Dominik Mautner publishes in The Lancet

Congratulations to Dominik Mautner, Year 11, who has been involved in lobbying the government to address the health impacts of recent COVID lockdowns on young people.

Dominik is part of a special group of sixteen students who are among the youngest to ever have a paper published in The Lancet - one of the world’s leading medical journals. The essay discusses findings about the pandemic’s negative impacts on young people including reduced physical activity, declining mental health, and the harmful effects of social media influencers and furthermore delineates evidence-based recommendations for industry bodies and government to consider and implement.

As part of this group Dominik is co-chair of the Youth Advisory Board, established by a research department investigating chronic diseases of young people at the University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine and Health. In an interview by the Sydney Morning Herald following the Lancet success, the young researchers’ insights were front-page news and highlighted the relevance of co-design for youth health studies (Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, 30th April 2022).

The importance of their cause has been widely recognised and shared through various media outlets, not only in print but also on Channel 7’s Sunrise programme last Tuesday. In the morning show, Dominik and fellow Youth Board members eloquently discussed the ramifications of the pandemic on youth health including suggestions for possible solutions.

Dominik, who already has previous experience in publishing about health-related topics nationally as well as in one international journal, hopes that his contributions will make a difference in the way young people can contribute to research and academic discussions. He is convinced that youth-led research can have a positive impact on the prevention of chronic disease in young people.

We are so proud of the many ways that our Shore boys contribute to the wider community in addressing real-world problems both locally and on a global scale.

Congratulations again to Dominik. We wish him all the best with this important initiative.