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Dr Meers is a Professor in Veterinary Virology in the School of Veterinary Science.

Dr Meers' research has focused on a variety of viruses of veterinary importance including viruses of both domestic and native animal species. Her research interests include viral diseases of livestock in developing countries including Newcastle disease and avian influenza, koala retrovirus, feline immunodeficiency virus and canine parvovirus.

Veterinary pharmacology and therapeutics, with special interest in transdermal drug delivery, pulmonary therapeutics and the control of inflammation. An additional interest includes wildlife ecology and therapeutics.

Paul Mills graduated from UQ School of Veterinary Science in 1987 and, after a period in clinical practice, completed a PhD investigating pharmacological control of inflammation in racing animals. He undertook a 3 year postdoctoral position at The Animal health Trust in the United Kingdom and established the Oxidative Stress research group. He was also the team veterinarian on a study of heat and humidity in horses towards the Atlanta Olympic Games. He returned to Australia and undertook positions as a NHMRC Senior Research Officer at the Princess Alexandria Hospital and as a Senior Government Veterinary Officer with Racing Queensland.

A/Prof Mills re-joined the School of Veterinary Science in 2001 and established the Pharmacology Research Unit to focus research into veterinary pharmacology. He was also a co-founder of Veterinary Marine Animal Research, Teaching and Investigation (Vet-MARTI; http://www.uq.edu.au/vetschool/vet-marti) in 2008. He has attracted over $2 million in research funding during this time and is the author on more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications. A/Prof Mills is a member (by examination) of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists for Veterinary Pharmacology and an external reviewer for the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. He currently teaches veterinary pharmacology and anatomy, receiving UQ and ALTC awards and funding for teaching innovations.

Michael Noad graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from UQ in 1990. After working primarily as a small animal vet in Queensland and the UK, Mike returned to Australia to undertake a PhD in humpback whale acoustic behaviour at the University of Sydney in 1995. In 2002, after finishing his PhD, Mike became a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Integraitve Biology at UQ. In 2003 he was employed as a lecturer in the School of Veterinary Science. He is currently a professor at UQ, dividing his time between veterinary science, where he teaches anatomy, and marine science, the focus of his research. In 2019 he became the Academic Director of the Moreton Bay Research Station, and in 2022 the Director of the Centre for Marine Science while still retaining a substantive apointment in the School of Veterinary Science.

Research:

The key areas of Mike's research are the effects of anthopogenic underwater noise on whales, the evolution and function of humpback whale song, social learning and culture in animals, and marine mammal population ecology. With regards to the effects of anthropogenic underwater noise on whales, there is currently a great deal of concern about how anthropogenic noise such as military sonar, oil and gas exploration activity and commercial shipping traffic, may adversely affect marine mammals. Mike has been involved in several large collaborative projects in this area, the largest being BRAHSS where the team studied the behavioural changes of humpback whales in response to powerful seismic airguns. His work on the evolution and function of humpback whale song is focused on how the animals themselves use sound to communicate. The songs of these whales is one of the most complex acoustic displays of any animal known. The songs are not static, but constantly change, and although the songs are almost certainly used as a sexual signal, the changing nature of the song makes understanding how this works challenging. His work on social learning and culture in animals also involves humpback whale songs, but focuses on how the whales learn the songs from each other, both within and between populations. As the patterns are usually unique to a population but can be transmitted over time to other populations, humpback song is the most extreme example of a vocal cultural trait in any species as well as an excellent model for studying social learning, the process whereby the whales perceive and learn new songs. Mike's last research area is marine mammal population ecology, and the primary project is the population ecology of the east Australian humpback whales. This population was almost completely extirpated in the early 1960s through hunting, but has since undergone a rapid recovery. Its long term trajectory, however, is uncertain due to a number of factors including possibly overshooting the natural carrying capacity of the population, and climate change.

