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Dr. Divya Ramnath is a post-doctoral researcher in Prof. Matt Sweet's lab at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), The University of Queensland. As an early career post-doctoral researcher, she led a new project, characterising inflammation-associated determinants of chronic liver disease at the IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research (CIDR).

Dr Isuru Ranasinghe is a Senior Staff Specialist Cardiologist and the A/Prof in Cardiology at the Prince Charles Hospital and the Northside Clinical Unit of the Faculty of Medicine at UQ. He leads research in clinical cardiology, cardiovascular epidemiology and healthcare safety and quality. Dr Ranasinghe has recipient of nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships including the NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship, the NHMRC Neil-Hamilton-Fairley Early Career Fellowship and the National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship. He currently holds an Advancing Queensland Clinical Research Fellowship.

Dr. Imtiaz graduated in Animal Husbandry (2003) and then obtained MSc.(Hons) in Animal Breeding and Genetics (2005) from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad Pakistan. Later, in his PhD in Animal Genomics (2015) from The University of Sydney, he has developed bioinformatics tools – Meta Selection Scores (MSS) and Composite Selection Signals (CSS) – to investigate the core traits influenced by the historical selection events in worldwide cattle breeds and presented novel insights about the hot-spots of positive selection in the bovine genome. Dr. Imtiaz has been working since 2005 at various teaching and research positions at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, University of Sydney, James Cook University and The University of Queensland. He is a motivated geneticist, conducting research in the fields of Molecular Genetics, Genomics and Breeding to understand and analyse the phenotypic and genomic data of various species (buffalo, cattle, chicken, dog, dingo, goat, horse, sheep) using high-performance computational and big-data analyses facilities and programming languages (R, Plink, Python); and to characterise the genetic architecture (gene variation, expression and regulatory networks) related to various complex traits of agricultural, clinical, environmental and economic importance for adaptation, appearance, production and welfare.

Dr Melinda Rankin is the author of De facto International Prosecutors in a Global Era: With My Own Eyes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022; and The Political Life of Mary Kaldor: Ideas and Action in International Relations. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner Publishing.

Currently, she is Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Queensland. Prior to this, she was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Queensland; Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Global Constitutionalism, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB Social Science Centre Berlin); and Lecturer at The University of Sydney.

Rankin's current research program, titled Conceptualising De facto International Prosecutors in a Global Era, explores the role of ‘de facto international prosecutors’ as an emerging phenomenon. They are ‘private’ non-state actors (including witnesses and victims of core crimes), as well as state legal ‘officials’ in foreign courts, that adopt the practices of the offices of international prosecutors. The program examines the practices, innovations and strategies de facto international prosecutors adopt, and shows how witnesses and victims of core crimes emerge as key leaders in the accountability process. As a part of this broader program, Melinda also leads a project, titled ‘The Nuremberg Effect,’ supported by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. This project investigates how non-state actors have historically drawn upon the Nuremberg Trials as a type of template to pursue those most responsible for core international crimes. In particular, it focuses on those non-state actors who pursue accountability in foreign courts exercising universal jurisdiction.

Rankin has published a range of refereed academic journal articles, as well as policy articles for Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), Berlin; the Center for Global Constitutionalism at WZB, Berlin; and Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney.

In 2022, Melinda was the recipient of a Gerda Henkel Stiftung grant for the project, titled The Nuremberg Effect; and in 2018, she was the recipient of the Berlin Fellowship Award for the research program, titled Conceptualising De facto International Prosecutors in a Global Era. In the past, she has provided comment for media, including on SBS World News on the subject of Iran and US relations.

Rankin is a Member of the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S), New York; British International Studies Association (BISA); American Society of International Law (ASIL); and International Studies Association (ISA).

Prior to her academic career, Dr Rankin worked in projects, business operations, strategy consultancy, data governance, and policy for groups such as (in London) JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of New York; (in Sydney) MLC, Westpac and Genworth; and (in Melbourne) ANZ and NAB.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Single Authored Books

Rankin, Melinda (2022) De facto International Prosecutors in a Global Era: With My Own Eyes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rankin, Melinda (2017) The Political Life of Mary Kaldor: Ideas and Action in International Relations, London and Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishing.

Refereed Journal Articles

Rankin, Melinda (2019) ‘The ‘responsibility to prosecute’ core international crimes: German universal jurisdiction and suspected atrocities committed by the Syrian government.’ Global Responsibility to Protect, 11 (4): 394-410.

Rankin, Melinda (2018) ‘The future of international criminal evidence in New Wars: The Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA).’ Journal of Genocide Research 20(3): 392-411.

Rankin, Melinda (2017) ‘Investigating crimes against humanity in Syria and Iraq: The Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA).’ Global Responsibility to Protect 9 (4): 395-421.

Essays and Commentary Journal Articles

Hale, Kip and Melinda Rankin (2019) ‘ICC’s Decision on Myanmar: Extending the ‘system’ of ICL.’ Australian Journal of International Affairs 71 (3): 22-28.

Rankin, Melinda (2018) ‘Australia’s responsibility to prosecute? Bridging the international criminal law gap in Syria and Iraq.’ Australian Journal of International Affairs 72 (4): 322-328.

