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Kathryn's research and work have focussed on coral reef ecology, coral ecotoxicology, larval dispersal, and reef monitoring, as well as fisheries management. Her recent projects at UQ have been on the XL Catlin Seaview Survey team, where she worked on the Great Barrier Reef, Indonesia, the Philipines and Taiwan. Currently she is working on the Allen Coral Atlas project, and the Great Barrier Reef Mapping Project within the Remote Sensing Research Centre, where she aranges the logistics, collects field data, and utilises her reef ecology background to train an Automated Image Annotation program to identify benthos on Geo-referenced photos collected around the world. The Allen Coral Atlas aims to create the first consistent geomorphic and benthic map of the coral reefs of the world, utilising satelite imagery, field knowledge, geo-referenced benthic photos, and cloud processing on Google Earth Engine.

Dr Veronica is an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow, under the supervision of Professor Esteban Marcellin and Professor Lars Nielsen. She received her Biotechnology Engineering degree at the University of Chile in 2007 and completed her Ph.D. in Systems Biology at The University of Queensland in 2014. After completing her Ph.D. she performed 2 years of postdoctoral training at The University of Queensland, as part of a collaboration project with Universidad de Chile. Both Ph.D. studies and postdoctoral training were financially supported by the Chilean Government, under a competitive scholarship and fellowship, respectively. Later she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow- Biopharmaceutical Upstream Bioprocessing at the ARC Training Centre for Biopharmaceutical Innovation (CBI), The University of Queensland.

She has some teaching experience. She had performed tutorial teaching in several courses at Universidad de Chile and the University of Queensland. In 2016 she was in charge of the Beer and Biofuels practical, part of the subject: Biomolecular Engineering (CHEE4020) of the chemical engineering department at The University of Queensland. In 2023 she gave an invited speaker lecture about cell culture optimization at the Biologics course (BIOT7018) at The University of Queensland.

Her research focuses on the improvement of biopharmaceutical production using mammalian cells. She is specifically interested in (1) the development of computational tools for metabolic systems biology, and (2) the improvement of upstream bioprocess. On the tools side, she has worked on the integration of thermodynamic principles and omics datasets into genome-scale models to estimate metabolic flux distributions; and developed a method for the estimation of dynamic metabolic fluxes. She has used these tools to describe experimental mammalian cells data and to guide the improvement of biopharmaceutical production processes. She has also been involved in the development of the latest human and CHO genome-scale models. On the process side, she worked on the improvement of a high cell density culture, using systems biology tools to develop a cell line adapted to high cell density and to develop an improved upstream bioprocess.

Her current project focuses on the development of a platform to generate good producer cell factories of difficult-to-express proteins.

Karen is a Research Fellow in QAAFI at the University of Queensland whose research group is focused on the improvement of crops using genomic and biotechnological tools. She began her scientific journey through obtaining an Honours BSc in Pharmaceutical sciences (Genomics) from the University Ottawa where her honours focused on the impact of RNA stability in cold-treated wheat seedlings. From there she joined Ian Godwin's group in SAFS at UQ to start her PhD in developing and optimising biotechnological tools in sorghum to understand food and feed quality. As a research fellow, she has applied these initiatives to numerous tropical grain crops and using these tools to study a range of traits focused on understanding key developmental pathways.

Dr Mostafa Kamal Masud is a CCQ Next Generation Cancer Research Fellow at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology (AIBN), the University of Queensland (UQ). In 2020, he received his PhD in Medical Biotechnology Diagnostics and Nanobiotechnology from AIBN, UQ. He received his MS and B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh. After completing his PhD, he was awarded a prestigious JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship (success rate >10%) from Japan and served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Japan's National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS).He recently been awarded a highly prestigious ARC DECRA fellowship for the period 2024-2026 and a QLD Cancer Council fellowship for the period 2024–2028. His research focuses on the development of novel nanostructures and nanodiagnostic technologies to address critical issues in medical diagnosis. As an early career researcher, he has an excellent track record with more than 60 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious and high-impact journals in the area that achieve <2800 citations with an h-index of 29 (Scholar google link: https://bit.ly/2Vtv67l). He has developed new classes of superparamagnetic nanostructures and fabricated novel biosensors for the detection of disease-specific biomolecular targets e.g., for miRNA, DNA, exosome and protein biomarker detection that have proven to be easy and effective, allowing for rapid diagnosis with minimal equipment. He made a major contribution to nanotechnology integrated-analytical and diagnostic fields by providing analytical and technological input as well as developing key collaborations with clinicians and biologists for translational research. His strategy is to create nano-architecture point-of-care diagnostic technology for early diagnosis of cancer that could hopefully lead to a healthy and happier life for humans.

