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Leonardo Seoane, MD, FACP

Dr. Seoane graduated magna cum laude from Loyola University in New Orleans, with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, graduating with Alpha Omega Alpha honors, an elite designation recognizing excellence in scholarship and the highest ideals in the profession of medicine. After medical school, he completed an internship at the University of Alabama Birmingham Medical Center and residency in Internal Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) in New Orleans. He continued his education by completing a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine through a combined LSUHSC and Ochsner Medical Center program. His pursuit of excellence further inspired him to complete a research and clinical fellowship in Lung Transplant at the Ochsner Medical Center where he has been a staff physician since 2002.

Dr. Leonardo Seoane became an Associate Professor with The University of Queensland, School of Medicine in 2009. He served as the Deputy Head of School for Curriculum, Clerkship Director for the Critical Care course, Clerkship Director of the Internal Medicine course, and Clerkship Director for Medical Specialties for The University of Queensland, Ochsner Clinical School located in New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition, he developed the disadvantaged youth rotation and the international Haiti rotation as a component of the Medicine in Society course. His passion for academic medicine and the advancement of medical discovery secured his rapid promotion to Senior Deputy Head of School in 2013 and to the Head of School Position in 2016.

Dr. Seoane was instrumental in implementing The University of Queensland School of Medicine curriculum at the Ochsner Clinical School, facilitating the achievement of accreditation from the Australian Medical Council, Californian State Board of Medicine, and recognition from the New York State Board of Education.

Dr. Seoane has won numerous teaching awards, including the Hurst B. Hatch Award for Outstanding Teacher of the Year seven times from 2004 - 2013, the Ochsner Health System Spirit of Leadership Award for Teaching in 2006, and most recently, the Ochsner Health System Physician Academic Contributor of the Year in 2016. He is regarded as an expert in the management of sepsis and medical education and has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences. He has fostered a research partnership between the University of Queensland Burns, Trauma, and Critical Care Research Center and the Ochsner Medical Center Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Palliative Care.

Previous leadership roles held by Dr. Seoane include serving as the Associate Program Director for the Ochsner Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency Program from 2003 - 2012, Medical Director of the Ochsner Medical Center Lung Transplant Program from 2008 - 2012, and Chair of the Sepsis Performance Improvement Committee at the Ochsner Medical Center.

But most important he is a loving husband to his wife Michelle Seoane M.D. who is a pediatrician practicing in the Ochsner Health System and a proud father of Eddy and Leo.

Felix Septianto is a faculty member at the University of Queensland. He earned his PhD from the University of New South Wales and previously taught at the University of Auckland. His research explores how businesses can leverage emotions to increase marketing effectiveness. These insights have been published in Financial Times' Top 50 (FT50) journals and featured in media outlets including the Harvard Business Review.

Felix has been recognised as a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow by the Australian Research Council, a Paul Bourke Award winner by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, an Emerging Marketing Researcher by the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy, and a UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award winner.

Beyond academia, Felix is a co-founder of Accurment, a company applying behavioural science to turn marketing guesswork into growth and trusted by leading agencies such as Marketforce and Juicebox. He has also served as Research Director at Quest Strategic, a boutique management consulting firm in Indonesia, where he advised global brands including Hush Puppies and Philip Morris International.

Mehdi Serati completed his PhD at The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) through The University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia in Geotechnical Engineering. His core research expertise is in the design and setup of advanced equipment and experiments to test rocks and brittle composites. His area of work is analytical and experimental methods of geotechnical problems, materials testing, rock mechanics, and rock fracture mechanics. He is also the Deputy Manager of the internationally-recognized Large Open Pit Project, which is a collaboration funded by mining companies worldwide aimed at addressing critical gaps in the current understanding of rock slope failures and landslides in large open pit mines (see also https://www.lopproject.com/).

Thaiza Serrano is a Food Engineer with a master’s degree in Food Science and Technology and a joint Ph.D. in Food and Nutrition (UNIRIO, Brazil) and Food Science and Technology (University of California, Davis). Her expertise lies in food chemistry, process optimization, biotechnology, agro-industrial residue valorisation, enzymatic conversion processes, and technological innovation in food systems. Her research integrates principles of food engineering and food science to advance sustainable and efficient food processing strategies. She focuses on the integration of industrial co-products valorisation with the implementation of sustainable approaches for developing next-generation functional food ingredients, enabling cost-effective and resource-efficient bioprocesses.

