Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity, Jonathon Captain-Webb, was recently quoted in an article published in ABC News about the Land and Environment Court's decision regarding illegal logging by the state-owned Forestry Corporation of New South Wales in the Wild Cattle Creek State Forest. Speaking in his capacity as Director of First Nations with the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), Captain-Webb stated that the decision is a rare and historic precedent that delivers true justice by directing funds to an Aboriginal organization for land healing rather than into government revenue.
Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity Global, Hope Rhodes, was recently featured in an article on WTOP News about the Children’s National Hospital unveiling a second mobile medical unit designed to broaden healthcare access for children in under-resourced communities across Washington, D.C., and Prince George’s County. As the lead doctor on the mobile medical program, Rhodes champions this initiative as a critical step toward achieving health equity.
In a new study published in Springer Nature, Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health Agustin Ibanez, Carlos Coronel and others discovered that resistance exercise can slow down brain aging. The study demonstrated that one year of resistance training (both moderate and heavy) significantly slows down or reverses biological brain aging, reducing participants' "brain age" by up to two years compared to a non-exercising control group
Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity, Meriki Onus, was recently quoted in an article published by ABC News about treaty elections in Victoria. Onus is a first-time Gunai and Gunditjmara candidate running to be elected as part of the new-look assembly. Onus emphasized that securing the treaty is only the beginning, and the focus must now completely shift toward making sure it translates into tangible, real-world changes.
According to a new global study published in Nature Medicine by Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health Agustin Ibanez, Sebastian Moguilner, Francesca Farina, Adolfo García, Mohamed Salama and other co-authors, a person's "exposome"— the combined lifelong exposure to environmental, social, and political factors — strongly accelerates or delays biological brain aging. Researchers from 34 countries found that environmental factors (such as air pollution and extreme temperatures) pose a significantly higher risk for accelerated brain aging than clinical diagnoses like Alzheimer's disease.
Salama, also co-authored a study published in Springer Nature investigating the prevalence of depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults in Egypt. It evaluated whether physical muscle weakness, measured through handgrip strength (HGS), is linked to these symptoms. Their research determined that 62% of the participants experienced depressive symptoms, revealing a significant correlation between weak handgrip strength in the non-dominant hand and a higher likelihood of depression.
Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity, Karrina Nolan, was recently quoted in an article published by MSN about Djarindjin, a north-west Western Australia town that is planning on building its own renewable grid to combat power outages. Nolan is the founder and director of Original Power, an Indigenous-owned and led organization that’s developing a project to build a multimillion-dollar solar and battery farm to provide 80% of the community's energy, replacing government diesel. Nolan argues that local renewable energy projects are absolutely essential for remote Indigenous communities.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Kiggundu Rodney Erismas, was featured in the Nile Post for his creation of The Art & Memory Café in Lungujja, Kampala – an initiative designed to address misunderstandings and social stigma around brain health and memory decline by bridging the gap between care, science and community through creative engagement. As part of the global celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), the event brought together artists, caregivers, health professionals, students and members of the public in a relaxed café-style setting designed to encourage dialogue and their reflections on brain health.
Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, Alon-Lee Green, was quoted in an ABC article as the national co-director of the joint Israeli-Palestinian pacifist movement Standing Together. In early May, Standing Together deployed more than 200 activists to the Old City of Jerusalem with the objective to prevent ultranationalist radical attacks against local residents during the tense Flag March marking Jerusalem Day. Green stated that they took to the streets to protect those whom the government and police had chosen to abandon.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Elizabeth Dzeng, was quoted in an article published by Medscape highlighting a critical failure in modern medicine: the systemic "default" to high-intensity, aggressive interventions, even when those treatments offer no realistic clinical benefit and cause unnecessary suffering. Dzeng, an MD, PhD, MPH and associate professor in residence in the Division of Hospital Medicine at the University of California San Francisco, led a study published in JAMA Network Open investigating what decision-making approaches clinicians use to limit potentially nonbeneficial life-prolonging interventions.
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, Dylan Valley, recently wrote an article in The Conversation about Louis Theroux’s most recent documentary Inside the Manosphere. Valley argues that while the documentary exposes the highly profitable business model built on online misogyny, "red pill" ideologies and extreme clickbait, the film fails to deeply interrogate the real-world harm these influencers cause. Valley warns that traditional media formats risk simply boosting the creators' profiles and fueling the very attention economy that allows them to thrive.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Jorge Llibre Guerra, was quoted in an MSN article about stopping the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Llibre Guerra, who recently published a Nature Medicine case study on a 75-year-old patient remaining cognitively sharp despite an early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis, admitted he was surprised by the patient's resilience. His research hypothesizes that the patient’s career as a naval mechanic exposed him to extreme heat, triggering protective "heat shock proteins" that stabilized his brain cells, with Llibre emphasizing that studying such "escapees" aims to help the general public.
