Airdate: Ask the Doctor

ABC has a new factual series, Ask the Doctor, premiering in May.

The 12 part series from WTFN features three doctors answering health topics around a single topic each week.

The three doctors are Dr. Shalin Naik, Dr. Sandro Demaio and Dr. Renee Lim (who is also an actress on Please Like Me, Pulse, The Secret Daughter, Deep Water, East West 101).

What’s the one thing that we all wish we could preserve forever? No, it’s not the bank balance, our first love or grandma’s best recipes. It’s our health.

Produced by WTFN, Ask The Doctor is an innovative, fun and exploratory factual series that addresses the state of the nation’s health, the latest in medical treatments and the future of healthcare as we know it.

Our trio of accomplished Aussie doctors, Dr. Shalin Naik, Dr. Renee Lim, and Dr. Sandro Demaio, travel the country to tackle our big health questions, bust medical myths and uncover the wonders of the human body. Here to answer Australian’s health questions from how to treat the common cold to how much alcohol to drink, our medical experts deliver reliable, up-to-date medical advice to help people live healthy lives.

Each of the 12×30 minute episodes features a different theme ranging from diet, to pain, to sexual health to allergies. From the bedroom to the science laboratory, the dinner table to the operating table, we take a peek behind the medical curtain and explore both the most common and the most uncommon health concerns. We learn what the leading experts in their fields are discovering and witness firsthand the advances they’re making in medical technology and treatments.

Join the doctors each Tuesday at 8pm, as they answer the health questions of the Australian public and deliver the latest in medical advice in a relatable, entertaining, and factual way.

Meet the Doctors:

Dr. Shalin Naik (PhD, BSc) has achieved some of the highest honours in his field of molecular medicine. He’s a recipient of the Victorian Government’s Premier’s Commendation for Medical Research award and was a finalist for the Australasian Society for Immunology’s New Investigator Award. Shalin was named as the Young Tall Poppy of the Year by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science and has represented Australia internationally as a Nobel Laureates participant. From his early work as a website reviewer and research assistant in the UK as he completed his PhD, Shalin now heads his own stem cell research laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne. As well as being a member of scientific bodies around the world and continuing to research the future of science in medicine, Shalin is also a published science reviewer, regular speaker at international institutions and can break out a mean riff on the guitar.

Dr Renee Lim (MBBS) is an emergency doctor, a published writer and a regular speaker in the medical field. She is passionate about engaging and educating others in all facets of health communication. Renee is a medical school lecturer, speaker, and consultant, and has worked in the design and implementation of medical school curriculums. And as a director of program development, Renee teaches others in the medical and health industries how to develop and use their own communication skills. She is the CEO of her own education technology company and continues to work in medicine as a locum medical practitioner. Creatively, Renee also works as a producer, writer, and actress. Renee maintains that she does still have free time.

Dr. Sandro Demaio (MBBS, MPH, PhD) is an Australian doctor who now calls Geneva, Switzerland ‘home’. His passion and expertise in medicine focuses on disease prevention and all aspects of global health. Harvard-educated Sandro has a Masters in Public Health and a PhD in Global Health (Epidemiology and Policy). Formerly an Assistant Professor and Course Director at the University of Copenhagen’s School of Global Health, Sandro shares his knowledge at international conferences, medical science universities, and seminars in global health. Sandro was a 2008 finalist for the Young Australian of the Year award. He’s since taught public health in a Mongolian yurt while advising the government on public health policies, and has worked as a medical doctor on the Australian Medical Mission for tsunami aid work. Sandro is a TEDMed Frontline Scholarship Fellow and now works on a global level as a medical officer for noncommunicable conditions, nutrition, childhood obesity, and malnutrition. Sandro loves food, so much so that in 2015 he founded a festival that celebrated food, community, and future in his hometown of Melbourne. He’s also a self-proclaimed gourmet chef.

We’ve asked the Australian public to get involved in the conversation, sharing their burning health questions via #AsktheDoctor

Ask The Doctor is a WTFN production, developed and produced in association with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and produced with the assistance of Film Victoria. Executive Producer: Ariel White, Series Producer: Ged Wood. ABC Commissioning Editor: Julie Hanna, ABC Head of Factual: Steve Bibb.

8pm Tuesday 16 May on ABC.