Find an expert

Dr. Alejandro Melendez-Calderon has an interdisciplinary background in robotics and biomedical engineering with extensive experience in human augmentation technologies used in medicine (robotics, wearable devices) and computational approaches to understand human neuromuscular control (unimpaired, stroke and SCI population). He has over 20 years of experience gained in academic, clinical and industrial environments.

He leads the NeuroRehabilitation and Medical Robotics Lab at UQ, and is currently a Senior Lecturer within the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering and the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (affiliate) at the University of Queensland (Australia; Jan 2020-present). He is also a Principal Research Fellow at the Jamieson Trauma Institute, Queensland Health (Australia, Jun 2022-present) where he leads the Rehabilitaiton and Outcomes theme.

Work experience | Clinical - He was previously a Senior Research Scientist and acting Head of Technology at the cereneo Advanced Rehabilitation Institute / cereneo Center for Neurology and Rehabilitation (Switzerland; 2017-2019), where he led and conducted research in the area of neuromechanics of movement deficits after stroke. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Northwestern University (USA; 2014-2020) and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) (2012-2013), where he conducted research in cross-modal multisensory interactions and assessment of neuromuscular impairments. Medical industry - He led the areas of Robotic Hand Rehabilitation and Assessments, and work on adaptive control of robotic trainers (arm and legs) at Hocoma AG (Switzerland; 2014-2016), one of the world-leading manufacturers of robotic and wearable technologies for rehabilitation. Academic research - He was a Guest Researcher at ETH Zurich (Switzerland; 2016-2019), where he conducted research in biomechanics and motor control/learning. He received his PhD degree from Imperial College London (UK; 2007-2011) for research in robotics, rehabilitation and human motor control.

Interests | Dr. Melendez-Calderon has a scientific interest in understanding principled mechanisms of human behavior, in particular related to movement control/learning and physical interaction; his technical interests are in robotics and computational modeling for medical diagnostics, assistive applications & (bio)medical education.

Dr Erika MELER, DVM, IPSAV, CEAV, MSc, MVSc, Dipl ACVIM (SAIM), Dipl ECVIM-CA

Senior Lecturer in Small Animal Internal Medicine - Registered Veterinary Specialist

Erika graduated from the National Veterinary School of Lyon (France) in 2003 and continued her clinical training with a rotating internship at the University of Montreal in small animal medicine and surgery (Canada). She pursued her clinical training with a Certificate in advanced studies in internal medicine at the National Veterinary School of Nantes (France) which is equivalent to an Australian Membership. Then interested in laboratory research work, she completed a Master in Oncogenetics at the Medical School of Marseille (France) and worked on the side as veterinary general practitioner.

Erika who enjoys both clinical research and internal medicine practice, decided to take the experience to the next step further. In order to broaden her knowledge and competences in both fields she entered a combined Master in Veterinary Sciences and residency program in small animal internal medicine at the Purdue University Veterinary Teaching Hospital (United States). She was awarded both her Master by the University of Purdue and her Certification in Small Animal Internal Medicine by the American College of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. During her Residency, Erika won the Osborne case report competition organized by the Phi Zeta Society which rewards the best case presentation of the year.

After her residency, Erika worked for about 3 years in one of the biggest emergency and referral private practices in Canada where she founded the internal medicine service. Erika has trained in her career many students, interns, veterinary nurses and mentored younger colleagues. She has given continuing education conferences and written numerous articles summaries for general practitioners. Having worked in both private and academic environments, she can prepare her students for both careers and understands the challenges of both types of practice.

Erika's academic activities encompass clinical teaching and management of referral cases in the department of small animal internal medicine at the University of Queensland Veterinary Medical Centre, classroom teaching for veterinary students in their 3d, 4th and 5th years and veterinary technology students in their 3d year of training, as well as research work bridging human as well as laboratory science and IT technology to clinical practice (so called collaborative and translational medicine). She has also an interest in developing business management field in veterinary medicine as well as innovative teaching methods for veterinary students and professionals.

Erika’s clinical areas of interest are the use of new technologies in veterinary medicine such minimally-invasive techniques (including laser and stenting) in dogs.

Erika's research areas of interest are infectious diseases such as MRSA, MRSP, protozoal, viral and fungal diseases in pet companions.

Erika's teaching areas of interest are the development of new teaching methods in the veterinary clinical setting and the exploration of a new balance between economic needs of teaching hospitals and their educational goals.