A new book co-authored by Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity, Juan David Velasco, delves into the deep-seated power of political, judicial, and economic elites. ¿Quién manda en Colombia? Élites, poder y nación (Who Rules Colombia? Elites, Power, and the Nation) is out now in bookstores, and you can get an exclusive preview by reading a chapter over on MSN.
Executive Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity, Damien Miller (Gangulu), recently spoke at an event to celebrate the launch of the book “People, Place and Nature in Indigenous-Settler Relations: Recentring the More-than-Human World” highlighting the vital perspectives of Indigenous peoples and settler allies from Australia, the United States, and Aotearoa New Zealand.
Miller was also recently appointed to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Board as a non-executive Director.
Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia, Pham Thi Ngoc Bich, was recently featured in Vietnam.vn for her work as the founder of the Slow Food Community in Hanoi, which she launched in 2020 with the support of the Italian Embassy to promote culinary cultural exchanges, preserve traditional cooking methods, and support local food systems. Guided by the philosophy of "delicious, clean, and fair food for all," her organization has implemented impactful initiatives over the past five years, such as raising awareness about food waste, educating students on organic farming, and developing eco-friendly regional travel itineraries.
Former Atlantic Institute Executive Director and Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity, Evie O’Brien is leading a new international collaboration. In her current role as Chief Executive of the Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Evie has spearheaded a formal partnership with Oxford University’s Pitt Rivers Museum. Evie, who also serves on the museum’s Board of Visitors, is working alongside the Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust to establish fully funded curatorial residencies for Māori. This initiative will grant an individual with a background in caring for taonga Māori the opportunity to spend three months at Oxford, with all travel, accommodation, and stipend costs fully covered. Read more about the partnership here.
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, Neo Muyanga, composed an award winning musical score for the new production mAnJE ! MaNJe in Cape Town, South Africa. According to the Daily Maverick, mAnJE ! MaNJe is a visionary, operatic theatre production by South Africa's Magnet Theatre Company that explores the rapid pace of technological upheaval and its impact on humanity.
Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia, Tiara Marthias, recently co-wrote an article for The Conversation discussing how artificial intelligence (AI) can address the severe shortage of radiologists in remote and rural regions of Indonesia by providing rapid and accurate X-ray screening for tuberculosis (TB).
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, Tess Nolizwe Peacock, co-authored an article on MSN about South Africa's Cabinet approval of the revised Children's Act Amendment Bill. The article argues that while this is a landmark milestone that will simplify registration and open critical government funding for historically excluded Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs, it’s not the final finish line. The authors assert that Parliament must now act with absolute urgency to process and officially pass the Bill to prevent another generation of vulnerable children from being left behind.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Wambūi Karanja, was recently named the “One to Watch" at the Alzheimer's Association's Neuroscience Next conference for her work to increase awareness, reduce stigma and support caregivers with practical tools and community-centered care. She also recently co-authored a study in Sage Journals tracking dementia trends in Kenya. Using Global Burden of Disease data, the study analyzes local risk factors, compares Kenya to global and regional averages, and projects future numbers through 2050.
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, Micheal Smith, was recently quoted in an article published in The Charlotte Observer about the reactions of North Carolinians to Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles’ resignation announcement. Speaking in his capacity as the president and CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners, Smith noted that Lyles will likely be remembered for her dependable guidance throughout a major era of development and transformation for the city.
A new Trinity College study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia highlights that the real-world impact of new Alzheimer's disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) will heavily rely on their affordability for global health systems. In response, the study introduces an economic framework designed to calculate cost-effective, country-specific pricing for these drugs. This framework will be shared with Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) to help policy advocates refine affordability estimates using local data, and it will eventually be released as an open-source model for public use.
The Atlantic Institute was featured in Alliance Magazine’s coverage of the Landscapes of Justice event that they co-hosted with the Raintree Foundation during the Skoll World Forum. The gathering explored how community-led landscape regeneration can simultaneously tackle climate change and systemic inequality by shifting focus away from traditional, extractive economic and conservation models toward those rooted in human dignity and fairness.
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