This week on Anh's Brush with Famethe subject is Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis.

Anh invites ground-breaking surgeon Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis to share his gruelling journey from Saddam's Iraq to an outback detention centre in Australia, and how he has gone on to make his name in revolutionary robotic prosthetics.

Munjed had a privileged upbringing in Baghdad, but always had a sense that he wanted to help the victims of war that he saw around him. Early in his medical career, he was confronted with a brutal ultimatum by members of Saddam's regime, and he made the snap decision to flea his homeland or else face dire consequences.

After a gruelling journey at the hands of unscrupulous people smugglers, his overcrowded boat was intercepted off Christmas Island, where Munjed would experience one moment of great kindness that taught him to take any available opportunity to help others. He was detained at Curtin Detention Centre in the Australian outback, where he was considered a trouble-maker for trying to improve conditions in the camp, before being granted release and refugee status one year later.

Working to have his Iraqi medical qualifications recognised, Munjed found a position at a rural Victorian hospital and devoted all his time to his dream of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon. He has been instrumental in developing robotic prosthetics and integrative surgery in the hope of improving quality of life for amputees.

Anh admires Munjed's self-belief and optimism and hopes to capture a sense of that in his portrait. Will Munjed like it?

The subject this week on Anh's Brush with Fame is basketballer Lauren Jackson.

Superstar basketballer Lauren Jackson was born to play the game. She joins Anh to talk about the realities of life as an elite athlete with an international career. Anh hopes to capture her femininity and strong persona, both on and off the court.

The daughter of two national level basketballers, it was no surprise when Lauren displayed a talent for the game at a very young age. Despite struggling with homesickness when travelling for regional competitions, her move to the AIS in Canberra at just 15 was a positive experience, as she found herself a comfortable fit with the athletic community.

Drafted to Seattle as the WNBA number one draft pick, she played aggressively, determined to prove herself in the big league. Earning the title of MVP a record three times, Lauren explains how the gender pay gap in sport puts pressure on female athletes to play year round, without allowing sufficient recovery time for injury.