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Associate Professor Muttenthaler is a medicinal chemist working at the interface of chemistry and biology with a strong passion for translational research. His research focuses on bioactive peptides and exploring Nature's biodiversity to develop advanced molecular tools, diagnostics, and therapeutics. His background in drug discovery and development, as well as his interdisciplinary training in the fields of chemistry, molecular biology and pharmacology, assist him in characterising these often highly potent and selective compounds to study their interactions with human physiology for medical innovations in pain, cancer, gut disorders and neurological diseases.

Dr Greta Nabbs-Keller, Research Fellow Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific

Greta’s research program builds on the Centre for Policy Futures' Trade, Foreign and Security policy alignment. It focusses on how Southeast Asian states are managing major power contest in the Indo-Pacific and what this means for Australia’s policy choices.

As ASEAN’s leading state in economic, demographic and diplomatic terms, how Indonesia responds unilaterally and through ASEAN-centred multilateral mechanisms to systemic forces catalysed by major power tensions will shape the Indo-Pacific region’s future prosperity and stability. Looking through the prism of Indonesia, Greta’s research examines Southeast Asia’s policy options with regard to increasing competition over regional infrastructure development and the use of grey zone operations employed by authoritarian states in the maritime and cyber domains. It will examine the nexus between domestic political imperatives and foreign policy decision-making in Southeast Asia’s relations with major powers China, India, Japan and the US. The research project builds on an extant body of research examining ideational and institutional shifts in Indonesia’s foreign policy and the impact of domestic political change on Jakarta’s relations with China, ASEAN and Australia.

Greta has served in previous analytical and policy roles at both federal and state government levels. She is experienced in strategic policy formulation, intelligence reporting and assessment, intergovernmental relations and defence diplomacy. Greta has extensive experience working on the bilateral defence relationship with Indonesia and received a Secretary's Commendation for support to Defence Operation Sumatra Assist I & II in response to the 2004-2005 Aceh tsunami crisis. She finished her Australian Public Service career with the Defence Intelligence Organisation as a Senior Indonesia Analyst and continues to utilise her Indonesia country expertise in consulting, research, and international development roles. Greta contributes regularly to media and think-tank analysis on regional strategic, political and foreign policy issues, and engages with policy communities through submissions, dialogues, conferences and executive educations programs.

Her broader research interests include Indonesian civil-military relations, Indonesia-China relations, politico-security developments in Southeast Asia, and Australian regional foreign policy.

Dr Cresha Gracy Nadar is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Crop Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland. Her work sits at the interface of biotechnology, bioprocess engineering, and sustainability assessment, advancing solutions for a more resilient and low-carbon agri-food future.

Cresha’s research focuses on emerging biotechnologies; ongoing projects include precision fermentation for alternative food proteins, plant tissue culture for sustainable propagation, and seaweed valorisation for functional ingredients. She combines process modelling, life-cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) to evaluate the environmental and economic performance of innovative biomanufacturing systems.

Her PhD, jointly awarded by IIT Bombay (India) and Monash University (Australia), developed an integrated fruit waste biorefinery and assessed its sustainability through LCA and TEA. At UQ, she continues to bridge engineering realism with sustainability metrics, collaborating with academic and industry partners to translate laboratory innovations into scalable, commercially viable, and environmentally responsible technologies.

Prof. Mithulan has a Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. His B.Sc. (Eng.) and M. Eng. degrees are from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand, in May 1993 and August 1997, respectively. Prior to joining the University of Queensland from 2009, Mithulan was at the Energy Field of Study, AIT. His previous professional positions include Planning Engineer at Generation Planning division at Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Sri Lanka and Project Leader, at the Centre of Excellence in Electric Power Technology (CEEPT) at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

His main research interest is on Grid Integration of Renewable Energy (GIRE). In this research topic, he has been leading the research in two themes: Planning and Operational Planning of grid integration of renewable energy. He conducted significant amount of research relating to Large Scale PV plants - better known as LSPV. His research has been used by industries and received high citations. Based on his research, he published over 375 articles, including one book, eight book chapters, technical reports, refereed journal and conference papers.

