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Dr. Alex Beare is a Lecturer in communication at the University of Queensland. His research specialises in subscription video on demand, audience cultures, and media representations of masculinity. Prior to coming to Brisbane, Alex taught at the University of Adelaide with a teaching focus in Digital Cultures, Media Theory, Screen Studies, and Research Methods. Since completing his PhD, Alex has published in journals such as Television & New Media, the International Journal of Communication, and Critical Studies in Television, and has contributed to ABC Radio and The Conversation. He is also the author of The New Audience for Old TV (Routledge, 2024). Alex is currently leading cross-institutional research collaborations relating to the emergence of ‘supportive streaming’ and digital news representations of homophobia in the AFL.

Anne is a Senior Lecturer in Animal Science and Production with a diverse range of research interests spanning parasitology, immunology, endocrinology, and nutrition. Her academic journey began in Equine Science before expanding into Agricultural Science, providing a broad foundation for her current work. Anne’s PhD research focused on the physiological mechanisms underlying periparturient relaxation of immunity to gastrointestinal worms in sheep, a multidisciplinary topic that sparked her ongoing interest in host-parasite interactions. During her postdoctoral research, she contributed to projects on anthelmintic resistance in key equine and cattle parasites and the development of molecular diagnostic tools. Her current research continues to advance equine parasitology through student supervision and industry collaboration, while also expanding into small ruminant parasite management, nutrition, production, and methane emissions. With a strong industry focus, Anne is committed to producing practical research outcomes that enhance the management of horses and livestock.

Scott Beatson is an Associate Professor and NHMRC Career Development Fellow at The University of Queensland (UQ). He specializes in bacterial pathogenomics: using whole-genome sequencing to investigate transmission, pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Recent work from his group includes genomic analyses of pandrug resistant enterobacteriaceae and the multidrug resistant Escherichia coli ST131 pandemic clone. He was awarded a PhD from UQ for his work in bacterial pathogenesis in 2002 and developed his career in bacterial genomics in the United Kingdom with the support of fellowships from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (University of Oxford) and the UK Medical Research Council (University of Birmingham). Since returning to Australia he has held fellowships from both the NHMRC and ARC and has led a successful research group in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at UQ since 2008. He is also a member of the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre and the Australian Centre for Ecogenomics. In 2016 he received the Frank Fenner Award from the Australian Society for Microbiology in recognition of his contribution to microbiology research in Australia.

Stefanie was awarded a PhD in Cognitive Psychology / Experimental Psychology in 2007, from the University of Bielefeld, Germany, and was subsequently awarded two awards for it (amongst them the National German Dissertation Award). She then took up a 1-year post-doc position with Prof Roger Remington at UQ. Subsequently, her work was supported by various fellowships from UQ and the ARC, allowing Stefanie to focus mainly on research from 2009 - 2018. Afterwards she was employed on a Teaching and Research position at UQ, where she is currently employed as an Associate Professor.

Personal website: www.sibecker.com

Dr Emma Beckman is a Teaching and Research academic at the University of Queensland. Emma is passionate about engaging in research to improve the lives of people with a disability through sports, physical activity, and exercise. Following a master’s degree in Adapted physical activity, Emma completed her PhD in strength assessment for classification in Para Sport. She is currently a co-investigator in the UQ IPC Classification Research Partnership, and an internationally accredited classifier in Para Athletics.

Through her Para Sport research, Dr Beckman has seen the power of collaborative care and is committed to research that uses collaborative care models to improve health outcomes. She has undertaken projects to evaluate the impact of interprofessional education and practice on students, educators and clients and has adapted this work for different populations, including people with disabilities and university students with mental health issues.

Associate Professor Mike Beckmann MBBS, PhD, CHIA, AFAIDH, AFRACMA, FRANZCOG is Head of Mothers Babies and Women’s Health at Mater, and oversees Australia’s largest women’s health service, with more than 12,000 births annually across 5 facilities. He is also Mater’s first Chief Digital Health Officer. Mike is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, health informatician, and health services researcher with more than 90 research publications, and is currently supervising PhD students in the areas of minimising clinical variation, using PROMS to redesign care, and consumer information-sharing. As a clinician, researcher and healthcare leader, Mike has led many digitally-enabled innovations in healthcare delivery to improve safety and the quality of care, improve efficiency, enhance patient experience as well as improve the work-life of staff.