Chiara is Professor in Veterinary Pathology at the School of Veterinary Science (SVS) of the University of Queensland (UQ). She is a board certified specialist veterinary pathologist (Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Pathology), graduated with a DVM from the University of Teramo (Italy) in 2002 and a PhD in Ultrastructural Pathology in 2006. Before joining UQ in 2012, She has been working as an Assistant Professor in Veterinary Pathology at the University of Teramo (Italy). She has a specific research interest is small animal oncology, in particular canine prostate cancer, and veterinary oncoepidemiology. She is Chair of the canine prostate cancer subgroup at the Oncology Pathology Working Group (OPWG), co-coordinator of the Global Initiative for Veterinary Cancer Surveillance (GIVCS) committee for the establishment of international standards of veterinary cancer registration and team leader of the comparative oncology theme of the Queensland Alliance of One Health Science. She is past President of the Australian Society for Veterinary Pathology and, within UQ SVS, she has been postgraduate coursework coordinator (2014-2017), HDR coordinator (2017-2019) and Director of Research (2019-2021). She has received several academic awards, including SVS awards for research excellence (2017, 2021), best lecturer (2021, 2022), and UQ award for excellence in HDR supervision (2020). She has published more than 120 papers on international journals, 3 book chapters and numerous abstracts in proceedings of national and international conferences. She has > 15 years expertise in veterinary diagnostic pathology, histopathology, IHC and TEM in multiple species. Since her first academic appointment in 2005, she mentored several postgraduate and undergraduate students in diagnostic investigation of animal cancer and research in canine oncology. Although outside the field of comparative oncology, she also a unique expertise in avian pathology and transmission electron microscopy.

Dr. Tatiana Proboste is a Research Fellow at the Spatial Epidemiology Lab (UQ), specialising in zoonotic disease transmission and spatiotemporal analysis. Her work utilises spatial models and network analysis techniques to enhance our understanding of disease transmission dynamics, particularly within wildlife populations and at the wildlife-human interface.

As a veterinarian with a robust background in terrestrial ecology and biodiversity management, Dr. Proboste brings a unique perspective to her research. She holds a Master’s degree from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, where she focused on wildlife disease ecology and molecular tools. Her academic pursuits led her to earn a PhD from the University of Queensland in 2020, with her doctoral research centring on the use of genetic analysis tools to study wildlife’s role in disease transmission in modified environments.

Dr. Proboste’s contributions to research are extensive and varied. She has been involved in projects ranging from the molecular detection of tick-borne pathogens to the development of tools for exploring wildlife’s role in disease transmission. Recent years have seen her focus on investigating mosquito-borne disease outbreaks, identifying Q fever clusters in Queensland and associated risk factors, and applying network analysis to estimate contact rates in feral pig populations in eastern Australia. In addition to her research, Dr. Proboste is a casual lecturer at the School of Veterinary Science. She is also part of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Q fever Interest Group and the HEAL Network

Simon Reid is a Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland. He is a keen advocate of One Health and the application of systems thinking approaches to understand and improve interventions for wicked zoonotic disease problems at the human-animal-ecosystem interface such as leptospirosis, brucellosis, human-bat interactions and antimicrobial resistance. His research focuses on understanding how to improve multisectoral governance, planning and implementation of responses to manage One Health problems. He delivers postgraduate courses in systems thinking, communicable disease control and One Health.

Dr Karl Robinson joined QAAFI’s Centre for Horticultural Science (frm. Centre for Plant Sciences) in 2012 as a molecular biologist specialising in RNAi applications against animal and plant viruses. Karl received his doctoral degree from The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science in 2009 and was awarded the 2009 UQ Deans Award. Karl has held postdoctoral research positions within Queensland Government/The University of Queensland - Agricultural Biotechnology Centre and the Viral Pathogenesis and Vaccine Group at the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Organisation, The University of Saskatchewan, Canada, before joining The Mitter Group. In 2017, Dr Robinson was awarded the Queensland State Government - Advance Queensland Reseach Fellowship to conduct research into alternative insect and virus control methods using RNAi and nanotechnology. Currently, a senior research fellow, supported by Grains Research Development Corporation and Horticulture Innovation Australia, Karl is leading research into spray-on RNAi applications for viruses and insects in high value grain and horticultural crops. Karl supervises a team of several higher degree research students and post doctoral researchers and delivers the plant virology lectures of the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences 3rd year virology course at UQ.

PhD Scholarship are available for domestic students.