Publically Engaged Scholarship, Policy Articles, & Podcasts

Rankin, Melinda, (2023) ‘Russia in Ukraine: Accountability and global order on the precipice’, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney, 22 Feb.

Ireland-Piper, Danelle, and Melinda Rankin, (2022) Interview by Lauren Sanders: Universal Jurisdiction and Ukraine (University of Queensland Law and the Future of War podcast series): On Spotify , Brisbane, December.

Rankin, Melinda, (2022) ‘From Pinochet to Anwar R.’ Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law Perspective, Melbourne, 18 March.

Rankin, Melinda and Jacinta O'Hagan, (2020) 'Prosecution of alleged war crimes: need for Afghan voices in Australian judicial process', United Against Inhumanity, Lyon, 17 December.

Rankin, Melinda, (2019) ‘The looming international law paradox between the US and Iran’, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney, 13 May.

Rankin, Melinda, (2019) ‘Responsibility to Prosecute? The Case of German Universal Jurisdiction, CIJA, and the Arrest of Syrian Perpetrators.’ LawLog, Center for Global Constitutionalism, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, WZB (Social Science Centre Berlin), Berlin. 13 March.

Rankin, Melinda, (2018) ‘A road map for Germany: Negotiating a path to accountability with Assad.’ PeaceLab, Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), Berlin, 19 December.

Rankin, Melinda, (2018) ‘Jamal Khashoggi: Shifting law in a deadly turf war.’ The Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney, 29 October.

Rankin, Melinda, (2018) ’To Russia: A Plea of Caution on Syria.’ The Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney, 5 March.

Rankin, Melinda, (2018) ‘Australia’s Responsibility to Prosecute in Syria and Iraq,’ Australian Outlook, Australian Institute for International Affairs, Sydney, 19 February.

Peter is a Research Fellow in Applied Statistics at the Science of Learning Research Centre, Queensland Brain Institute. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that enable or limit children’s life chances. He plays a crucial role in designing well-structured studies, analysing data, and interpreting results to provide valid and reliable conclusions on how to improve children's opportunities and outcomes.

As an applied statistician, Peter collaborates with an inter-disciplinary team to integrate statistical analyses with qualitative research and contextual knowledge. He brings expertise in identifying and analysing key factors and variables that influence children's life chances. Further, he develops research methodologies, including sampling strategies, data collection methods, and statistical analyses of small- and large-scale data, to understand the complex interplay of factors that contribute to children's opportunities and outcomes. He distills the link between experiences and children’s life chances using an array of statistical methods, including longitudinal and multilevel modelling, measurement and psychometrics, causal inference, data science, structural equation modelling, and data visualization. Additionally, he has expertise in uncovering the mediating and moderating factors that influence the relationship between early life experiences and later life chances. By leveraging expertise in statistical analysis and research methodology, Peter’s work provides evidence-based insights into the mechanisms that shape children's life chances. This evidence informs research, policy, and interventions aimed at improving children's opportunities and outcomes.

Dr Rash completed his Honours (1996) and PhD (2001) on the pharmacological activity of spider venoms at the Department of Pharmacology, Monash University in the group of Professor Wayne Hodgson. After 18 months as an Assistant Lecturer at Monash Pharmacology, he was awarded an INSERM/NH&MRC Post-doctoral Fellowship to work in the group of Prof. Michel Lazdunski at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology in Antibes, France. It was here that he became involved in discovery and characterisation of venom peptides that act on acid-sensing ion channels, voltage-gated sodium channels and other pain related channels. Upon returning to Australia to the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (The University of Queensland), he established an ASIC research program and was awarded an NH&MRC project grant as CIA to investigate the molecular basis of the interaction of PcTx1 and APETx2 with ASIC1a and ASIC3 respectively. Dr Rash was appointed as senior lecturer in Pharmacology in the School of Biomedical Sciences in early 2016 where he continues his research on identifying novel bioactive peptides from animal venoms, unravelling the molecular basis for their specific channel interactions and their use as research tools and potential therapeutic lead molecules.

I am a Principal Investigator (PI) and a senior research officer (SRO) at Mater research – UQ with excellent clinical and research laboratory skills and expertise in conducting and analyzing laboratory assays and resolving complex research and clinical laboratory problems. I can describe myself as determined, reliable, studious, conscientious, attentive, industrious, diligent, and focused on the timely, quality completion of all lab procedures. I am able to work well under pressure and time constraints within high-volume environments both independently and in collaboration within a team. I am also a highly self-motivated and career-oriented individual with a genuine interest in addressing cancer molecular mechanisms with the goal of developing novel cancer therapeutics and immunotherapy focusing on tumor microenvironment, immunoregulation and signaling pathways in cancer and metastasis.

Cassandra is a Senior Research Fellow at QAEHS, joining the group in 2019. She completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham in 2014 where her research focussed on determining how humans are exposed to flame retardants from their indoor environments. Following her PhD she completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Environment and Climate Change Canada where she was the principal researcher for the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) Network, researching chemicals of concern in the atmosphere. Following her Postdoctoral Fellowship she worked for the Oil Sands Monitoring Program in Canada, assisting with facilitating a multi-stakeholder funding program for assessing environmental impact of Oil Sands operations, before returning to Australia in 2019.

