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I am the Co-Lead for the Alliance for Social Impact Research Hub. The Alliance for Social Impact is a community of UQ Business School researchers focused on organisations with a social purpose. This includes charities, nonprofits, social enterprises, hybrid organisations, and businesses engaged in socially responsible practices.

Profile Summary

Dr Sandro Porceddu is an internationally recognised radiation oncologist and a leading authority in head and neck and skin cancer. With over 20 years experience in medicine his areas of clinical expertise include head and neck cancer, skin cancer, sarcoma and lymphoma. He is currently a senior radiation oncologist and Director of radiation oncology research at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Professor of Medicine, University of Queensland and Associate Editor for the International Head and Neck journal, Oral Oncology.

Dr Porceddu is a nationally and internationally recognised cancer advocate through his involvement in high-level committees, engagement with key policymakers, community education and media roles.

Career Summary

Professor Porceddu completed his medical degree at Monash University before undertaking his residency at Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne. He commenced his specialist training in radiation oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in 1996 and was made Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, Faculty of Radiation Oncology in 2000. After working as a consultant radiation oncologist at PeterMac for several years he moved to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in 2004.

Professional Committees and Organisations

Professor Porceddu has been the President of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA), the peak organisation for cancer-related health professionals, and the Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG), one of the largest cancer collaborative trials group in Australia/New Zealand. He has served on numerous national and international professional and academic committees including the board of the Cancer Council of Australia, the National Cancer Expert Reference Group for the Commonwealth and the International Union for the Control of Cancer (UICC) TNM Expert Advisory Panel.

Currently, he is the Chair of the Cancer Council Queensland Co-operative Oncology Group, a committee that provides over $1.2M per annum to support clinical research throughout Queensland and is on the board of the of the Head and Neck Cancer InterGroup (HNCIG), a group of leading world cancer experts dedicated to promoting the global harmonisation of head and neck cancer research and treatment.

Academic Highlights

Professor Porceddu runs an active clinical research program with over 150 peer-review articles, book chapters, published abstracts, invited reviews and commentaries. He has received invitations to speak at major international conferences such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting and publish in prestigious journals such as the Lancet Oncology and Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Awards

Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group Outstanding Contribution

American Head and Neck Society Chris O’Brien Travelling Scholar

Pre-eminent status by Queensland Health

Rouse Fellowship, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists

Teaching

Dr Porceddu has had a life-long commitment to teaching and is a supervisor and mentor to Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Philosophy candidates, Clinical Research Fellows, MBBS Honours students, resident, registrars and other allied health professionals.

Prof Portmann is the UQ-Cisco Chair of Network Security at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at The University of Queensland (UQ).

He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich in 2003. His research interests include Computer Networks, Cybersecurity, IoT (Internet of Things) and applied AI.

Hugh Possingham's research interests are in conservation research, operations research and ecology. More specifically his lab works on problems to secure the world's biological diversity: efficient nature reserve design, habitat reconstruction, optimal monitoring, optimal management of populations for conservation, cost-effective conservation actions for threatened species, pest control and population harvesting, survey methods for detecting bird decline, bird conservation ecology, environmental accounting and metapopulation dynamics. He has always been actively involved in conservation policy and advocacy - to learn how listen to "The 2023 Univ Canberra Krebs lecture on Science, Maths and Environmental Policy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix2_UamShUw"

Hugh is 40% UQ in the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science to our website homepage (https://cbcs.centre.uq.edu.au/); 10% Accounting for Nature and 10% co-chair of the national Biodiversity Council. He sits on c30 other boards and committees pro bono.

His research projects are in the field of decision theory in conservation biology, including co-developing Marxan MaPP - Marxan (marxansolutions.org):

• Biodiversity offsetting
• Biodiversity markets
• Conservation policy at all levels of government
• Reserve design, biodiversity management and fire regime management
• Population viability analysis (PVA) - including the development of ALEX
• Pollination ecology
• Metapopulation dynamics
• Ecological economics
• Optimal monitoring and environmental accounts
• Stochastic modelling
• Biodiversity and climate change
• Population dynamics of marine organisms
• Marine reserve design
• Marine population dynamics
• Avian community ecology
• Edge effects and fragmentation
• Landscape ecology
• Behavioural and population ecology of parasitoids

Professor Andries B. Potgieter is a Principal Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), University of Queensland, and an international leader in Digital Agriculture. With a career spanning over 35 years across government, industry, and academia, his research integrates remote sensing, climate forecasting, and crop–climate modelling to support resilient, data-driven decision-making in agriculture. He is currently a key research collaborator in the $36 million GRDC-funded Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry (AAGI) initiative, where he leads digital analytics activities within UQ.

