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Dr. Sherman Leung is the Head of Research Operations at Wesley Research Institute - the research partner of UnitingCare. UnitingCare is the largest private employer in Queensland, encompassing four hospitals (The Wesley Hospital, St. Andrew's War Memorial Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital and St. Stephen's Hospital), as well as significant community-based offerings through Lifeline, Blue Care, Family and Disability Services, and ARRCS.

Dr. Leung is a PhD trained scientist, conducting his research training at Mater Research Institute, The University of Queensland, during which his research was published in highly regarded peer-reviewed journals, including in 'Diabetes', receiving the Cover Image, an 'In This Issue' feature, and shared across the Australian-wide 7 Network news.

He has extensive experience in clinical trials, having worked at Microba Life Sciences, an ASX-listed biotechnology start-up, and Nucleus Network, Australia’s largest early phase clinical trial site having overseen the conduct of several high-profile COVID-19 projects including Nuvaxovid by Novavax that has been granted emergency authorisation in 40 countries including by the TGA, EMEA & FDA.

He contributes his spare time to the greater good through numerous initiatives in the industry including being a Board Director of the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA), Co-Chair to the Clinical and Consumer Advisory Group of the $75m Australian Teletrials Program, Co-Chair to the Clinical Trials Advocacy Working Group of the Queensland Clinical Trials Consortium (QCTC), former member of the Metro North Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), Editorial Board for 'Trials' – a journal promoting all aspects of trials including methods, processes and non-significant outcomes for transparency in the field – and offers regular guest classrooms on clinical trials, informed consent and ethics at The University of Queensland.

A/Prof Janni Leung (PhD) is an NHMRC Development Fellow at National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research (NCYSUR) at The University of Queensland. Their program of research includes investigating the epidemiology of substance use and mental health because they are both major public health issues that commonly occur together. This research program had made paradigm-changing development through 200+ articles, which have recognised impact (15,000+ cites, 30% output in the top 1% citation percentile). Many of their work involves conducting systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and applying statistical models to epidemiological data on addiction and mental health issues to better understand their impacts on populations. Her work is used to inform policies on how to reduce the disease burden caused by addiction and mental health problems in Australia and overseas. Janni is committed to conducting high-quality rigorous research to generate empirical epidemiological evidence to inform decisions to prevent addiction-related harms in the population.

Teaching and supervision: They have qualifications and training in public health, sociology, and psychology. In addition, they have strong research and teaching experience in epidemiology and biostatistics. Janni has worked with a range of students from diverse demographic and cultural backgrounds, including mature-aged students and students with family responsibilities. She currently has a topic available for a self-motivated student interested in addiction research. Janni’s current research focus is on the epidemiology and disease burden associated with mental and substance use disorders across the globe.

Consultation: Janni is available for private consultation and workshop presentations on request for various research methodological and data analysis topics, e.g. systematic reviews and meta-analysis, questionnaire and survey designs, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Where can you find Janni: Janni is based at the UQ St Lucia campus with regular visits to the Long Pocket and Herston campuses.

Ian has been a research fellow in the School of Chemical Engineering since 2023. He has a diverse background in chemical engineering R&D, with PhD in chemical engineering at UQ, experience in pilot scale hydrometallurgy where he was a lead researcher in the product development team for AlphaHPA and has a growing researcher profile focussing on bioplastics production, modification, and applications, as well as their life-cycle assessments. His current research within the ARC Centre for Bioplastics and Biocomposites is supporting transition away from linear, non-degradable plastics toward a more circular economy through the production of a bioderived and biodegradable bioplastic called PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) using halophilic biotechnology, with expertise in scaleup design and techno-economic assessments. Another topic Ian is passionate about is nutrient pollution, which has cascading effects on our local aquatic ecosystems, as well as air quality and climate change. To address this global challenge, he is developing novel controlled release fertilisers by coating them with PHA and other bioplastics to help mitigate nutrient losses from agricultural lands and reducing fertiliser requirements. Ian is a motivated problem-solver, applying fundamental chemical engineering principles to help support a transition to a more sustainable future.

