Evening Conversation – Meeting #2 2025-26 – on Wednesday 9 July 2025 At Imperial Hotel, Parliament Room, 2-8 Bourke Street Melbourne. More than 20 members and guests attended this meeting on a particularly cold evening.
President Elect, Carol Bond was MC and President Philip Cornish Chaired the Speaker session for this meeting. Guest speakers were Alexander Tashevski-Beckwith, a Global scholar nominee, and Ika Trijsburg – Municipal Association of Victoria, a Rotary Youtng Achiever Awardee and Peace Fellow, sponsored by the RCM, at Duke University (NC) Rotary Club of Hillsboro Sunrise (Breakfast Club – host sponsor).
President Philip welcomed all to the meeting and invited Alexander Tashevski-Beckwith to tell us a little about his research at Oxford on developing targeted preventive treatments for depression and anxiety, and on improving treatment delivery within the NHS.
He explained that Depression and Alzheimer’s Disorder represent two of the highest disease burden disorders within the developed and developing world. With the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that at any one time over 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression and 50 million people suffer from some form dementia worldwide, with these numbers significantly higher for overall lifetime disease burden and expected toriple by 2050. The total estimated worldwide cost for both disorders is currently $2 trillion US dollars and expected to increase. Treatment for both disorders has been stagnant for decades perpetuating this disease burden and placing a significant burden on public health finances. In part, new treatments for these disorders has been stymied by their complexity, which has historically hindered the identification of clear therapeutic targets or patient risk groups.
This research uses a large sample of patients and new machine learning tools to identify the key factors associated with disorder progression. We will use these insights to develop preventative treatments for Alzheimer’s Disorder (AD) and Major Depression based on a specific patient factors to guide personalised and preventative treatments.
Alexander welcomes queries about his research, expected outcomes, and opportunities to collaborate. Please contact him directly at abtashevski@gmail.com.
President Philip then introduced Ika Trijsburg to speak on the topic Democracy – Trust – Diplomacy – Disinformation and Disinformation response in the local realm.
Ika’s address gave thorough insight into an endemic problem that has emerged globally in recent year.
Disinformation has been named the world’s top global risk for two years in a row by the World Economic Forum, surpassing threats like climate change and economic collapse. Unlike misinformation, which is shared unknowingly, disinformation is intentionally false and often used to influence elections, policy, or social opinion. Once spread, disinformation can morph into misinformation as people unknowingly pass it on. The spread is exacerbated by AI tools, deepfakes, fake news, and pressure on journalists to publish quickly without verifying sources. Disinformation often exploits existing social divides and is especially damaging in areas such as health, gender, climate, Indigenous and migrant communities, religion, and urban planning. Its local impacts are serious — from vaccine resistance to deepfake pornography and violent backlash against infrastructure workers.
Unchecked, disinformation erodes trust in institutions and communities, influencing behaviour in dangerous ways, such as refusing evacuation during disasters due to conspiracies. Globally, false narratives have targeted aid distribution, gender identity, First Nations communities, and even urban planning initiatives like “15-minute cities.” These falsehoods can create widespread panic, physical violence, and institutional breakdown.
In response, cities are working together and consulting experts, including the University of Melbourne, to counter disinformation. A collaborative playbook developed by a global think tank identified three key principles: building and maintaining trust, acting early and strategically, and ensuring responses are tailored and empathetic. Rotary and other civic organisations can play a vital role by fostering trust, promoting information integrity, and helping communities build resilience against disinformation at local and global levels.
Unfortunately unusual noise levels at the venue prevented producing clear sound in the usual video recording. President Elect Carol Bond has kindly prepared a detailed synopsis of Ika’s address and this can be read by following HERE.
At the conclusion of Ika's address, Philip made the usual presentation of a thank you gift to Ika, and before closing the meeting reminded all present of NEXT WEEK’s lunch meeting at the 35th Floor Restaurant, Sofitel Melbourne where our guest speaker will be: Independent Film Producer, Dr Coco Ma. Her most recent film is Grammy Award nominee“Better Man” – the Robbie Williams biography. Her topic will be “Independent Film making in Australia”
Philip also noted that our next evening meeting is on Tuesday 12th August a volunteering evening packing meals FOR A MEAL at Melbourne University with Rotaract Uni Melbourne.
