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Dr Ai Nguyen is a geochemist specialising in trace element and isotope analysis, laboratory operations, and geochemical method development. He manages the Environmental Geochemistry Laboratory at The University of Queensland, supporting research across Earth and environmental sciences with high-precision elemental data.

Dr Nguyen has supported a wide range of research across geoscience, environmental science, and interdisciplinary fields. His analytical expertise contributes to projects involving resource exploration, environmental monitoring, materials science, and the development of new technologies. He collaborates with researchers from diverse disciplines, including Earth sciences, biomedical research, and energy and resources, to provide high-quality geochemical data that underpins innovative and impactful research

As a senior scientist and laboratory manager, he plays a key role in mentoring HDR students and early-career researchers, and in maintaining quality assurance systems that underpin reliable data and safe operations. His work enhances UQ’s analytical capabilities and contributes to sustainable resource and environmental management.

Mai Nguyen is a Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Queensland. She also holds an honorary academic position at Thuongmai University, Vietnam. Her research interest is sustainable behaviour change, online knowledge sharing, and artificial intelligence.

Mai Nguyen has published more than 30 journal articles in Journal of Business Research, British Journal of Management, Journal of Knowledge Management, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, International Marketing Review, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Knowledge Management and Practice, Transactions on Engineering Management, and Tourism Geographies, among others.

Her contribution has been recoginsed with multiple awards for teaching, research and industry engagement, including: Outstanding Research Award (2021), Excellence in Industry Engagement Award (2021), Outstanding Leadership Award (2021), Outstanding Paper Award in the 5th International Conference on Hospitality and Tourism (2020), Outstanding Master Thesis Award (2012).

Find her at:

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=R-G2tX0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao‪

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuyetmainguyen/

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mai-Nguyen-313

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mai__Nguyen

Dr Giang Nguyen-Thu is a Senior Lecturer and a DECRA Research Fellow at the School of Communication and Arts, University of Queensland. She is affiliated with the Center for Digital Cultures and Societies, UQ.

Dr Nguyen-Thu is currently working on her DECRA project “Too quick or too slow: Digital temporalities in networked Vietnam” (2024-2027). For this project, she explores the multiple, tangled, and contesting temporalities, or the lived experiences of time, on the ground of digital development in Vietnam. Through various case studies, she will investigate digital temporalities as plotted on the interstices of social habits, historical burdens, infrastructural layers, and human subjectivities to challenge the illusion of frictionless technological expansion.

Dr Nguyen-Thu’s interest in the cultural politics of digital time-making stems from her lasting curiosity about the interplay between media and the rapid process of economic development in Vietnam after the Reform (Đổi Mới) in 1986. Her first monograph, Television in Post-Reform Vietnam: Nation, Media, Market (Routledge 2019), explores how the advent of popular television reshapes the sense of national belonging in Vietnam. This monograph is the first scholarly book about contemporary Vietnamese media in the English language.

In addition to her independent research, Dr Nguyen-Thu serves as a chief investigator of the collaborative ARC Discover Project “Digital Transaction Platforms in Asia” (2022-2026), led by Assoc. Prof Adrian Athique. For this DP project, she investigates the gendered dimensions of digital transactions in Vietnam, focusing on the experiences of male delivery workers and female online retailers.

A/Prof Wayne Nicholls is a highly regarded paediatric oncologist who currently holds the position of Director of the Oncology Services Group at Queensland Children’s Hospital. Additionally, he serves as the Clinical Director of the Ian Frazer Centre for Children’s Immunotherapy Research (IFCCIR) at the University of Queensland. A/Prof Nicholls is committed to supporting the translation of research into clinical practice, with a particular emphasis on the treatment of paediatric, adolescent, and young adult (AYA) brain tumours and sarcomas.

He is a strong advocate for the advancement of immunotherapy research and treatment options for children with cancer. Under his leadership at the IFCCIR, efforts are focused on the development of novel and innovative immunotherapies that address the unique challenges associated with high-risk paediatric cancers and other immune-related diseases. His work is driven by a deep commitment to improving outcomes for young patients and their families.