He had supervised 31 Ph.D. students (UQ, CQU, UNSW, UNITEN and AIT), 50 research Masters (at AIT) and over 200 thesis project students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels to successful completion. He had been involved in over 30 projects (research, teaching and learning) with a total budget of over 4 million AU$, as a principal or co-principal investigator. His recent grants are from Australian Research Council (ARC), Government of India, Indonesia and Malaysisa and Sterling Wilson Company. Previous projects were funded by European Union (EU) and other international donor agencies such as Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), NORAD, ARC, CSIRO and Australian Power Institute (API). His research network includes most of the member nations in ASEAN, other Asian countries such as India, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and a number of European countries (France, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, The Netherlands). He also served as the Coordinator of Energy Field of Study and Director of Regional Energy Resource Information Centre (RERIC), at AIT, from September 2005 to December 2007.

He had been the Director of Higher Degree Research (HDR) studies and Post Graduate Coordinator at the school of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, since July 2019, until January 2025, looking after the welfare of over 300 higher degree research scholars.

He was invited to join the editorial board of the American Institute of Mathematical Sciences Electronic Engineering Journal - an international open access journal. He is a senior member of IEEE.

Nadeem is an Associate Professor of Accounting and Co-lead of the Business Sustainability Initiative (BSI) research hub at the University of Queensland (UQ) Business School. Before joining UQ, he held academic positions at the University of Otago and Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.

Nadeem’s research spans interdisciplinary areas, including corporate governance, corporate social and environmental responsibility, and financial and non-financial disclosures, with a particular focus on climate change reporting. His work has been published in leading journals [ABDC A*/ABS4/FT50] such as The British Accounting Review, British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, and Corporate Governance: An International Review, among others. His research has earned multiple Best Paper Awards at prestigious conferences, including the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) and the Corporate Governance SIG of the European Academy of Management (EURAM). Additionally, he has been recognized with awards such as the Best Emerging Researcher and has contributed expert commentary to media outlets like The Conversation and Newsroom.

A sought-after speaker, Nadeem has delivered keynote addresses and research seminars at international universities and conferences. He has also organized multiple international conferences and actively engages with standard-setting bodies, including the External Reporting Board (XRB) in New Zealand and the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB), contributing through research forums and panel facilitation. As a dedicated member of the academic community, Nadeem serves on the editorial boards of journals such as Meditari Accountancy Research (Associate Editor) and the Journal of Intellectual Capital (Editorial Advisory Board member) and regularly reviews for top-tier journals.

Nadeem teaches a range of accounting courses, including Sustainability Accounting and Reporting, Cost and Management Accounting, and Advanced Management Accounting, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has successfully supervised six (06) PhD students to completion, with his graduates now holding faculty positions at leading international universities. He continues to welcome new supervisees in his areas of expertise. He has also served as an examiner for several PhD theses.

With a strong leadership background, Nadeem has held several academic leadership roles, including Co-lead of the BSI research hub at UQ, Deputy Associate Dean of Postgraduate Programs, and Director of the Master of Professional Accounting degree at the University of Otago.

Nadeem is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) and the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ).

Learn more about his research at the following links:

Google Scholar ID: XFJ46cEAAAAJ

Scopus ID: 57193715133

ResearcherID: AAD-2362-2019

ORCID: 0000-0002-8877-4400

Want to know more about the Business Sustainability Initiative (BSI) research hub? Click here.

Dr Yuriko Nagata’s research interests include: Japanese diaspora in Australia and Pacific, and culture in Japanese language studies.

Her current research projects include:

• Cultural and social diversity in Japanese language material
• The Japanese community of Torres Strait
• The Japanese Diaspora in Australia: Gendered perspective

She was a member of the Conference Organising

Dr Masnun Naher is a synthetic chemist specialising in organic and metal-organic molecular design, with a particular emphasis on understanding the electronic properties of compounds, electrochemistry, and catalysis. She obtained her B.Sc. (Hons) and Master's in Chemistry from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Sylhet, Bangladesh. In 2014, she began as a Lecturer at SUST. In 2018, she received the prestigious Forrest Research Foundation Scholarship package which includes the Australian Government RTP Scholarship (success rate less than 5%), enabling her to pursue a PhD at The University of Western Australia under Professor Paul Low. She completed her PhD in 2022 and is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Queensland.

