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Elizabeth Stephens is an Associate Professor of Cultural Studies in the School of Communication and Arts. She was previously an Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (UQ, 2017-2021), Associate Dean Research at Southern Cross University (2014-2017), and an ARC Australian Research Fellow in the Centre for the History of European Discourses (UQ, 2010-2014). Her background is in gender and sexuality studies, and her current research focuses on three interconnected themes:

• popular histories and representations of science, medicine and technology
• collaborations between the arts and sciences
• the critical medical humanities

A new research project examines the history and culture of work, productivity and fatigue. Elizabeth is author of over 100 publications, including four books: Artificial Life: The Art of Automating Living Systems (University of Western Australia Press, 2025), co-authored with Oron Catts, Sarah Collins, and Ionat Zurr, A Critical Genealogy of Normality (University of Chicago Press, 2017), co-authored with Peter Cryle; Anatomy as Spectacle: Public Exhibitions of the Body from 1700 to the Present (Liverpool University Press, 2011), and Queer Writing: Homoeroticism in Jean Genet's Fiction (Palgrave 2009).

She welcomes inquiries from potential PhD students, and can offer supervision in the following areas:

• cultural studies of science, medicine and/or technology
• art/science collaboration
• medical humanities
• digital cultures
• gender and sexuality studies

I began my scientific career with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Chemistry, followed by a Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours in Chemistry from Massey University, New Zealand. My honours project focused on developing hydrogels for controlled peptide release in the gut. I then pursued a PhD at Massey University, working on synthetic anti-cancer drugs based on cyclodextrins.

After completing my PhD, I worked as a Research Officer at the New Zealand Veterinary Pathology Epicentre, refining my diagnostic research skills. I continued my career as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Kansas State University, contributing to the detection and surveillance of zoonotic diseases in the swine industry.

Currently, at The University of Queensland, I integrate my expertise in synthetic peptides with vaccine development. My research bridges medical and agricultural biotechnology, focusing on innovative adjuvants and vaccines that span medicinal chemistry, nanotechnology, and immunology, aiming to enhance both health outcomes and agricultural practices.

Michele Sterling is a NHMRC Leadership Fellow (leadership level 2), Professor in the Recover Injury Research Centre, Program Lead of the Musculoskeletal Injury research program and Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) in Better Health Outcomes for Compensable Injury. She is a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists. She is internationally recognised for her research on whiplash-associated disorders. Michele’s research focusses on the mechanisms underlying the development of chronic pain after injury, predictive algorithms for outcomes and developing effective interventions for musculoskeletal injury and pain. She has received over $50M in research funding from the NHMRC, MRFF, ARC and industry partners, including 7 NHMRC project grants, and 2 Centres of Research Excellence. Michele holds editorial roles with several leading journals and textbooks, including being a Section Editor of PAIN and co-editors of the 4th and 5th editions of the seminal physiotherapy textbook 'Grieve's Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy). Michele has published over 325 scientific works and has received numerous awards for her research including the Research Australia Research Translation award in 2023. Examples of recognition as a national and international leader in the field include:

2024- Secretary of the Executive Council - International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)

2022-2024 Chair Scientific Program Committee World Pain Congress, Amsterdam 2024

2023-2027 NHMRC Leadership Fellow (Level 2) for research of road traffic injury.

2023 Research Australia Research Translation award

2016-2022 Council member International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)

After graduating from the University of Melbourne in 1997, Allison spent 2 years in mixed practice in Gawler, SA, before traveling to the USA to undertake a residency in Large Animal Internal Medicine at the Ohio State University. She completed her Masters of Science and was awarded Diplomate status of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) in 2002. She then became a faculty member at Auburn University in Alabama and competed a fellowship in Emergency and Critical Care and obtained Diplomate status in 2007. Allison worked as a specialist and taught veterinary students at Auburn University for 12 years, and has over 300 publications/book chapters/scientific presentations/conference lectures. She was awarded 30 research grants and has presented research throughout the world in the areas of equine endocrinology, fungal disease, neurology, infectious disease and pharmacology. Allison resigned her position as Professor of Equine Medicine at Auburn University in 2015 and moved back to Australia. She spent some time in small animal, mixed and equine practice seeing primarily emergency cases whlist actuing as a Director on the Veterinary Surgeons Board of Victoria. She then completed her PhD at the Swedish Agricultural University in Uppsala and commenced as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland's School of Veterinary Science. Allison enjoys speaking at international conferences. Her current research interests include equine endocrinology, pharmacokinetics and tthe local Queensland specific probelms of Hendra virus diagnsotics and vaccination responses and treatment of Insect Bite Hypersensitivity. Because of her broad prior experieinces she is able to supervise graduate students and undertake collaborative research working with a number of veterinary species.