My research covers some of the basic properties of attention, learning, memory, and decision-making. Much of my work involves the development and testing of formal mathematical models of human cognition.

As a biostatistician with expertise in dental public health, Christopher is interested in updating the evidence on the impact of policies on oral health and promoting evidence-based dentistry. His research has focused on the effectiveness of water fluoridation in Queensland and its impact on oral epidemiology. Christopher has extensive experience in the application of statistical methods, including designing sampling methods, quantitative data analysis methods, geospatial analysis, statistical programming, data visualization, and multi-level data analysis.

Christopher's research themes are centred around water fluoridation policy in Queensland and oral epidemiology, and dental initiatives such as the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. He is committed to advancing the field of dental public health and promoting the use of evidence-based policies to improve oral health outcomes for individuals and communities.

Dr Jessica Sexton (PhD, MAS, MPH) is a clinical epidemiologist and researcher with over eleven years of field experience and training in healthcare systems, public health, epidemiology, and biostatistics with a special focus on maternal, child, and population health. Dr Sexton is a Senior Research Fellow at the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth (CRE), program lead for Data to Drive Change, and the Principal Investigator for a national perinatal data project. Dr Sexton’s expertise in epidemiology is internationally recognized through thirteen peer-reviewed publications, six conference posters, and gave fifteen oral presentations. Dr Sexton is actively engaged in professional networks including the Australasian Epidemiological Association, Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand, Australian Society for Medical Research, and Statistical Society of Australia. As a senior researcher at the CRE, Dr Sexton leads data capture and research and risk prediction and prevention while contributing to improving parent experiences and Safer Baby Bundle expansion.

I am an independent researcher and advisor affiliated with The University of Queensland’s Centre for Policy Futures. My work focuses on how pricing, incentives and other signals are interpreted in regulated markets, and how signalling can produce unintended economic, behavioural and policy outcomes. I apply these frameworks to areas such as alcohol and no and low alcohol (nolo) beverage markets, and technology-affected markets more generally. I work at the intersection of economic behaviour, public policy and communication, developing frameworks that support better regulatory design, pricing strategy and clearer decision-making.

Dr Abbas Shafiee is leading a multidisciplinary program in Regenerative Dermatology and Biofabrication. His research integrates stem cell biology, organoid technology, and bioengineering to develop advanced human models and regenerative therapies for skin repair and disease.

Dr Shafiee completed his PhD in stem cell biology, discovering a previously unknown vascular stem cell population, termed the Meso-Endothelial Bipotent Progenitor, and mapping its molecular signatures (Stem Cell Reports 2018). This seminal discovery advanced the understanding of human vascular development and regeneration.

He subsequently joined Distinguished Professor Dietmar Hutmacher’s group, where he developed humanised tissue-engineered bone and tumour models that mimic cancer metastasis and tumor–stroma interactions. These models (International Journal of Cancer (2018), Biomaterials (2018, 2020), and Bone Research (2019), Acta Biomaterialia (2020), Bone (2022)) provided unprecedented insights into human-specific cancer biology and preclinical drug testing.

Dr Shafiee joined Metro North Health (MNH) in 2020 to lead a research program and develop, implement, and evaluate the applications of 3D printing, scanning, cell therapies, and biofabrication technologies in skin wound settings, and dermatology research. His team has developed vascularised and immune-integrated skin organoids and 3D-printed bioengineered grafts that accelerate wound closure with minimal scarring (Biomaterials 2021; Advanced Healthcare Materials (2022; 2025); Small 2024; Burns & Trauma 2025). These breakthroughs underpin new patient-specific skin disease models, and drug screening platforms (Acta Biomaterialia 2025). He is the lead inventor on an international patent protecting an Optimized Method for Generating Human Skin Organoids (WO/2025/097221), which forms the foundation for emerging commercial and translational partnerships. This body of work led to the establishment of the International Consortium for Organoid Research in Dermatology, a global network accelerating discovery and translation in skin biology, rare genetic skin diseases, and regenerative dermatology.