At QAEHS she is the project lead investigating human exposure to microplastics and developing new methods for detecting micro and nanoplastics in human matrices. Her other research interests include the impact of tyre road wear particles and the chemical additives they contain on urban water ways, and developing novel biomonitoring methods for assessing human exposure to chemicals of concern (e.g. silicone wristbands and breast implants).

Dr. Halley Ravuri completed his Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree from the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, and a Master in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the Birsa Agricultural University, India. He recently finished his PhD in Veterinary Science at UQ in 2022. Before his PhD, he worked as a Research Associate in various research organizations for four years in India. His primary research was focused on developing cancer models for glioma (brain cancer), breast cancer, and melanoma in laboratory rodents, and investigating the efficacy of nano-particulated anticancer compounds. He is very experienced in maintaining, experimenting on laboratory rodents and has hands-on experience in research methodologies including ELISA, PCR, western blot analysis, histopathology, and bioanalytical analysis using HPLC instrumentation

His doctoral research was focused on transdermal drug delivery of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in veterinary species and evaluating the efficacy of novel transdermal formulations using mass spectrometry-based plasma proteomics and lipidomics. He has garnered tremendous interest and expertise in the use of advanced mass spectrometry instruments including LC-MS/MS, GC-MS, and LC-TOF-MS, for enabling both targeted and discovery analysis of proteins, drugs, and lipid metabolites in animal plasma/serum. He has also worked as a technical assistant at the Analytical Service Unit, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, UQ, using mass spectrometry for the analysis of pesticides, and fatty acid composition in milk, soils, and food samples.

Dr. Halley Ravuri is working at The School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UQ – as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, under the supervision of Prof. Mark Midwinter. His current research goals are to characterize endothelial glycocalyx metabolites in serum/plasma using advanced mass spectrometry techniques, and also explore the pathophysiology of trauma and hemorrhagic shock using a proteomics-based approach. He also has a keen interest in exploring alternative in-vitro techniques to investigate endothelial glycocalyx, and examining the role of exosomes in trauma/hemorrhagic shock in animals and humans. His long-term goal is to establish himself as a translational proteomics expert in the field of plasma biomarker discovery and establish novel mass spectrometry methods and data analysis pipelines to improve the application of mass spectrometry research in the veterinary and translation biomedical sciences. He is an advocate of the use of mass spectrometry-based proteomics to contribute to the field of “One Health”; using veterinary species as translational models for studying human diseases. His future research goals include exploring viral proteomics to investigate and understand the virulence of viruses, characterise viral antibodies using mass spectrometry and studying physiological responses in animals, humans, and model organisms.

I received my Bachelor's in Biology (2001) from Yarmouk University in Jordan, followed by postgraduate degrees from the University of Houston in Houston-Texas (2002-2007). My studies are integrative in nature, joining the best of both the Neuroscience world and Circadian Biology (the study of biological clocks). In the laboratory of Prof. Arnold Eskin, I investigated how processes as complex as learning and memory are modulated by biological clocks i.e. the circadian (about 24 hours) system, using Aplysia californica as the experimental model. After completing my Master's in Science in 2005, my research focused on the mechanism by which biological clocks modulate learning and memory. This work was performed in the laboratories of Prof. Gregg Cahill and Prof. Greg Roman, experts in chronobiology and behavioral neuroscience, respectively. Using Zebrafish as a model system, I investigated the role of melatonin, a night-time restricted hormonal signal, in modulating long-term memory consolidation. My findings, published in Science in 2007, shows that the circadian system via the cyclic night-time confined synthesis/release of melatonin “the hormone of darkness” functions as a modulator, shaping daily variations in the efficiency by which memories are processed. After receiving my Ph.D. in 2007, I joined as a postdoctoral fellow the laboratory of the pharmacologist and melatonin researcher Prof. Margarita Dubocovich. My postdoctoral work engaged in elucidating the role of melatonin in circadian physiology and pharmacology during development and ageing in rodents (Mus musculus) and non-human primates (Macaca mulatta) at the Feinberg School of Medicine (Northwestern University-Chicago) and the State University of New York (SUNY). From 2010-2015, I held a teaching/research position in the Dr. Senckenbergische Anatomy and the Dept. of Neurology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt-Germany. During this time, I was involved in teaching gross human anatomy while continuing my endeavor in understanding the mechanistics involved in shaping memory processes (acquisition, consolidation and retrieval) by the circadian system.

Gillian Ray-Barruel, RN PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow with UQ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work and the Herston Infectious Diseases Institute (HeIDI), and she is Director of Education with the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR) and Associate Editor for the journal Infection, Disease & Health.

Formerly a critical care nurse and research coordinator, Gillian has 15 years of vascular access research experience, with an emphasis on device assessment and clinical decision making to improve patient outcomes. After identifying a gap between evidence-based guidelines and clinical practice, she created the I-DECIDED® device assessment and decision tool, which has been included in several textbooks and disseminated in multiple languages and is in use in many hospitals worldwide.