Dr. Pyi Naing is a dual-trained cardiologist and general physician with subspecialty expertise in Echocardiography. His clinical and academic interests include evaluation and management of breathlessness, pulmonary hypertension, chronic heart failure, cardiac risk assessment and valvular heart diseases.

His advanced cardiology training was at The Prince Charles Hospital, the premier cardiac hospital in Australia where he earned the fellowship of Royal Australian College of Physicians (FRACP) in cardiology. He continued his training as an echocardiography fellow at the same hospital and gained further skills in all aspects of echocardiography including transesophageal, transthoracic and stress echocardiography.

Dr Naing is also a well published clinical academic with an MPhil degree from University of Notre Dame, Australia. He is currently completing a Ph.D. degree by studying novel methods to improve the care for breathless patients. He holds a senior lecturer position at the School of Medicine, University of Queensland. He has public appointments in Caboolture Hospital and The Prince Charles Hospital as a consultant cardiologist. He is bilingual in Burmese and English.

Nyssa Nair is an expert in risk management and hazard identification for industrial processes, with a strong focus on advancing process safety education. Over the past 15 years, she has worked in academia and industry, specialising in risk management, process optimisation, process control and data-driven decision-making.

Nyssa has hands-on industry experience in a Major Hazard Facility processing hydrocarbons for polypropylene production, providing her with a practical foundation for her teaching and research. She currently lectures at The University of Queensland (UQ), with the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC), delivering postgraduate coursework and industry short courses in process safety and system safety. Her academic work explores the integration of artificial intelligence in chemical engineering, with a particular interest in how emerging technologies can support safer, more resilient industrial operations. Nyssa is passionate about equipping the next generation of engineers with the tools and mindset needed to lead in safety-critical environments.

Dr Ebinazar Namdas is an Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland. Dr Namdas has a strong international track record in the field of organic optoelectronics materials and device research across several platforms including organic transistors, light emitting transistors, OLEDS, organic lasers, and photo-sensors. He has published more than 110 papers in top international journals including 15 x Advanced Materials; 4 x Nature Communications; 7 x Advanced Functional Materials; 11 x Advanced Optical Materials; Nature Materials; Nature Photonics; Science; 3 x Laser & Photonics Reviews; 2 x JACS; 5 x ACS Photonics and 10 x Applied Physics Letters. Additionally, he has co-authored the first ever academic textbook on semiconducting and metallic polymers with Nobel Laureate Professor Alan Heeger and Professor Serdar Sariciftci. The book, titled Semiconducting and Metallic Polymers was published by Oxford University Press. Currently, Dr Namdas is an Editorial board member of Communications Materials (nature.com).

For more information, visit the AMIO group website.

Dr. Morteza Namvar is a Senior Lecturer at the UQ Business School and a member of Future of health - Business School - University of Queensland. He specializes in Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Large Language Models (LLMs) in business contexts. With a foundation in computer science and IT engineering, he brings interdisciplinary expertise to his research, focusing on the application of ML-driven solutions in organizational and healthcare settings.

Morteza is deeply committed to advancing ML, NLP, and LLM research in business and healthcare, mentoring PhD and HDR students in leveraging these technologies to drive innovation, automation, and efficiency across various industries. He has successfully secured competitive funding for multiple ML and NLP projects and has published extensively in leading IS and computer science journals and conferences.

Beyond research, Morteza is passionate about educating the next generation of ML practitioners. His teaching focuses on hands-on ML development using Python, equipping students with the technical skills and confidence needed to excel in the rapidly evolving field of machine learning.

Ashok is a Professor of Energy Storage at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland (UQ). As a nanomaterial (carbon) and energy expert, he previously served as the Chief Scientific Officer at a listed company specialising in graphene production and applications. Ashok has received prestigious fellowships, including Marie-Curie, JSPS-Japan, and UQ Fellowship, and has secured several million AUD in funding for his research.

He has authored over 100 published papers and holds seven filed patents in the fields of nanomaterials and energy. His work has been featured in esteemed journals such as Chemical Review, ACS Nano, Advanced Energy Materials, Energy & Environmental Science, Nature Protocols, and Chemical Communications. Ashok is also dedicated to mentoring young researchers and students to advance the frontiers of materials science and energy storage.