Dr Shafiee has supervised more than ten PhD, Masters, honours students and contributed to multiple professional, editorial, and scientific leadership roles. He has authored over 84 peer-reviewed publications (>4,700 citations, h-index 37) and delivered more than 40 invited, keynote, and plenary presentations internationally. He serves on multiple professional and editorial boards, including Australian Wound & Tissue Repair Society (AWTRS), Burns & Trauma, and Engineered Regeneration. In recognition of his pioneering contributions to regenerative medicine and science communication, he has received multiple honours, including the 2024 Frazer Institute Rising Star Award, the 2025 AWTRS EMCR Award, and the 2025 Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Award.

He actively engages with the media, schools, and community programs to inspire future scientists and raise public awareness of regenerative medicine and organoid technologies. His outreach has reached millions nationwide through major media coverage (e.g., The Australian, 7NEWS, ABC NEWS) .

Research areas:

• Human iPSC-derived skin organoids and skin-on-chip models
• Vascularization and immune integration in skin tissue engineering
• Rare genetic skin diseases and personalized regenerative therapies
• Translational biofabrication and wound healing technologies
• Organoid-based preclinical drug discovery platforms

Honours, Masters, and PhD opportunities are available for motivated students interested in regenerative dermatology, biofabrication, and organoid biology.

My group's research uses large-scale genomic data to address knowledge gaps in disease, with a particular focus on cardiovascular disease.

Research programme

1. Cardiovascular disease research using big-data and genomics: with the goal of improving prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. By focusing on underrepresented groups, including women, my research aims to also address inequity in cardiovascular outcomes. I am the lead of the South Asian Genes and Health in Australia (SAGHA) study, which aims to increase representation of Australian South Asians in cardiovascular and genomics research. See saghaus.org for further details.

2. Drug genomics: I'm interested in using genomic approaches to predict drug effects, including identification of drug repurposing opportunities as well as identifying unknown adverse effects of medication.

3. Liver transplant research: In this collaboration with the QLD Liver Transplant Unit, we are using genomics to understand the effect of normo-thermic perfusion (a new organ storage method) on liver function, with the long-term goal of improving our ability to predict transplant outcomes.

Career summary: I was awarded my PhD from University College London (UK) in cardiovascular genetics. I began my post-doctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Prof Peter Visscher at the Queensland Brain Institute in 2013. Between 2016-2018, I was the lead analyst for the International Heart Failure Genetics Consortium (HERMES). In 2018, I was awarded an NHMRC Early Career Researcher Fellowship to investigate the relationship between cardiovascular and brain-related disorders using large-scale genetic and genomic data, under the mentorship of Prof Naomi Wray. I currently hold a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship.

Recognition:

2024 Australian Academy of Science Ruth Stephens Gani Medal for outstanding contribution to genetics research

2023 1 of 5 global finalists for the Nature Inspiring Women in Science (Scientific Achievement Award)

2023 Lifesciences QLD Rose-Anne Kelso Award

2023: Named in Australia's Top 25 Women in Science by Newscorp

2022 Queensland Young Tall Poppy Award

2022 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award

2021/2022 Australian Superstar of STEM,

2020 Genetic Society of Australasia Early Career Award

2020 Women in Technology Rising Star Science Award

Dr. K. M. Shahunja is a clinical and public health researcher specializing in quantitative research on child health. He is passionate about conducting clinical research, particularly trials and intervention studies. Dr. Shahunja’s research focuses on the social determinants of health, disease epidemiology, hospital-based healthcare interventions, community-based healthcare interventions, Indigenous health, and the prevention of non-communicable diseases through life-course approaches. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine, a Postgraduate Diploma in Pediatrics and Child Health, and a PhD in Medicine. His doctoral research explored the impact of familial and neighborhood dynamics, as well as psychosocial environmental changes, on the trajectories of asthma symptoms in Australian children, following a life-course approach.

At the UQ Poche Centre, Dr. Shahunja is a member of the Implementing Life Course Interventions research team, led by NHMRC Leadership Fellow A/Professor Abdullah Mamun. He is also affiliated with the Life Course Centre at UQ and is actively involved in a collaborative project with the World Health Organization. This project examines longitudinal studies and linked data sources across Australia to explore health and well-being over different life stages, with a focus on healthy ageing. Since his postdoctoral period, Dr. Shahunja has worked extensively in Indigenous health, developing life-course interventions to improve the health of First Nations peoples in Australia. He is currently engaged in an NHMRC-GACD Non-Communicable Disease Prevention project aimed at preventing non-communicable diseases among Indigenous children and youth in major Australian cities, following a life-course approach.