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Dr David Smerdon is an Associate Professor in the School of Economics, and an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow. He primarily works in behavioural and development economics. His research involves theory and modelling, experiments, and econometric analysis to investigate topics at the intersection of these fields, such as reducing female genital cutting in Somalia, and stopping child trafficking in Nepal.

David earned his PhD from the Tinbergen Institute and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) as a General Sir John Monash scholar, and afterwards worked as a PODER fellow at Bocconi University in Milan. His research often involves collaboration with non-academic partners, ranging from aid agencies and NGOs like US AID and Save the Children, to tech companies like Chess.com and WHOOP.

Prior to his academic career, David spent three years working for the Australian Department of Treasury as a policy analyst. David is also a chess Grandmaster and has represented Australia at eight chess Olympiads. Combining his passions, David conducts niche research in chess economics on topics such as gender inequality, cheating, and the life cycle of cognitive performance, supported by organisations such as the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and Chessable.

Dr Andrew Smirnov is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Health with an interest in substance use epidemiology, reducing drug-related harm, and working collaboratively to promote the health of socially marginalised population groups. He is the Course Coordinator for second- and third-year health promotion courses in the Bachelor of Health Sciences and has published a public health textbook chapter on drug use in Australia. His current research focuses on the health needs of people who are imprisoned, developing and evaluating models of care for blood borne virus prevention and treatment, and frameworks for strengthening the cultural safety, accessibility, and responsiveness of drug harm reduction programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Andrew follows a rights-based perspective in his work and has a strong interest in community-based health programs and consumer partnerships for achieving health equity.

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Emeritus Professor Maree Smith AC FTSE FAHMS is a full-time researcher and Director, CIPDD, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences (HMBS), The University of Queensland.

In the 12 years prior to her current appointment, Professor Smith led a high-performing team in building the CIPDD and its commercial interface TetraQ, recognized as a unique, GLP-accredited drug development Centre in Australia. Professor Smith has considerable expertise in biomedical discovery/translation with specialist expertise in the novel pain therapeutics discovery/translation field encompassing a portfolio of 16 rodent pain models that mimic individual human pain conditions. This portfolio of models conducted in a purpose-built facility operated in accordance with the requirements of our Quality Management System, making the CIPDD unique in Australia and rare internationally.

In the 15 years prior to establishing the CIPDD, Professor Maree Smith was a full-time academic in the School of Pharmacy. In brief, she joined the School of Pharmacy as a Lecturer in 1989 and was successively promoted through the academic ranks to Professor in 2004. Prior to that she undertook a PhD and early postdoctoral training in clinical pharmacology with specialist expertise in bioanalytical method development, bioanalysis of human plasma samples, drug metabolism and clinical pharmacokinetics. Her second postdoc was in the field of pain management and pain pharmacology.

In the years, 1990-2005, Maree Smith taught in the Drug Discovery stream of the 2nd, 3rd & 4th years of the undergraduate Pharmacy program and she was instrumental in developing innovative courses for the final year of the undergraduate Pharmacy curriculum. She was also instrumental in the development of a course for the M Biotech program at UQ entitled “Quality Systems in Biotechnology” which continues to this day and is a compulsory course in the Program. Maree has successfully advised/co-advised to completion 33 PhD students, 2 Research Masters students and ~50 Honours students. She also served for 14 years as an external evaluator for the TGA.

Maree's Current Research Interests are as follows:

1. Subtle differences in the pathobiology of individual chronic pain conditions

2. Improving preclinical to clinical translation in novel analgesics development

3. Preclinical drug development of novel pain therapeutics

4. Preclinical drug development

Awards

2026 Life Membership, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia

2021 UQ Fellowship

2019 Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List

2018 Honorary Bragg Membership (The Royal Institution of Australia)

2016 Bowl of Hygeia Award (Pharmaceutical Society of Australia)

2016 Clunies Ross Knowledge Commercialisation Award (ATSE)

2015 Honoured to be included in inaugural list of Australia's top Innovators; viz Knowledge Nation 100

2015 Inaugural Inductee into the Life Sciences Queensland (LSQ) Hall of Fame

2015 Johnson and Johnson Innovaton AusBiotech Industry Excellen Award - Outstanding Leader category.

2015 Elected Fellow, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS)

2015 Australian Pain Society Distinguished Member Award - For services to the promotion, treatment and science of pain management and lifelong contribution to the Australian Pain Society

2013 UQ Top 5 Inventor - Award by Thomson Reuters and UQ at inaugural Awards

2013 UQ Top 5 Innovator - Award by UniQuest Pty Ltd and UQ at inaugural Awards

2012 Queensland Life Sciences Industry Excellence Award jointly with Dr Jim Aylward

2011 Elected Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (ATSE)

2009 Honorary Fellowship, Faculty of Pain Medicine, ANZCA (Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists).

2008 WiT (Women in Technology): Biotech Outstanding Achievement Award

2002 Meritorious Mention for Sustained Excellence in Research Higher Degree Supervision

2001 Meritorious Mention for Sustained Excellence in Research Higher Degree Supervision

Natalie is a self-confessed pracademic. Her entire career has been in the pursuit of helping organisations get value from their technology investments. She started hacking code before it was fashionable, and climbed the slippery pole of technical and project leadership. She is now an Associate Professor of Practice at UQBS, conducting industry research and executive education on all things digital, data and AI governance and serves as a board member of UnitingCare Queensland and Queensland Treasury Corporation. Previously, Natalie was a partner in Deloitte’s Risk Advisory practice, was seconded as Chief Delivery Officer role for eHealth Queensland, and has been an inaugural member of several digital committees, including the National AI Centre Thinktank on Responsible AI.