Ricardo J. Soares Magalhães is Professor of Zoonotic Disease Epidemiology and Biosecurity and Director of the Queensland Alliance for One Health Sciences. Prof. Soares Magalhaes is a European Veterinary Board Specialist in Population Medicine with extensive national and international research experience in three main areas: spatial epidemiology of zoonotic infections, outbreak response for emerging zoonoses and risk assessment of animal’s environmental health/biosecurity. A key focus of his team's current research is to develop geographical risk assessment methods to assist climate-sensitive zoonotic infectious disease prioritisation for improved surveillance and risk management in both human and animal populations.

Prof. Soares Magalhães’s team is currently leading the development of a number of epidemiological data analytics platforms including for zoonotic influenza (WHO SEARO, Word Bank), antimicrobial resistance in agribusinesses and the environment (SAAFE CRC) and veterinary clinical data (VARDC and ACARCinom).

After graduating from the University of Melbourne in 1997, Allison spent 2 years in mixed practice in Gawler, SA, before traveling to the USA to undertake a residency in Large Animal Internal Medicine at the Ohio State University. She completed her Masters of Science and was awarded Diplomate status of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) in 2002. She then became a faculty member at Auburn University in Alabama and competed a fellowship in Emergency and Critical Care and obtained Diplomate status in 2007. Allison worked as a specialist and taught veterinary students at Auburn University for 12 years, and has over 300 publications/book chapters/scientific presentations/conference lectures. She was awarded 30 research grants and has presented research throughout the world in the areas of equine endocrinology, fungal disease, neurology, infectious disease and pharmacology. Allison resigned her position as Professor of Equine Medicine at Auburn University in 2015 and moved back to Australia. She spent some time in small animal, mixed and equine practice seeing primarily emergency cases whlist actuing as a Director on the Veterinary Surgeons Board of Victoria. She then completed her PhD at the Swedish Agricultural University in Uppsala and commenced as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland's School of Veterinary Science. Allison enjoys speaking at international conferences. Her current research interests include equine endocrinology, pharmacokinetics and tthe local Queensland specific probelms of Hendra virus diagnsotics and vaccination responses and treatment of Insect Bite Hypersensitivity. Because of her broad prior experieinces she is able to supervise graduate students and undertake collaborative research working with a number of veterinary species.

Prof Ala Tabor joined QAAFI's Centre for Animal Science in October 2010, after 18 years of conducting research with the Queensland Government. She is a research focussed academic with a strong background in industry engagement associated with animal health and agricultural biotechnologies. Her research interests are associated with the application of genomic sequence data to improve animal disease management through: 1) the development of molecular diagnostic and genotyping methods to better identify pathogens; and 2) the study of gene function in relation to virulence and host pathogenicity of infectious diseases, to develop new effective vaccines. Areas studied to date include bovine reproductive diseases (in particular bovine genital campylobacteriosis), Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus), cattle tick (Rhipicephalus microplus species complex), and tick-borne diseases (babesiosis and anaplasmosis). Some key outputs of her work include the application of reverse vaccinology for the development of a novel cattle tick vaccine and paralysis tick vaccine (patents pending), and commercialized diagnostic tools for bovine reproductive diseases. Prof Tabor has attained and completed ~$12 million in competitive grants in the last 10 years including the ARC, pharma and industry. Current research includes paralysis tick vaccines/treatments, bovine biomarkers for disease resistance, cattle tick commercial vaccine trials, bioinformatics/genomics of ticks and bovine venereal Campylobacter spp., tick fever genotyping/detection, and diagnostic assay development for bovine genital campylobacteriosis. Her international recognition in her field is exemplified by the invitation to join the BMGF International Cattle Tick Vaccine Consortium (CATVAC, est. 2015), specialist tick editor for the International Journal for Parasitology, Chair for the 9th International Tick and Tick-borne Pathogen (TTP9) conference (with the 1st Asia-Pacific Rickettsia Conference) held for the first time in Australia in 2017, and also international invitations to deliver expert presentations. Her research vision is to translate her research outcomes into viable products and methods for the benefit of cattle producers and pet owners. There are many options for students to pursue Honours, research components of Masters in Biotechnology or Masters in Molecular Biology (through affiliation with SCMB), as well as MPhil and/or PhD programs with Ala's group. Ala together with SCMB's Biotechnology Program Director and SAFS have developed UQ's 'Agricultural Biotechnology-Field of Study' (https://my.uq.edu.au/programs-courses/plan.html?acad_plan=AGBIOX5599&year=2020) within the Master of Biotechnology to start in 2020. She has had a strong focus on diversity, inclusion and gender equity initiatives at the University of Queensland.