Dr McDonald-Madden is an ARC Research Fellow in the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Queensland and a Chief Investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, NESP Threatened Species Hub and is a founding member of UQ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science. Her research is focused on improving environmental decision-making in complex systems.

To resolve questions in environmental decision-making her team uses a suite of analysis techniques that are largely novel to ecology and conservation. The foundation of our work is ‘Decision Theory’, a concept initially used to maximise the effectiveness of scarce military resources while dealing with the uncertainties always present in war. By investigating the use of techniques from fields such as manufacturing sciences, artificial intelligence research and economic theory her group hope to improve decision-making in the face of complexity that is inherent, but often ignored, in environmental problems, incorporating the social context of decisions, the complexity of interacting species and the uncertainty faced by decisions makers.

Eve’s groups work spans all forms of conservation decision-making including population management, organisational and government reporting, the management of interacting species, ecosystem services and conservation planning.

Dr McDonald-Madden completed her PhD at the University of Queensland (2009), prior to that she worked for the Victorian Government on biodiversity research and management whist completing a graduate diploma in Mathematics. She has two young children.

As an evolutionary quantitative geneticist, I conduct research that aims to extend our understanding of how genetic variation determines the capacity of populations to adapt. Over the 20+ years of my research career, I have designed experiments in species ranging from freshwater fish to Drosophila fruit flies. My research group uses a combination of statistics and machine learning to answer questions about the nature of genetic variation in complex traits, like swimming speed, wing shape and sex pheromones. This fundamental knowledge underpins predictions of the rate at which individual traits within the complex, multi-trait phenotype of organisms can evolve. We are particularly interested in understanding how historical adaptation might affect the ability of populations to adapt to changing conditions now and into the future. I’m interested in bringing evolutionary quantitative genetic tools to answer questions about natural and manipulated evolution in non-model species, in complex natural environments. I am passionate about training researchers in genetics and statistics, foundational skills for a range of careers addressing both applied and fundamental questions. I teach these skills to undergraduate and coursework Masters students, as well as research students ranging from undergraduate projects, through Honours and PhD.

Dr. Molly-rose A. McInerney.

Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Critical Care Research Group, The Prince Charles Hospital, Institute of Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland. Main research focus is heart transplantation, cardiac critical care, molecular biology and mitochondria.

I am a basic science researcher with training in cell biology, genetics and research translation. My research investigates the female reproductive system by focusing on the contribution of individual cells. I aim to understand the influence of genetic architecture, differentiation and maturation on these individual cells and how this contributes to changes in the microenvironment that can contribute to disease initiation and progression.

After the completion of my PhD in 2008 at the University of Queensland, I undertook post-doctoral studies at the University of Bern, Department of Biomedical Research (DBMR), focusing on endometriosis, ovarian and endometrial cancer. I curated patient samples from clinical research trials to investigate inflammatory and metabolic components of reproductive tissue and disease and began developing patient-derived models of the endometrium. I established a relationship between endometriosis lesions, nerves and pain and how this interaction was mediated by inflammation. I further developed patient-derived in vitro models to understand the interaction between inflammation and hormonal response of endometriotic lesions and how this could be utilized to target current and novel treatments. On returning to Australia in 2016 I joined the Genomics of Reproductive Disorders laboratory to integrate genetic background into patient-derived in vitro models. I established the Endometriosis Research Queensland Study (ERQS) in collaboration with the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) and extended in vitro models into complex multi-cellular assembloids (combinations of organoids and surrounding stromal cells).