Philip holds a PhD in fire ecology and has worked in the field of nature conservation and national park management in Namibia, South Africa and Australia. While working in nature conservation he gained extensive experience in wildlife capture, translocation and management, fire ecology and biodiversity conservation fuelling his passion for research and working in the field. In Australia Philip lectured in wildlife management, wildfire behaviour, fire ecology and other biological/conservation science courses at Charles Darwin University for a number of years.He has presented internationally on topics ranging from invasive species to wildfire and fire ecology, and has lectured in wildfire behaviour, fire ecology and other environmental science courses. Philip is a Certified Wildlands Fire Ecologist through the Association for Fire Ecology, and is undertaking further studies in veterinary and wildlife science.

Philip is a Research Fellow with the Applied Behavioural Ecology and Ecological Research Unit (ABEERU) in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the University of South Africa.

Adam G. Stewart, BBiomedSci, MBBS (Hons), MPHTM, FRACP, FRCPA, PhD

Dr Adam Stewart is is an Australian-trained Infectious Diseases Physician and Clinical Microbiologist. He is currently working on clinical faculty as an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA. He has previously undertaken post-fellowship subspeciality training in Transplant Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University. Dr Stewart is an active physician-scientist with interests in clinical trials, invasive fungal disease, and infections in oncology and transplant patients. Dr Stewart is committed to advancing the management of infections in cancer patients.

Dr Michael Edward Stewart completed his PhD at the University of Queensland in 2013. He is the author of The Soldier’s Life: Martial Virtues and Manly Romanitas in the Early Byzantine Empire (2017) and Masculinity, Identity, and Power Politics in the Age of Justinian: A Study of Procopius (Amsterdam University Press, 2020; reprinted by Routledge, 2025). He co-edited, with David Alan Parnell and Conor Whately, The Routledge Handbook on Identity in Byzantium (2022).

His most recent book is Portraits of Generalship and Authority in the Age of Justinian (Routledge, 2026). His forthcoming volume, Marriage, Alliance, and Social Networks in the Age of Theodora and Justinian, is under contract with Routledge. Dr Stewart has been an invited speaker at the Institute of Classical Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, and at the University of Venice.

Over the past decade, he has published numerous book chapters and articles, as well as several pieces for wider audiences on the Late Roman and Byzantine army, the historian Procopius, eunuchs, the Arab conquests, and other aspects of Roman and Byzantine history. His popular work has appeared in publications such as Desperta Ferro, Medieval Warfare Magazine, Medieval World: Culture & Conflict, and Medievalists.net.

Dr Stewart has been interviewed on multiple platforms, including New Books Network and Agnus.net. He has peer-reviewed book manuscripts for Palgrave Macmillan, Brill, Bloomsbury, and Routledge, as well as journal articles for Byzantion, Classica Cracoviensia, Studies in Late Antiquity, Eos, Revista de Historia, Journal of Ancient Civilizations, and the Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies.

Associate Professor Steyn is a leading expert in neurodegenerative disease research, specializing in the metabolic and physiological aspects of Motor Neurone Disease (MND). He currently directs a comprehensive translational research program at the University of Queensland, focusing on the interplay between metabolism and disease progression in MND, and leads key projects investigating the impact of metabolic dysfunction, appetite dysregulation, and hypermetabolism on patient outcomes. His work prioritizes the integration of pre-clinical models, clinical studies, and innovative digital health technologies to advance understanding of the heterogeneity in MND, patient care and therapeutic development.

Associate Professor Steyn’s career began with detailed investigations into the hypothalamic regulation of energy homeostasis, growth, and reproduction. He developed industry-standard methodologies for evaluating hormone release patterns in rodent models, particularly concerning growth hormone regulation. In 2015, he transitioned to focus on neurodegenerative diseases, establishing a research platform at UQ that has significantly advanced the analysis of metabolic phenotypes in MND.

His current research projects include the MEND-MND study, which explores how altered energy metabolism influences disease progression, and the EATT4MND study, which examines the consequences of appetite loss and impaired body weight regulation on disease outcomes. Through collaboration with industry partners, he is also developing novel therapeutic strategies and refining wearable digital health technologies for precise, real-time monitoring of disease progression, including the validation of actigraphy-based measures as clinical trial biomarkers.

Dr Stjepanović is a senior research fellow at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research (NCYSUR). His work focusses on how drug use patterns are changing, particularly as a consequence of public policy. This includes, for example, understanding who vapes cannabis, if psychedelics are being used to self-treat physical and psychiatric symptoms, and what the effect psychedelic microdosing has. Additionally, he is interested in using experimental methods to understand substance use, leveraging his background in experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

I am a medicinal and organic chemist

Studied organic chemistry at the University of Sydney, moved to UQ in 1993, then worked for Bayer in Germany, before moving back to Australia in 1996. Worked in Melbourne at the Victorian College of Pharmacy (now MIPS). I then returned to UQ in 2000 to the Fairlie lab where we design and synthesise new chemical entities to tackle human disease. Since 2012 I have been on extended medical leave and am currently an Adjunct Research Fellow, researching proteins from flaviviruses such as Dengue, West Nile, and Zika viruses, and the coronaviruses SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2.