As a teaching and research academic within the School of the Environment at the University of Queensland, I research the biology and genetics of mosquitoes in our region of the Indo-Pacific that delivers fundamental knowledge into the role mosquitoes play in mosquito-borne disease. This work moves across basic and applied research and has advanced our understanding of mosquitoes, their evolution, species’ distributions, permitting better focused mosquito control to be imagined. More recent research involves exploring new environmentally friendly biological control tools such as using the Wolbachia bacterium and genetic modification to combat mosquito-borne disease.

For more detail on my research please see below and at this link http://www.nigelbeebe.com

Dr Andrew Beencke is a Teaching Associate in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, specialising in mathematics and critical thinking education. His research focuses on how education can most effectively develop students into critical thinkers, with a particular interest in intellectual character and the application of critical thinking in mathematics education.

As a researcher with the UQ Critical Thinking Project, Dr. Beencke designs and delivers innovative, action research driven, professional learning programs for schools, collaborating with teachers across disciplines to strengthen critical thinking pedagogy. His recent research examines how teachers’ beliefs about critical thinking and education shape their classroom practice and how those beliefs evolve through ongoing, reflective professional development.

Susan Beetson is a Ngemba Computer Science researcher, practitioner, and educator, who grew up in very remote Aboriginal communities of Brewarrina and Gongolgon. Susan has 30 years' experience in corporate computer science and information technology management and ten years in higher education as an educator in Information Systems and Interactive Technologies in computer science and human centred computing, and Aboriginal value systems and Knowledges in Indigenous studies. As an Academic in UQ's School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and a chief investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures.

Susan's team explores digital rights management to facilitate Traditional Custodians' perpetual royalties and retaining Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property, toward economic independence. Susan is a Fellow with the Australian Internet Governance Forum and collaborates with Pacific Islander peoples to bring Indigenous value systems and perspectives to the structures, standards, and systems that underpin internet governance.

Susan's PhD thesis, which explored the dyadic phenomenon of culturally different network nodes, extending social media network theories. The impact of Susan's Indigenist research extends Eurocentric designed virtual, interactive and immersive spaces and process incl. AI, XR and emerging technologies. As Ngemba Wiradjuri and grown up on Country her lived experience of social, institutional and political dimensions that impact Aboriginal peoples lives in Australia enables Susan to critically analyse and reflect on all aspects, reflexively throughout her research.

Along with esteemed national and international Indigenous academics, Susan is a Chief Investigator on the $35,000,000 ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Futures and won a highly competitve Science & Technology Australia's #SuperstarsOfStem program. Susan is also a guest Academic Editor for Information Systems Journal (ISJ) and Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues (JAIIS).

Dr. Anjuman Begum is a research and academic pharmacist. She graduated with a PhD from the University of Queensland. She has expertise in drug/gene delivery, peptide chemistry, formulation development, and nanotechnology. She is highly motivated to acquire knowledge and to develop new skills.

Associate Professor Jakob Begun is the IBD Group leader in the Immunity, Infection, and Inflammation Program at Mater Research University of Queensalnd, and has a basic and translational laboratory at the Translational Research Institute in Brisbane. He is an Associate Professor in the University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine. After completing his Bachelor of Science at Cornell University Jakob attended Cambridge University where he completed an MPhil in Biochemistry. He then moved on to Harvard Medical School where he completed his MD and PhD in genetics studying the host pathogen interaction using C. elegans as a model system. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s hospital and went on to complete general gastroenterology training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) as well as advanced training in the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Dr Begun first joined Mater Research - University of Queensland in 2014, and at the same time received a clinical staff appointment in Gastroenterology at the Mater Hospital Brisbane. His clinical activities are focussed on the treatment and mangement of patients with IBD. He is the director of the IBD unit at the Mater Hospital Brisbane and at the Mater Young Adult Health Centre Brisbane .In January 2015 he was awarded the University of Queensland Reginald Ferguson Fellowship in Gastroenterology to support his research activity. He leads a basic and translational laboratory at the Translational Research Institute investigating the interaction between the innate immune system and the gut microbiome, as well as genetic contributions to disease. He also performs clinical research examining predictors of response to therapy, minimising barriers of care for adolescents and young adults with IBD, improving outcomes in pregnancy and IBD, and the use of intestinal ultrasound in IBD. He is the chair of the Gastroenterology Society of Australia-IBD Faculty and of the president of the Gastroenterology Network of Intestinal Ultrasound (GENIUS).