Dr Smith is an early career academic and Registrar in Intensive Care Medicine at RBWH and Mater Hospitals. Despite being at an early stage in his medical and research career, Sam has already gained valuable experience and enthusiasm in medical education and research, crossing clinical and methodological domains.

Dr Smith gained his primary medical qualification at James Cook University, graduating in 2019 with Honours and awards in research/ Evidence Based Medicine, rural medicine, and surgery. His Honours research, supervised by Professor Jonathan Golledge, focussed on the economic impacts of readmission after surgery for peripheral artery disease (PAD). For this research, he was awarded the Professor Philip Walker Scholarship in Vascular Research, allowing him to present his findings internationally. He has co-authored papers in vascular and cardiothoracic surgery, tropical infectious diseases, and care of critically unwell and trauma patients.

Aside from clinical duties, Sam is also active in teaching, guest lecturing at James Cook University and the University of Queensland, as well as teaching medical students in the clinical setting. In his clinical practice, Sam has developing interests in critical care medicine, vascular access, POCUS and incorporating best evidence into daily practice. His committment to teaching, research and governance led to Dr Smith being awarded the CPMEC QLD Junior Doctor of the Year Award in 2021. Sam is always very keen to share his enthusiasm for all things evidence-based with students or really anyone who will listen.

Qualifications

• MBBS (Hons.)
• MPH&TM
• Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education

Dr. Alex Smith is a Research Fellow in Glycotherapeutics at UQ's School of Chemical Engineering. His interests are in understanding structure: function relationships between complex carbohydrates (such as heparan sulphate) and proteins, and how these interactions can inform the development of glycotherapeutic agents to treat a wide variety of injuries and diseases.

Dr Melinda Smith (nee Franettovich) is a Lecturer in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. She also works as a Physiotherapist at Clem Jones Centre Physio & Rehab and delivers online and face to face professional development workshops for health professionals. Her research, teaching and clinical focus is lower limb musculoskeletal function and health, with a special interest in the foot and ankle. Melinda's aim is to enrich people's lives by facilitating physical activity and sport participation through improving the prevention, assessment and treatment of lower limb musculoskeletal pain and injury.

Her research publications extend across several areas including lower limb function, sports and running related injuries, taping, foot orthoses, footwear, measurement of foot posture and mobility, gait-retraining and musculoskeletal imaging. She has contributed to three book chapters including neuromuscular control of the foot and ankle, advances in magnetic resonance imaging, and sports medicine (foot). Melinda has presented her research at international and national conferences across several fields including Physiotherapy, Podiatry and Sports Medicine. The impact of her research in the clinical setting is evidenced by invitations from professional organisations, private practices and hospital departments to deliver professional development for their health professionals. Through her research she has collaborated with school, community and elite level sporting clubs and associations, physiotherapy private practices and footwear manufacturers. Melinda's mission is to conduct high quality, innovative research that engages with community and industry partners to deliver impactful outcomes.

Kiah Smith is a Sociologist with expertise in environment, sustainable development and food justice. With a strong record of international publications on food justice, food security, climate resilience, financialisation, ethical trade, green economy, sustainable livelihoods, gender empowerment and food system governance, Kiah’s work contributes new understandings of the social dimensions of food system transformation at the intersection of multiple crises. Using mostly qualitative, participatory methodologies (such as action research and future scenario planning), her research emphasises the role that civil society plays in transformative policy making that is systems-focused and inclusive of social-ecological perspectives. For example, her ARC DECRA study - Fair Food, Civil Society and the Sustainable Development Goals - examined how civic stakeholders are able to resist, reshape or redefine what a just and sustainable food system might look like, based on co-design and collaboration with civil society, local government, advocacy groups and grassroots food actors (food hubs, community gardens, and food charities) in Australia. This interdisciplinary research agenda can best be summarised as one where ‘food futures’ are closely connected with ‘deep’ sustainability, rights, justice and empowerment, within the growing field of ‘sustainability transitions’.

Other past and present studies include: Multifunctional horticulture - land, labour and environments; Ethical consumption and COVID; Responsible innovation in digital agriculture; Employment policy and indigenous food sovereignty in remote Australia; Financialisation of food and farmland in Australia; Resilience and governance of Australian food systems during crisis; and Mapping civil society, human rights and the SDGs. Kiah has conducted research in Australia and internationally, she has worked with local NGOs (in Africa and Australia), with the United Nations Research Institute in Geneva, and in multidisciplinary research teams spanning the social and natural sciences both here and abroad. Kiah is also a Future Earth Fellow, treasurer of the Australasian Agrifood Research Network, and executive member of the RC40 on Food and Agriculture in the International Sociological Association. Her work at the nexus of academia and policy/advocacy contributes to the growing movement for the right to food in Australia and globally.

