Find an expert

Dr Kim-Huong Nguyen is a Senior Lecturer in Health Economics at the University of Queensland. Her research centres on the efficient and equitable allocation of resources to support brain health in disadvantaged populations. She applies economic methods and theories to evaluate interventions, programmes and public policies for neurodegenerative diseases, brain injuries, and mental disorders. As a Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health with the Global Brain Health Institute (Trinity College Dublin and University of California, San Francisco), she collaborates closely with multidisciplinary teams—including artists, medical professionals, engineers, industry partners, advocates, and health and social care consumers—to advance knowledge and transform practices for brain health.

Biography:

Anh Nguyen is a professor at the School of Chemical Engineering where he held the BMA (BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance) Chair from 2007 till 2017. He previously held academic positions at the University of Newcastle (Australia), the University of Utah (USA) and the Technical University of Kosice (Czechoslovakia). He was awarded an ARC (Australian Research Council) Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (Germany). His relevant publications include a research book on the colloidal science of flotation, 3 edited volumes, 15 book chapters (invited) and over 350 papers in refereed journals. He has an editorial role on Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, and International Journal of Mineral Processing.

Research:

Professor Nguyen’s research interests embrace various colloid and interfacial science and engineering aspects. His current research focuses on colloid and interface science of particles, bubbles and drops in surfactant solutions and saline water. The ultimate applications include coal and minerals processing, saline water usage and treatment, foliar fertilisers, smart self-cleaning materials, hydrophobic hydration and hydrates of natural gas, and particle separation. His research funding has come from industry partners (BMA, BHP Billiton, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, OneSteel, Agrichem) and agencies (ARC and ACARP). He is the Leader of the Mineral Processing and Interfacial Processes group.

Teaching and Learning:

Professor Nguyen aims to encourage critical thinking, understanding and application of fundamental principles. The objective is to engage students by providing a stimulating learning process and environment at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, relevant to the changing focus of national and global economic importance. He has taught a number of courses, including colloid and surface chemistry, particle processing and technology, unit operation, coal and mineral processing, flotation, computing and design laboratory, process modelling and simulation. He is currently an academic and international advisor for chemical and metallurgical engineering.

Projects:

1. Saline Water: molecular phenomena and engineering of saline water-air interfaces, water desalination, salt flotation, coal flotation in sea water and tailings processing. Foliar Fertilizers and Pesticides: self-assembly of colloids from evaporating droplets on leaf surfaces.
2. Gas Hydrates: role of hydrophobic hydration and additives in gas hydrate formation for storage and transportation.
3. Nanomaterials: surface self-assembly of surfactants and nanobubbles
4. Hydrometallurgy: role of colloidal forces and surface chemistry in bacteria attachment in bioleaching, and leaching of minerals in brine solutions.
5. Mineral Processing: role of microhydrodynamics and colloidal forces in bubble-particle collection in flotation, surface electrochemistry of sulfide flotation, flotation of ultrafine particles, flotation of coarse particles and composite particles.
6. Foam and Froth: drainage and stability of thin films of saline water, role of particle shape and hydrophobicity in foam drainage and stability, foamed cements.
7. Molecular (MC and MD) modeling and validation by VSFG spectroscopy of the partition of salt ions and surfactants at the interfaces of liquid films relevant to flotation, bubble columns and oil processing.

Dr Quan Nguyen is a Group Leader at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), The University of Queensland. He is leading the Genomics and Machine Learning (GML) lab to study neuroinflammation and cancer-immune cells at single-cell resolution and within spatial morphological tissue context. His research interest is about revealing gene and cell regulators that determine the states of the complex cancer and neuronal ecosystems. Particularly, he is interested in quantifying cellular diversity and the dynamics of cell-cell interactions within the tissues to find ways to improve cancer diagnosis or cell-type specific treatments or the immunoinflammation responses that cause neuronal disease.

Using machine learning and genomic approaches, his group are integrating single-cell spatiotemporal sequencing data with tissue imaging data to find causal links between cellular genotypes, tissue microenvironment, and disease phenotypes. GML lab is also developing experimental technologies that enable large-scale profiling of spatial gene and protein expression (spatial omics) in a range of cancer tissues (focusing on brain and skin cancer) and in mouse brain and spinal cord.

Dr Quan Nguyen completed a PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Queensland in 2013, postdoctoral training in Bioinformatics at RIKEN institute in Japan in 2015, a CSIRO Office of Chief Executive (OCE) Research Fellowship in 2016, an IMB Fellow in 2018, an Australian Research Council DECRA fellowship (2019-2021), and is currently a National Health and Medical Research Council leadership fellow (EL2). He has published in top-tier journals, including Cell, Cell Stem Cell, Nature Methods, Nature Protocols, Nature Communications, Genome Research, Genome Biology and a prize-winning paper in GigaScience. In the past three years, he has contributed to the development of x8 open-source software, x2 web applications, and x4 databases for analysis of single-cell data and spatial transcriptomics. He is looking for enthusiastic research students and research staff to join his group.

Dr. Nguyen is an expert in applying long-read Oxford Nanopore Sequencing Technologies (ONT) in agriculture, particularly livestock and other sectors. Her groundbreaking contributions include being the pioneer in sequencing the genomes of Brahman and Wagyu cattle, developing an innovative epigenetic clock for age prediction in cattle, and successfully implementing ONT portable sequencers for Blockchain traceability systems in Australia.

As a leader in the field, Dr. Nguyen spearheads the use of ONT long-read technology to scaffold genome assemblies in livestock, plants, protists, and insects. Her multidisciplinary expertise in molecular biology, advanced genomics, and animal sciences also empowers her to explore causative markers for commercial SNP arrays and identify significant DNA variants from low-coverage sequencing data sets.

Dr. Nguyen's exceptional achievements and expertise have been acknowledged through the prestigious ARC Industry Fellowship, recognising her as a promising early career researcher. Her work has significantly contributed to advancing genomic research in agriculture and has opened new avenues for utilising ONT sequencing technologies across diverse domains.

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.

Daniel S. Nielsen is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland (UQ). As an academic early career researcher (ECR) and expert in the field of biomolecular drug discovery, he has received multiple academic awards, and holds a decorated publication record. He received his Ph.D. in 2016 from the Institute of Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at UQ and dedicated the following three years of his post graduate career to academic research as post doctoral researcher in David P. Fairlie's (IMB, UQ) and Morten Meldal's (Science, University of Copenhagen) laboratories before venturing into the biotech start-up industry. While holding a position as Head of Peptide Chemistry at San Francisco based start-up, SyntheX (www.synthexlabs.com), he managed pre-clinical cross-team collaborative drug discovery projects in the oncology space and helped secure over $750 million in funding. In 2024, he returned to academia with a focus to foster and drive mRNA drug discovery and development programs.

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.