Erika is definitively a team player and has an excellent track record in student supervision and graduation. Although veterinary oriented, these themes are also deeply translational so any colleague from a medical or educational background who would like to collaborate is very much welcome to make contact. Erika looks forward to work with any colleagues and students interested any of the themes listed above.

Flavio Menezes is a Professor of Economics and Director of the Australian Institute for Business and Economics at the University of Queensland (UQ). Flavio is also the Chair of the Queensland Competition Authority and a part-time member of the Australian Competition Tribunal. He has been engaged by the Australian Treasury to provide independent strategic advice to the Australian and New Zealand governments for a review into regulatory barriers to the net zero transformation.

Professor Menezes was a member of the NDIA’s Pricing Arrangement Reference Group from 2023 to 2024, and a member of the Expert Panel for the Special Disability Accommodation (NDIS) 2022-2023 price review. He was the president of the Economic Society of Australia (Queensland) from 2016 – 2018 and a member of the advisory board of the Federal government’s 2019 – 2020 Deregulation Taskforce.

He was the Head of the School of Economics at UQ from 2009 to 2015, the chair of the Research Evaluation Committee for Economics and Commerce, Excellence of Research in Australia (ERA) 2018, and a member of the same committee for ERA 2015. Professor Menezes was an elected member of UQ’s Academic Board and of its Standing Committee from 2018 to 2021. Prior to joining UQ in 2006, he was a Professor of Economics and a Professor of Regulatory Economics at the Australian National University and the foundation director of the Australian Centre of Regulatory Economics. He was a (part-time) Vice-President at Charles Rivers Associates International in Canberra from 2005 to 2006.

Professor Menezes is a fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and a Distinguished Public Policy Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia. He is an associate editor of Journal of Public Economic Theory and was the co-editor of the Economic Record from 2016 to 2022. He has published extensively on the economics of auctions, competition and regulatory economics, industrial organisation, and market design. He is a sought after UQ Expert on Australian economic policy. Professor Menezes’ engagement with industry and government is significant.

His experience includes advising the federal government, the AEMC, the ACCC, IPART, the QCA, and the ACT and Victorian governments on market design issues in regulatory environments. He has also provided economic advice to many private and public organisations on competition and regulatory issues in telecommunications, defence, fisheries, water, gambling, natural resources, electricity markets, dairy, smart cities, banking, aged care, the NDIS, early childhood education and childcare, health, and transport.

I study aspects of reproductive physiology that impact fertility in cattle, early embryonic development, and precision animal agriculture technologies that can improve animal health and performance. The goal of my research program is to apply research-based knowledge to refine current and develop new bio-technologies that can be readily adopted by cattlemen.

My research program is centered on three focus areas:

1. To investigate reproductive physiology and advance reproductive efficiency of beef cattle through the development of reliable bio-technologies that can be quickly implemented;
2. To maintain collaborative research that focuses on investigating early embryonic development in cattle;
3. To develop reliable, efficient, and profitable management strategies and technologies that can enhance the productivity of beef production systems.

My work currently focuses on the intersection between environmental management and the mining industry. My research aims to better quantify the environmental impacts of mining and to identfy solutions for reducing these impacts. I have specialist expertise in carbon management and carbon accounting, so much of my research focuses on the carbon impacts of mining. I also conduct research on how mining can best supply materials that can support the transition to a low-carbon economy, for example the metals needed for renewable energy technologies and the rocks needed for carbon dioxide removal through enhanced rock weathering.

In the past I have also been involved in a number of geochemistry and geochronology studies, including many focused on mineral deposits.

In addition to my adjunct position at UQ, I work full-time in the mining industry and lead various research collaborations between the mining industry and academia.

I am a writer and enjoy writing about science for a general audience. My book "Rocks & Minerals: An Illustrated Field Guide" was published by Cider Mill Press (an imprint of HarperCollins) in 2023.

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.

Dr Lin Mi is a Senior Lecturer in Finance at the UQ Business School. Lin's research interests include corporate finance and real estate finance. Her work has been published in well-regarded international journals including Journal of Banking and Finance, British Accounting Review, Economic Modelling, International Review of Finance, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, and Accounting and Finance.

Dr Silvia Micheli (BArch Politecnico di Milano; PhD, IUAV, Venice) is Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Program Convener of the Bachelor of Architectural Design. She joined The University of Queensland in 2012 after 5-year of teaching and research at the Politecnico di Milano. Dr Micheli works across design and history of architecture.