Professor Anthony Smith is the Director of The University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health (COH), and Adjunct Professor at the Hans Christian Anderson Children's Hospital and University of Southern Denmark, in Odense, Denmark.

Professor Smith is also the Editor in Chief for the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare (Sage Publishers, London; 5y Impact Factor 4.9).

Professor Smith has more than 25 years of research experience, resulting in the planning, implementation and evaluation of a broad range of telehealth (virtual care) services around Australia. Specific research interests include the feasibility, effectiveness and sustainability of telehealth services in the public health system; genuine consumer engagement; and novel strategies to support our health workforce and telehealth adoption. His research has led to the development of pioneering virtual care services in Australia, including prominent statewide hospital-based telehealth programs in Queensland, wireless (robot) videoconference systems for remote consultations; and a community-based (and telehealth supported) health screening programme for Indigenous children in Queensland. Current projects focus on the integration of telehealth and virtual care services in residential aged care settings; evaluation of community-led First Nations health services; the delivery of video-based rehabilitation services to children in rural and remote primary schools; telementoring services for health professionals in primary care; and discipline specific clinical telehealth services.

Professor Smith chairs the International Conference on Successes and Failures in Telehealth conference. He is also a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. Previous roles have included the President of the Australasian Telehealth Society (ATHS) [2013-2015]; and elected member of the ATHS committee [2008-2024]. In the field of telehealth and virtual care, Prof Smith has over 240 publications, including 230 peer-reviewed journal papers, three edited books and 13 book chapters on related topics. Whilst the field remains highly specialised in comparison to other disciplines, his work is cited over 2000 times each year.

Professor Smith also provides an extensive range of consultancy services for government agencies and industry partners in the field of telehealth, digital health and virtual healthcare.

RECENT AWARDS

1. Honorary Doctorate. Doctor of Medical Science (D.M.SC. (honoris cau)). Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, 2025

2. Public Engagement and Community-led Research (including Citizen Science) Award, The University of Queensland Research Culture Awards, 2024

3. Top Researcher in the field of "Medical Informatics"- for work involving telehealth, digital health and virtual care. The Australian Research Awards, 2023

4. Commendation, Academic Leader of the Year, UQ Faculty of Medicine Excellence Awards, The University of Queensland, 2023

5. Excellence in Indigenous Engagement Award - for "enhancing access to specialist health services through the use of telehealth for First Nations people. Engagement Australia Excellence Awards, 2021

6. Spirit of Reconciliation Award - for building research and community partnerships in Queensland. UQ Faculty of Medicine Excellence Awards, The University of Queensaland, 2021

RESEARCH INTERESTS Fire Ecology, Restoration Ecology, Ecological Genomics, Wildlife Science, Conservation Biology, Invasive Plants

My research group studies fire ecology and conservation biology. Currently, we are working on:

• Using fire to benefit plant biodiversity and manage invasive plants
• Predicting effects of changing fire regimes on plant-animal interactions
• Native grassland restoration
• Biodiversity in agricultural landscapes

We have a special interest in plants and animals living in fire-prone areas because of the fascinating fact that these ecosystems are never static but continually re-shaped by cycles of fire and regeneration. While being grounded in fundamental biology and ecological theory, our research is always aimed at improving knowledge for biodiversity conservation. Our work has applications in fire management, biological invasion and threatened species conservation.

TECHNICAL APPROACHES: POPULATION GENETICS | SPATIAL LANDSCAPE GENETICS | DEMOGRAPHIC SIMULATION MODELLING | STATISTICAL MODELLING OF POPULATIONS & COMMUNITIES | BIOINFORMATICS | SPATIAL ANALYSIS IN R | We also know how to drop a hand-made 1 x 1 m polypipe quadrat on the ground and do good old-fashioned field work.

TEACHING: I teach ecology, wildlife science and environmental science at UQ. My teaching and coordination activities have included Elements of Ecology (AGRC1032), Wildlife Technology (ANIM3018) and People Fire & Environment (ENVM3215 / ENMV7530).

EDITORIAL I am Associate Editor for Wildlife Letters (2023–)

I was Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Ecology for four years (2018–2022).

CURRICULUM VITAE

• 2019 – current Lecturer, University of Queensland
• 2018 – 2022 Associate Editor, Journal of Applied Ecology
• 2018 – 2019 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow, Trinity College Dublin
• 2016 – 2017 Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Trinity College Dublin
• 2015 – 2016 Post-doctoral Research Assistant, University of Melbourne
• 2015 – 2016 Self-employed Consultant Ecologist, Canberra
• 2012 – 2014 Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Australian National University

EDUCATION

2012 PhD in Ecology, Australian National University

2006 BSc in Biodiversity Conservation Honours, Flinders University

2005 BSc in Biodiversity Conservation, Flinders University