Dr Mansoureh Nickbakht is a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland Centre for Hearing Research (CHEAR). She is a qualitative researcher and her research mainly focuses on improving hearing services. Currently, she is working on a NHMRC-funded project to improve access to the hearing services program for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia.

Professor Lars Nielsen is leading the development of experimental and computational tools to analyse and design complex biological systems. His expertise in metabolic modelling and flux analysis is available nowhere else in Australia – and in few labs across the world. Professor Nielsen’s studies of biological systems as diverse as bacteria, baker's yeast, sugarcane, insects and mammals has attracted industrial partnerships with companies including Dow, Metabolix, Amyris, LanzaTech, Boeing, Virgin Australia and GE. These metabolic engineering partnerships have focussed on developing new ways of producing aviation fuel, various materials and bioactives (antibiotics, biopesticides, monoclonal antibodies). Professor Nielsen is also applying system analysis and design approaches to tissue engineering including novel strategies for generating microtissues for drug screening and using stem cells to produce red and white blood cells for transfusion.

International links

Professor Nielsen collaborates with some of the world’s pre-eminent metabolic engineers. A joint project with Prof Sang Yup Lee (KAIST, Korea) enabled several extended mutual visits to explore use of sugar for higher value products. A separate project focused on producing synthetic aviation fuel based on isoprenoids involves Professor Nielsen collaborating with global synthetic biotechnology company Amyris and leading isoprenoid metabolic engineer Professor Jay Keasling, from UC Berkeley. Professor Nielsen has secured $8million since 2006 from industry through research grants with US, European, Japanese, Korean, New Zealand and Australian companies.

Mark joined the School of Psychology in 2002 as a UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellow after completing his PhD at La Trobe University. His research interests lie in a range of inter-related aspects of socio-cognitive development in young human children and non-human primates. His current research is primarily focused on charting the origins and development of human cultural cognition.

He is:

• a Senior Research Associate, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
• a member of: Association for Psychological Science; Society for Research in Child Development; Australasian Human Development Association
• an Associate Editor: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology; PLoS ONE
• an Editorial Consultant: Child Development; Developmental Science

Dr Timo Nieminen received his PhD from The University of Queensland in 1996.

Dr Nieminen's research interests are in the fields of:

• Light Scattering
• Optical Trapping and Micromanipulation
• Computational Electromagnetics
• Photonics
• Biological and Industrial Applications of Light Scattering and the Interaction of Light and Matter

His chief research projects are in the areas of:

• Full-Wave Electromagnetic Modelling of the Production of Optical Forces and Torques in Laser Trapping
• Optical Measurement of Microscopic Forces and Torques
• Extremely Asymmetrical Scattering in Bragg Gratings
• Micro-Opto-Mechanical Systems (MOMS)

I am a registered medical practitioner with a PhD from The University of Queensland. My doctoral work was in the field of population health, and focused on the use of N-of-1 trial methodology in clinical practice. I have two major research areas: N-of-1 trials/Single Case Experimental Designs (SCEDs), and whiplash and other musculoskeletal pain after Road Traffic Crashes.

I played a key role in setting up and sustaining UQ’s N-of-1 trials Unit since 1998, and am a key driver of its success, resulting in UQ becoming a world leader in N-of-1 trials since 2009. . Building on my 20 year clinical research career at UQ, I lead the research program at UQCCR in N-of-1 trials, and am a recognised leader in this field both in Australia and internationally. In addition, my skills include trial design and management more broadly.

I am also working at Recover Injury Research Centre in the field of recovery following Road Traffic injuries. Within the Designing Better Therapies research program, my main focus is on improving early management and reducing opioid prescribing for minor musculoskeletal injuries after Road Traffic Crashes. My other area of research is in applying Single Case Experimental Designs to work towards better therapies after injury, especially when caused by Road Traffic Crashes.