Her design research is cross-disciplinary, focusing on the notion of ‘productive city’ and how small-scale projects can enhance liveability and resilience in our communities. Her forthcoming co-authored book, House, Precinct and Territory: Design Strategies for the Productive City (ORO, 2024) discusses concrete scenarios for urban production. Dr Micheli is concurrently investigating strategies to enhance urban horticulture and farming practices through design to increase food security in the urban environment.

Dr Micheli is an accomplished scholar with a strong track record in contemporary architectural studies and a wide range of outputs, including exhibitions, NTROs and publications. She is co-curator of the forthcoming exhibition on the work of AIA gold medallist Enrico Taglietti, in partnership with the Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG). She co-designed the Blue Bower Pavilion, recipient of the Crossroads Prize at the 2021 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, as a manifesto of urban resilience during COVID19. In 2018, Silvia's co-designed the multi-awarded residential building One Room Tower, a demonstration project for the densification of the city.

Amongst Dr Micheli’s publications, there is her co-authored critical book on the mechanism of cultural production in late 20th century, Paolo Portoghesi: Architecture between History, Politics and Media (Bloomsbury, 2023); the co-edited volume Italy/Australia: Postmodern Architecture in Translation (URO, 2018), that reflects on the influence of Italian design culture on Australian architecture; the co-edited book Aalto beyond Finland: Buildings, Projects and Network (Helsinki, 2018), which explores the global reach of the work of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and her contribution to the travelling exhibition catalogue Alvar Aalto: Second Nature, (Vitra Design Musem, 2014), with an essay on the impact of Italian urban culture on Aalto’s design approach.

Contextually, Silvia has also co-authored the book Storia dell’architettura italiana 1985–2015 (Turin, 2013), which reflects on the mechanisms of architectural production in contemporary Italy; co-edited the volume Italia 60/70. Una stagione dell’architettura (Padua, 2010); solo-authored the volume Erik Bryggman 1891–1955. Architettura Moderna in Finlandia (Rome, 2009). Her first co-authored book, Lo spettacolo dell'Architettura: Profilo dell'ArchistarÓ, looks at the power of media in the making of design culture.

Dr Micheli has a range of international collaborations with cultural institutions, such as the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, Triennale di Milano, Centre Pompidou, MAXXI Museum, Alvar Aalto Foundation and Vitra Design Museum. She has also liaised with prestigious academic institutions, including Seoul National University, Berlage Institute, Politecnico di Milano and University of Manchester. In 2019, Dr Micheli was Visiting Professor at the School of Art and Design at the Guangdong University of Technology, China.

Since 2016, Dr Micheli has assisted to secure DFAT funding to foster UQ students mobility in the Asia Pacific Region, liaising with international academic and industry partners in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul.

Dr Silvia Micheli is a registered architect (Board of Architects, Lecco, Italy) and member of the editorial board of the Springer book series Transnational Histories of Design Cultures and Production.

Dr Renée Mickelburgh is a lecturer in Strategic Communication at the University of Queensland (UQ). Her research examines the way Australian women communicate gender and environmental justice through digital storytelling. She has also worked as a research fellow for UQ’s Sexual and Gender Violence Research Network. With over two decades of experience in communication — from journalism and politics, through to civil society and now academia — Renée is interested in how AI technologies are changing approaches to communication, the implications for gender and human rights advocacy, and the professional and social consequences of these technologies on women and vulnerable communities. As an affiliate of UQ’s Centre for Communication and Social Change, she contributes to discussions on AI for public good.

Dr Stuart Middleton is a scholar in the field of management education. He is interested in topics related to the evolution of the management education field, storytelling in teaching, and philosophical approaches to management education. His work has been published in leading management education journals such as Academy of Management Learning and Education, Journal of Management Education, and Management Teaching Review. He is an Associate Editor at Journal of Management Education, as well as Academy of Management Learning and Education. He has been awarded the Management and Organization Behavior Teaching Society's Distinguished Mid-Career Educational Leader for 2023.

Abdominal Compartment Syndrome, Midwinter MJ, Recent Advances in Surgery; RSM Press 2004, Editors: C Johnson & I Taylor

Acute Pancreatitis, MJ Midwinter, Horizons in Medicine, Vol 20. Pub Royal College of Physicians 2009, Editor P Mathieson

Perforated Peptic Ulcer MJ Midwinter, Emergency Surgery, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, Eds: Brooks, Cotton, Tai and Mahoney

Damage Control Resuscitation. Midwinter, M. In Fundamentals of Frontline Surgery (pp. 25-29) CRC Press 2021, Editors Mansoor Khan, David Nott.