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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.

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

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.

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)

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, researcher, and academic whose work spans clinical practice, public health research, and higher education. Her research expertise lies in mixed-methods investigations of chronic diseases and their complications. She is especially focused on promoting appropriate and equitable healthcare access among diverse and underserved populations.

Currently serving as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, she spearheads initiatives that integrate mixed-methods research, co-design principles, implementation science, and consumer and community involvement in research to enhance health outcomes for CALD communities living with hearing loss. She is a committee member of the IH SIG, Public Health Australia.

As an Academic at UQ, Dr. Nisar leverages more than ten years of teaching experience gained across medical schools and tertiary institutions in Australia and internationally. Her dedication to high-quality university education is formally acknowledged through her recognition as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Central to Dr. Nisar's professional mission is the pursuit of health equity through culturally responsive, evidence-informed strategies. She offers comprehensive skills in research methodology, qualitative and quantitative analysis, knowledge translation, and fostering collaborative relationships with community-based organisations.

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.

Michael has over 30 years’ experience in clinical medicine (infectious diseases & paediatrics) and clinical laboratory microbiology with a particular interest in the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases and the diagnosis of infectious diseases in hospital, public health and industry settings. He recently took up the inaugural Director of Research at The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane.

He is a past Principal Medical Officer and Director of CoVID-19 Pharmacovigilance at the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Department of Health & Ageing, Australian Government (2021-2022), Director of Scientific Affairs & Public Health for GSK Vaccines in the Greater China Intercontinental region based in Singapore (2014-2020) and Director of Infectious Diseases at the Royal Children’s Hospital-Brisbane and a practising Clinical Microbiologist at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospitals (2000-2014). Michael is a past full member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group for Immunisation from 2007 to 2013.

Prof. Nissen has 223 peer-reviewed medical publications and book chapters, a h- index of 64 with 13,321 citations of his work to date. His research interests include the epidemiology and prevention of vaccine preventable diseases and the rapid molecular diagnostic techniques of infectious diseases.

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.

Michael Noad graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from UQ in 1990. After working primarily as a small animal vet in Queensland and the UK, Mike returned to Australia to undertake a PhD in humpback whale acoustic behaviour at the University of Sydney in 1995. In 2002, after finishing his PhD, Mike became a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Integraitve Biology at UQ. In 2003 he was employed as a lecturer in the School of Veterinary Science. He is currently a professor at UQ, dividing his time between veterinary science, where he teaches anatomy, and marine science, the focus of his research. In 2019 he became the Academic Director of the Moreton Bay Research Station, and in 2022 the Director of the Centre for Marine Science while still retaining a substantive apointment in the School of Veterinary Science.

Research:

The key areas of Mike's research are the effects of anthopogenic underwater noise on whales, the evolution and function of humpback whale song, social learning and culture in animals, and marine mammal population ecology. With regards to the effects of anthropogenic underwater noise on whales, there is currently a great deal of concern about how anthropogenic noise such as military sonar, oil and gas exploration activity and commercial shipping traffic, may adversely affect marine mammals. Mike has been involved in several large collaborative projects in this area, the largest being BRAHSS where the team studied the behavioural changes of humpback whales in response to powerful seismic airguns. His work on the evolution and function of humpback whale song is focused on how the animals themselves use sound to communicate. The songs of these whales is one of the most complex acoustic displays of any animal known. The songs are not static, but constantly change, and although the songs are almost certainly used as a sexual signal, the changing nature of the song makes understanding how this works challenging. His work on social learning and culture in animals also involves humpback whale songs, but focuses on how the whales learn the songs from each other, both within and between populations. As the patterns are usually unique to a population but can be transmitted over time to other populations, humpback song is the most extreme example of a vocal cultural trait in any species as well as an excellent model for studying social learning, the process whereby the whales perceive and learn new songs. Mike's last research area is marine mammal population ecology, and the primary project is the population ecology of the east Australian humpback whales. This population was almost completely extirpated in the early 1960s through hunting, but has since undergone a rapid recovery. Its long term trajectory, however, is uncertain due to a number of factors including possibly overshooting the natural carrying capacity of the population, and climate change.

Christy is registered pharmacist with more than 17 years’ experience as a clinical educator and educational researcher, in both academic and clinical settings. Her clinical education experiences have been underpinned by my formal postgraduate qualifications, Master of Education (Clinical Education) and Doctor of Philosophy (Pharmacy Education). Her Doctor of Philosophy (University of Queensland, 2014) examined pharmacy curriculum and its influence on professional identity formation. This research has served as a platform for an ongoing research program in workplace learning in medical and health professional education, which has been recognised internationally.

I’m an Associate Professor of Psychology driven by the goal of safeguarding humanity’s future through effective AI governance. My career began with a strong focus on evidence synthesis, meta-analysis, and knowledge translation in health, education, and leadership settings. This background honed my ability to tackle large, complex problems by integrating insights from multiple research disciplines, and by designing interventions that reach people at scale.

I now channel these skills into understanding and mitigating the risks posed by advanced artificial intelligence. Drawing on my experience leading large, multi-stakeholder projects, I use rigorous methods—from systematic reviews to agile-based project management—to generate robust, transparent evidence for policymakers and practitioners. Through roles such as Director at Effective Altruism Australia, I also contribute to shaping philanthropic and public policy strategies around AI risk.

Ultimately, my work aims to merge best-practice research with real-world solutions, ensuring that advanced AI is developed and governed responsibly for the long-term benefit of society.