Dr. Thao Ninh obtained her PhD degree from School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland in 2021. Her research during her doctoral studies aimed to uncover the function of the Heterotrimeric G proteins in plants. By using gene editing technology CRISPR/Cas9 to knockout G alpha and G beta gene in tomato, Dr. Thao found that the phenotypes of tomato G alpha/beta-knockout mutants are very similar to those observed in monocots, but not in Arabidopsis. Her research results, therefore, raise important questions about whether some G protein functions/signaling have been lost in Arabidopsis during evolution. In 2023, Dr. Thao joined the Mitter group as postdoctoral researcher. Her current research focuses on using CRISPR/Ca9 technology in crop improvement including modulation in fruit appearance in strawberry, disease resistance in tomato, plant architecture in avocado and other preferred traits of various crops.

Dr. Mehwish Nisar is a medical doctor, academic, and public health researcher with a diverse background spanning clinical practice and higher education.

She is a mixed-methods researcher specialising in chronic disease and health behaviours, with a strong focus on diverse communities. As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, UQ, she leads projects that apply mixed-methods, co-design, and implementation science to improve health outcomes in underserved populations.

In her role as an MD Academic at UQ, Dr. Nisar draws on over a decade of teaching experience across medical schools and tertiary institutions in Australia and abroad. Her commitment to excellence in university teaching is reflected in her recognition as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

At the heart of her work is a dedication to advancing health equity through evidence-based and culturally responsive approaches. She brings expertise in research design, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, knowledge translation, and building meaningful partnerships with community organisations.

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Professor Nissen is Director, and Taylor Family Chair, of the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health (CBEH), Faculty of Business Economics and Law at The University of Queensland. She has been a prominent health practitioner leader, educator, researcher, and implementation scientist nationally and internationally for more than 25 years. A pharmacist by training, her research has driven major health system change, notably leading to the introduction of immunization services by pharmacists throughout Australia (Queensland Pharmacists Immunization Pilot (QPIP), (2014-15) and more recently the Urinary Tract Infection Pharmacy Pilot – Queensland (UTIPP-Q, 2020-21), both Australian firsts. Before joining UQ, Lisa was previously Head of the School of Clinical Sciences at QUT (2012-22) overseeing the training for 2,500 students per year across seven clinical disciplines. In late 2022 she returned to UQ, taking on a new and innovative role as Director of the EvolveHealth Health Workforce Optimisation Program at CBEH. This program is part of the seven strategic Health Research Accelerator (HERA) initiatives announced by UQ in 2022, which will address some of the most pressing health and medical challenges of today.

Lisa has had career-long leadership and executive roles with national boards and state committees including the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia, Family Planning Queensland, and Hepatitis Queensland. Professor Nissen was a ministerial appointment to the Queensland Health Interim Pharmacy Round Table overseeing the implementation of a council to govern pharmacy ownership in Queensland. She is also a ministerial appointment to the Queensland Health Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board. She is on governance boards various other health organization groups including the Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand Board, and the AHPRA scheduled medicines expert committee.

Professor Nissen focuses on strategic collaborations across the healthcare continuum with key partnerships in government, professional boards, associations, university, and other industry and consumer groups. These have led to the implementation of multiple complex practice change interventions. She has a proven record of bringing together these groups to focus on establishing multidisciplinary care teams to provide consumer-centric health care. This often means challenging currently held views of the scope of practice of health professionals, drawing on her high-level collaboration and negotiation skills.

Professor Nissen has supervised more than 80 higher degree research students and published over 180 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 200 professional publications. She has given more than 250 invited keynotes, plenary, and workshop presentations. In the past 5 years she has generated more than $9M in competitive research funding.

Dr Marloes Dekker Nitert is an Associate Professor at The University of Queensland. Marloes is a biomedical researcher with a PhD from Lund University in Sweden. Her research focuses on the role of metabolism in complications of pregnancy. She currently heads a laboratory research group at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences studying the role of metabolism in pregnancy complications and especially how the gut microbiome contributes to a healthy pregnancy and to pregnancy complications. Marloes works closely together with clinician-scientists and clinicians at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and the Mater Mothers' Hospital to do her translational research. Marloes is a board member of the Australian Society for Medical Research and a past Council member of the Society of Obstetric Medicine Australia and New Zealand.