For every dollar spent on early child development you save $7 over the life course because children with better early child development are less likely to end up delinquent, involved in crime, unemployed and so on.

It's highly likely that what you're doing is indeed influenced by your Jewish background.

I'm not an Orthodox Jew, I don't practise much in the way of Jewish religion, but I am very Jewish and I think it probably does indeed influence what I do.

The environment can actually affect gene expression.

Saying we can't afford to invest in early child development means we're storing up bigger costs in the future.

I was born in North London, migrated to Australia when I was four. So when I first came to Australia people saw me as a little English boy. Over the years that feeling of being a little English boy diminished and I felt much more Australian.

I've pursued a lifetime in the research on the social determinants of health and more recently been packaging not just my research but global research on this topic in a way that I hope will influence policy.