Anne Adele Levitsky is a scholar and performer of medieval vernacular song, in particular troubadour lyric poetry, and its connections to the larger cultural milieu of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. She is a graduate of Stanford University and earned her PhD in Historical Musicology from Columbia University in May 2018. At present, she is Lecturer in Music at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and has taught previously at Columbia, Dixie State University, and Stony Brook University. As an academic, she is interested in medieval vernacular song, poetry, and narrative literature, and her monograph The Natural World of Troubadour Song: Materiality, Craft, Philosophy is under contract with Liverpool University Press for their series Exeter Studies in Medieval Culture. It reads troubadour lyric poetry in the context of philosophical, theological, and medical writings available in the twelfth century, and uses this analytical frame to employ new methods for the analysis of medieval monophonic song. Her work also appears in Mediaevalia, Current Musicology, The Medieval Review, and in the Bloomsbury Cultural History of Music (in a chapter co-authored with Susan Boynton). Dr. Levitsky is also interested in the presence and role of medievalisms in popular music, especially in heavy metal. She supplements this academic interest in vernacular song with an active performance career, and has studied and performed lyric poetry with the Narbonne-based Troubadours Art Ensemble, and recorded troubadour and trouvère songs both with the group and as a soloist. Dr. Levitsky performs regularly in the Brisbane area with The Australian Voices. In addition, she performs with ensemble Fractio Modi (of which she is a founding member). Past performances include a June 2013 performance with the Rolling Stones in Washington, DC, tours to Germany with NYC-based chamber ensemble GHOSTLIGHT Chorus, and concerts of monophony and polyphony from the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries on Columbia's Music at St. Paul's concert series. Dr. Levitsky is also the founding director of the UQ School of Music's Early Music Ensemble.

Peter is the Director of Teaching and Learning for UQ's School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work. He teaches across both undergaduate and postgraduate programs and is also responsible for the International Portfolio.

Peter's research interests include: teaching and learning; eLearning and flexible learning; digital literacy; and interprofessional education.

Working in tertiary education since 2003, Peter's responsibilities have included but are not limited to: curriculum development and implementation; internal and external accreditation processes; interprofessional teaching and cooperation; development and implementation of School strategic plans; development and management of moderation processes which ensure transparency of standards of quality in implementation and outcomes; administration of programs; maintaining and developing domestic and international partnerships with both industry and external tertiary providers; and international consultancy particular to staff developoment and capacity building, teaching and learning and curricula development and review.

Suri Li is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland and the Centre of Excellence for Children & Families over the Life Course. Her current work centres on gender inequality and family dynamic across life course and explores the interplay of gender relations in the public and private spheres.

Prior to her current position, she holds a BSc and MSc in Finance, as well as an MA in Public Policy from the University of Edinburgh, the UK and a PhD in Sociology at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Her DPhil Thesis focus on the relationship between household resources and child wellbeing in Ireland, Australia and the UK using longitudinal data from birth cohort studies.

Dr Xuemei Li obtained her PhD from the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland in 2024. Since then, she has been a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at AIBN. She has a strong background in materials science and environmental remediation, and is dedicated to developing novel functional materials for wastewater treatment, particularly for the remediation of contaminants such as heavy metals, antibiotics, and PFAS.

I am specialised in remote sensing, Earth observation (EO), and geospatial data science. My current research centres on modelling canopy height by integrating GEDI LiDAR and Sentinel-2 satellite data. This work leverages high-performance computing (HPC), cloud platforms, and machine learning (ML) to produce scalable, reproducible workflows for environmental monitoring and decision support.

My current focus includes:

• EO-driven canopy height estimation for forest structure and biomass monitoring

• Scalable HPC/cloud workflows for processing LiDAR and satellite data

• AI/ML applications in EO for ecosystem modelling and climate resilience

• Supporting policy and land planning with EO-derived environmental indicators

Previously, I led research on satellite-based grassland curing to improve fire monitoring, addressing inter-satellite variability and product accuracy for use by fire managers. I also contributed to government-led programs focusing on environmental water planning and provide the framework for coordinating the development of flood works.

I collaborate with academic, government, and industry stakeholders nationally and internationally to ensure EO science translates into tools and insights that support environmental monitoring.