Professor Potgieter’s work focuses on developing predictive tools that combine satellite Earth observation, machine learning, and crop simulation to improve seasonal forecasting, crop monitoring, and risk management. He has pioneered widely adopted innovations such as the CropID tool, now commercialised via Data Farming Pty Ltd, and his models have influenced decision frameworks at Statistics Canada and the FAO. His 114 peer-reviewed publications have accrued over 4,000 citations, and his Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) places him in the top 5% of researchers globally.

He has built a thriving interdisciplinary research program and mentoring pipeline, supervising PhD, Masters, and MoDS students, and supporting postdoctoral researchers who now work at AWS, Sugar Research Australia, and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. His leadership in global partnerships has positioned UQ as a preferred academic collaborator for international institutions tackling climate-smart agriculture.

Current projects

• Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry (AAGI) – Digital analytics for yield forecasting and decision tools for grain growers (GRDC)

• CropVision – Satellite remote sensing and AI for field-scale crop production forecasting (ARC Linkage)

• RiskSSmart – Integration of Earth observation and climate models for sorghum risk mitigation (SmartSat CRC)

• Root Phenomics – Linking above-ground sensing to root system architecture to accelerate phenotyping of drought-tolerant cereals (GRDC; Chief Investigator)

• ARC Training Centre for Predictive Breeding in Agricultural Futures – Developing next-generation tools and training pathways for climate-resilient crop improvement (ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centres; Collaborating Investigator)

Previous research highlights

• Late Maturity Alpha Amylase (LMA) Risk Modelling – National-scale risk prediction framework for wheat quality (GRDC)

• CropPhen – High-throughput phenotyping for crop type and growth stage detection via drone/UAV (GRDC)

• SIMLESA and YieldShield – Groundbreaking work in food insecurity mapping and climate risk insurance across eastern and southern Africa

Dr Dana Pourzinal is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Dementia & Neuro Mental Health Research Unit within the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine. From her PhD (2023) and continued research, she has gained extensive expertise in neuroimaging, advanced statistical analysis, and clinical trials, with a particular focus on identifying dementia risk in Parkinson's disease and related therapeutic interventions and biomarkers. Dr Pourzinal's current work aims to improve current clinical practice for people living with Parkinson's disease (MRFF-funded PDCogniCare project) by developing guidelines for the diagnosis and management of cognitive disorders in Parkinson’s disease.

Dr Pourzinal's primary research interests are focussed on cognition in Parkinson's disease (PD) and include:

1. Defining and profiling PD cognitive subtypes using advanced data-driven methods.
2. Neuroimaging biomarkers to predict cognitive decline and dementia risk in PD.
3. Evaluating pharmacological treatments for dementia risk in PD.
4. Longitudinal tracking of cognitive trajectories to inform early intervention strategies in PD.

Jenny leads the Inclusive Education and Employment research group at the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland. She is a Psychologist and obtained her BA Honors, MA and PhD from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa. Before coming to ISSR, Jenny worked as a Chief Researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa in the area of Education effectiveness.

Jenny’s research on social justice and inclusion takes an intersectionality and life course perspective, focusing on inclusive education and labour force outcomes among individuals from a range of marginalised groups e.g., individuals with disabilities, individuals with foster/kinship/residential care experience, individuals with refugee experience, individuals with mental health challenges, and individuals living in socioeconomic disadvantage circumstances. Jenny's work takes a systems approach and includes understanding structural disadvantages and the support systems (e.g., parents/carers, service providers, school staff) that can be used to improve the life outcomes of individuals with complex needs. Jenny's work predominantly focuses on achieving an impact on policy and practice. She has extensive experience in large-scale mixed methods evaluations, using administrative data complemented with survey and qualitative data.

Jenny has worked closely with Government Departments and Ministries both in Australia (e.g., Tasmania DHHS; Australian DoE; Qld DoE; CESE NSW; Australian DSS; Qld DCSSD; Department of Home Affairs) and internationally (e.g., South Africa, Eritrea, Cambodia and the Solomon Islands) to gather research evidence from a wide range of disadvantaged communities to inform policy. Jenny is a Chief Investigator on an ARC Linkage project which investigates how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous children experience Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) using elicitation methods and a longitudinal qualitative research design to provide evidence to improve service agencies’ understanding of children’s experiences in OOHC and how agencies can best support families, carers and communities to promote the social, emotional, and cultural well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous children in OOHC. This research will improve service provider capability and test Government reform interventions. Jenny leads large-scale complex commissioned evaluations and is currently leading the following evaluations: Evaluation of the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot; Evaluation of the Extended Post Care Support Program; and FamilyLinQ Evaluation.