Dr Turni leads a national and international reference laboratory for respiratory bacterial pathogens where identification, serotyping, genotyping, sequencing and antimicrobial sensitivity testing is performed. Her team works with the poultry, pig and cattle industries, as well as major veterinary pharmaceutical companies around the world. The group performs vaccine efficacy trials, provides advice on vaccine strain selection, performs antimicrobial sensitivity testing and evaluates candidate novel antimicrobial agents. Essentially, the services provided by the group underpins the entire Australian prevention and control programs for the major bacterial respiratory diseases of pigs, poultry and cattle.

Her research has extended beyond vaccines and antibiotic sensitivity to determining optimal sample sites for collecting pathogens, understanding the association of different pathogens with disease, development of animal infection models, classification of bacteria and epidemiology of pathogens. Conny supervises PhD students with diverse projects such as antimicrobial sensitivity studies, risk factors and profiling of pathogenic Escherichia coli associated with avian collibacillosis, alternatives to antibiotics, development of on farm test for a virus and study of epidemiology of a new species of bacteria. She works in collaboration with a team of epidemiologist, veterinarian and virologist on projects in Australia and overseas.

I completed a BSc (Hons) and a PhD at the University of Melbourne before undertaking post-doctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. My research focused on marsupial and eutherian developmental biology, going off piste a couple of times to work with spotted hyaenas and European moles. After 6 years in the US I returned to Australia to study Veterinary Science (BVSc) at the University of Queensland (UQ), going on to work in equine and small animal practice. A longing to get back into research lead to my current position as a Teaching & Research academic in the School of Veterinary Science, UQ. My lab has generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from dogs and horses that are being used to model diseases in vitro and as the basis for research into stem cell-based treatments for a variety of diseases. We have also produced iPSCs from the Tasmanian devil and the platypus, the first stem cells ever described from a marsupial and a monotreme, respectively, allowing us to pursue research directed at treating devil facial tumour disease, understanding marsupial and monotreme embryonic development, and the conservation of endangered species.

Education

• BSc (Hons), University of Melbourne (1990)
• PhD, University of Melbourne (1996)
• BVSc (Hons), University of Queensland (2006)

Employment

• Post-doctoral researcher, University of California, Berkeley, USA (1996-1997)
• Post-doctoral researcher, MD Anderson Cancer Centre, Houston, Texas, USA (1997-2002)
• Veterinary Surgeon (2006-present)
• Lecturer, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland (2010-2017)
• Affiliate Senior Research Fellow, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland (2016-present)
• Senior Lecturer, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland (2017-2022)
• Associate Professor, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland (2023-present)

Wayne Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Audiology at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland (UQ). He holds a PhD and Post-graduate Diploma in audiology and a BSc(Hons) in auditory physiology. His research interests include listening and listening difficulties in children, the objective assessment of auditory function, and clinical competence in audiology. Wayne has published >100 papers in refereed scientific journals, >10 book chapters and 3 patents; has presented >300 papers at scientific conferences including >15 key-note/opening addresses; and has secured >35 competitive research grants totaling >AUD$4.2 million.

Rebeka R. Zsoldos is an animal biomechanist who graduated at the Animal Science Faculty of the University of Kaposvar/Hungary (2008). In Vienna/Austria, she then completed her PhD on the biomechanics of the equine cervical vertebral column at the Movement Science Group at the Veterinary University (2011), followed by her own collaborative research project titled “Generic Motion Models based on Quadrupedal Data” at the University of Natural Resources together with the Veterinary University and the University of Bonn/Germany (Multimedia, Simulation and Virtual Reality Group). During this time, she taught Animal Biomechanics to undergraduate and graduate students. Having completed the project, she continued work with her collaborators at the University of Bonn in Germany. After that she worked on a mathematical approach to the elastic behaviour and shape of the equine spine as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Computational Sciences Group, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.