Dr Marlize Bekker is a Senior Lecturer in Food Chemistry in the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability at The University of Queensland. She holds a PhD in Chemistry and has over fifteen years of experience in flavour and aroma chemistry across complex food and beverage systems. Her research focuses on how post-harvest processing and fermentation conditions shape flavour development, with current work spanning vanilla, coffee, cacao, wine, and distilled beverages. This includes elucidating the formation, fate, and sensory function of key volatile and non-volatile flavour constituents, and establishing mechanistic links between processing parameters, chemical composition, and sensory outcomes.

She also leads research on the chemical and sensory characterisation of Australian native plant materials and supports the development of high-value, culturally grounded food and beverage products in partnership with Indigenous communities. Her analytical expertise lies in advanced chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques for targeted and untargeted flavour profiling, integrated with sensory and consumer evaluation approaches.

The following Coursework Masters research projects are available:

• Characterising the odour-active compounds in Australian native bushfoods
• Developing novel beverages and snacks using Australian native bushfoods
• Investigating the alcohol composition in distilled beverages.

Please register your interest by emailing m.bekker@uq.edu.au

Active projects:

• A Deadly Solution: Combining Traditional Knowledge and Western Science for an Indigenous-led Bushfood Industry (ARC Discovery-Indigenous)
• Maximising flavour throughout the vanilla production process (Faculty of Science BIRRST Partner 2024 funding scheme)
• Exploring the Flavour Potential of Australian Cocoa (Faculty of Science BIRRST Partner 2024 funding scheme)
• Unlocking Nature's Signals: Discovering the Semiochemicals for Effective Management of Australian Native Sugarcane Soldier Fly(Sugar Research Australia’s 2024 Sugar Industry Research Award Round)
• Optimising Cold Brew Tea Extraction and Concentration Processes (FaBA Industry Kickstarter)

Recently completed projects:

• Identifying heirloom sugarcane varieties with high sugar and unique flavour profiles (UQ’s Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (AFIA) Industry Kickstarter Grant program)
• Identifying the desirable flavour, aroma, and sensory profiles of novel Australian native lime hybrids (UQ’s Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (AFIA) Industry Kickstarter Grant program)

Dr. Sewunet Admasu Belachew (PhD, MSc, BPharm) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the FNCWR Program at the University of Queensland. He is involved in linked data analysis surrounding cancer, also participating in the investigation of the risk of cardiovascular events and outcomes among Australians with a cancer diagnosis. He takes the lead and collaborates in undertaking various research projects (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research), especially related to cancer and antimicrobial use and resistance surveillance, as well as control.

Before pursuing his PhD, Dr. Belachew served as a lecturer, clinical preceptor, and mentor/supervisor at the University of Gondar in Ethiopia, where he taught courses such as pharmacotherapy, pharmacoepidemiology, and clinical pharmacy practice. In 2023, he completed his PhD at the University of Queensland. Since 2015, he has published over 53 peer-reviewed articles, with citation so far: 1700+, H-index:26, i10-Index:32. His research has garnered attention from esteemed institutions and media outlets including the World Health Organization, the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Health Reporter, Medscape, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Conversation and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Insights. underscoring the significance of his contributions to shaping policy and practice. In addition, one of his articles has been referred in two policy documents by the World Health Organization. During his PhD study, he worked as a casual academic at the University of Queensland and a research assistant at Menzies Health Institute-Centre for Applied Health Economics, Griffith University.

Dr. Belachew is an experienced medical and public health researcher (especially in antimicrobial resistance control and cancer research), academic, and chief pharmacist, with over six years of experience. He has been recently nominated for the Faculty of Medicine Graduate of the Year Award at the University of Queensland due to his outstanding research output/track record. He has demonstrated ability in writing research grants, effective teamwork, research project management, and supervising research students. Dr. Belachew has been invited to speak in numerous scientific research meetings, including the Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research organised by the National Cancer Institute of the USA (after winning prestigious travel grant), the International Congress of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy in Perth, Australia and the Australasian Epidemiological Association Annual and Early Career Researchers conference. He is a director for membership of the Pharmaco-economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Ethiopian regional chapter and a board member of the Ethiopian Organisation for Cancer Prevention and Research. Moreover, he is also one of the few Ethiopian Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) alumni.