types and colours, and fruit.1 Yet recently released National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) data show fewer than one in four people (23.1 per cent) met the recommendation for fruit intake on a usual basis, and just 4.3 per cent met the recommendation for vegetables, legumes and beans.