Professor Frederic Meunier obtained his Masters degree in Neurophysiology at the Paris XI University, France in 1992 and completed his Ph.D in Neurobiology at the CNRS in Gif-sur-Yvette, France in 1996. He was the recipient of a European Biotechnology Fellowship and went on to postgraduate work at the Department of Biochemistry at Imperial College (1997-1999) and at Cancer Research UK (2000-2002) in London, UK. After a short sabbatical at the LMB-MRC in Cambridge (UK), he became a group leader at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland (Australia) in 2003. He joined the Queensland Brain Institute of the University of Queensland in 2007 and obtained an NHMRC senior research fellowship in 2009 renewed in 2014 with promotion. He became Professor in 2014 at the Queensland Brain Institute and is currently part of the Centre for Ageing Dementia Research.

United Nations (UN) member states in 2015 agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Dr Deirdre Mikkelsen's postition as a Teacihng and Research Acacemic contributes towards the following UN SDGs:

GOAL 2 - ZERO HUNGER

GOAL 3 - GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

GOAL 4 - QUALITY EDUCATION

GOAL 12 - RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

GOAL 13 - CLIMATE ACTION

GOAL 15 - LIFE ON LAND

Deirdre is a Microbiologist with experience in molecular microbial ecology techniques, bioinformatics and fermentation microbiology.

Deirdre has a B.Sc with First Class Honours in Microbiology (1999) and PhD in Microbiology (2005) from The University of Queensland (UQ, Australia). She worked at the Advanced Wastewater Management Centre (UQ; 2005), until moving to the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences (CNAFS) in 2006. She worked as Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and Research Fellow in CNAFS, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, UQ. Deirdre joined the School of Agriculture and Food Susstainability in 2019 as a Teaching and Research Academic, and is presently a Senior Lecturer in Food Science. She course coordinates and lectures FOOD2000 Food Science, FOOD3017 Food Safety & Quality Management and the work integrated learning course FOOD7021 Professional Experience. Deirdre's research is molecular microbial ecology and biopolymer science-based, aiming to provide a mechanistic understanding of how foods, diets and nutrients influence the host gut microbiota. Deirdre has 75 peer-review publications with an h-index of 26 and 2746 citations.

Deirdre is a Member of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) and sits on the Queensland Branch Committee. She is also a Member of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM). Deirdre is part of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFOST) Food Safety Working Committee, in an education-focused role.

I'm a researcher with interdisciplinary interests spanning social and biological sciences. I'm currently an ARC Future Fellow at UQ working on social and temporal dynamics of bone metabolism in humans. My technical expertise is in skeletal histology, which I have applied to a range of questions and samples across different disciplines, including bioarchaeology, biology, biomedicine, forensics, and palaeontology. What fundamentally unites all this research is understanding how the environment and societal structures impact skeletal growth and health. My research has attracted ~$1.7 mln in funding, including an ARC DECRA and Future Fellowship.

I am the current Editor-in-Chief of Anthropological Review, Review Editor of Human Bioarchaeology and Paleopathology (Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology), and Vice-President of the Australasian Society for Human Biology, In 2024, I was awarded the Trail-Crisp medal for outstanding contribution to microscopy as an essential tool for the study of natural history by The Linnean Society of London.

In my previous roles over the last 10 years I was a Martin & Temminck Fellow at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in The Netherlands; spent almost 7 years at the Australian National University in Canberra working as an ARC DECRA Fellow, Senior Lecturer, and Lecturer; and worked as a Research Assistant in medicine at Imperial College London. Until 2014, I spent about 8 years at the University of Kent in Canterbury completing a BSc Hons, PhD (2014), and PGCHE, and working in various teaching roles, including tutoring, lab demonstration, sessional lecturing, and lecturing. I was also previously Treasurer of the Australasian Society for Human Biology, Editor and Associate Editor of The Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, and Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports and Anthropological Review.