In addition to leading a research group, and teaching professional short courses, Jenny contributes as an Associate Investigator to research for the ARC Centre of Excellence on Families and Children over the Life Course (the Life Course Centre), and supervises HDR and placement students.

Malcolm has applied fundamental comminution research to design and process improvement on over 70 mines worldwide during 40 years at Mintek, UCT, Professor of comminution at the JKMRC in Australia, and through private research companies. His work is published in over 240 papers and has been presented in as many conferences worldwide. Malcolm collaborates extensively, with close compatriots on 5 continents forming the Global Comminution Collaborative (GCC) – providing an expert research and consulting base covering the full comminution process chain. Malcolm provides on-site experiential training and site reviews to empower mine staff to upgrade the productivity and their skills. This is supplemented with formal training workshops on liner design, comminution and Advanced Mine to Mill. Malcolm’s research vision is of integrated total process simulation as a tool for innovation – linking geology, mining, energy and size reduction, gangue rejection and recovery into flexible process design and process optimisation.

Malcolm supervises research students and runs three companies dedicated to advancing cutting edge technology into the mining industry. These focus around operation-relevant training; advanced mill liner design using DEM modelling; mechanistic mill modelling; introducing the latest tools into daily process control; operationalising advanced mine-to-mill implementation; and development of step-change reduction in comminution energy.

Ben's research focuses on Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Medicine (PHRM), including predicting deterioration and the use of telehealth.

NAME Professor Elizabeth Ellen POWELL

POSITION TITLE Professor, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland; Hepatologist, Princess Alexandra Hospital

Email e.powell@uq.edu.au

EDUCATION/TRAINING

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with First Class Honours (M.B.,B.S.Hons1), The University of Queensland

Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), The University of Queensland

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London

Fellow, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases

Elizabeth Powell is a Hepatologist and Senior Staff Specialist in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Princess Alexandra Hospital. She is also Professor, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Director of the network Centre for Liver Disease Research in The University of Queensland and a Research Fellow with the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. She is also a recent past member of the Executive of the Australian Liver Association.

Professor Powell has a very productive research group, bridging basic science and clinical research. Her main research interests include:

(i) developing strategies to improve the assessment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by primary care clinicians and non-hepatology specialists.

(ii) examining ways to improve education and medication management for people with decompensated cirrhosis (advanced liver disease)

(iii) examining the role of injury-stratifying biomarkers for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

My research interests centre on using quantitative genetics to drive genetic gain and efficiency in plant and animal breeding programmes.

Previous work in the UK focused on using genomic information prediction to demonstrate and exploit synergies between plant and animal breeding. Stochastic simulations were used to quantify the impact of new genomic breeding strategies in a wide variety of settings; from low to middle-income (LMIC) dairy cattle breeding programs to large, well-funded maize breeding programs.

My work at QAAFI and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature & Agriculture focuses on the development of prediction methods that combine biological, environmental and management information under a unifying framework, to enhance our ability to identify breeding parents, varieties and genotype-by-agronomic management (GxM) solutions that are best suited for future climates.

GRDC Project Press Release

This is an automatically generated university page - my real website is https://people.smp.uq.edu.au/BenPowell/

I’m a researcher and lecturer at The University of Queensland Business School. My expertise is in critically evaluating how people and organisations use language to communicate about themselves and shape the world around them. I’m committed to doing research that promotes justice and equity, and helps government, the media, and industry communicate for the common good.

My recent research has explored sustainability in the arts and culture sector, news reporting on violence against women and girls, and COVID-19 crisis communication.

I’ve recently collaborated with various peak bodies in the Australian arts and culture sector such as Theatre Network Australia, and arts companies of various sizes (e.g., Queensland Ballet and La Boite Theatre) to develop a free peer coaching program known as “Creating out Loud.” This program builds networks of mutual support for artists and arts workers across all levels of the arts and culture sector.

Enriching the arts and culture sector is of high importance to me. In 2021, I was awarded an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship to support arts workers recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

To find out how I can help your organisation, email me at k.power@business.uq.edu.au. You can also follow me on LinkedIn.