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Dr Kaige Sun is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide (GETCO2) and UQ Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation at The University of Queensland. He received his PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from The University of Queensland, where his research focused on electrochemical ion separation and selectivity. His current main research interests centre on green electrochemical techniques for energy and environmental applications, such as electrochemical CO2 capture and conversion, electrochemical deionization, and the development of advanced biomass-derived electroactive materials. To date, he has published over 27 peer-reviewed publications in Nature indexed/top-tier journals, including Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Materials, Environmental Science & Technology, Chemical Reviews, etc.

Topics related to current research interests:

1. Energy-efficient electrochemical CO2 capture and direct air capture

2. Tailoring microenvironment for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to valuable chemicals

3. Electrochemical ion separation and recovery

4. High-value utilization of biomass to electroactive materials

Dr Sun’s research addresses tourism sustainability, focusing on economic impacts and environmental footprinting. Her work on tourism economic impacts is to use the input-output modelling to provide quantitative estimates on jobs, income and GDP with respect to changes in national tourism policy, market development or special events and disasters. In addition, she also works on the environmental perspectives of travel behaviour, quantifying the tourism carbon footprint and tourism water footprint. She successfully constructed and analysed tourism impacts for individual countries (Taiwan, China, Japan, United States, and New Zealand) and provided the first detailed estimate of the global travel impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

She worked closely with federal and local administers, including Statistics Norway, Indonesia Ministry of Finance, Taiwan Ministry of the Interior Construction Agency, Taiwan Forestry Bureau, and the US National Park Service. Her research projects include cases with national tourism carbon emission inventory, tourism employment vulnerability, tourism marketing programs, and national park management.

Dr Sun has published in top academic journals including Nature Climate Change, Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research and Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Before joining UQ from Taiwan in 2018, She had 9 consecutive research projects with the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (equivalence to Australia Research Council), and 4 governmental grants. Dr Sun is currently the lead CI of the ARC Discovery Project that will set up the global tourism carbon emissions database and identify enablers for tourism decarbonization.

Dr Hongfu Sun completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta in 2015, followed by postdoctoral training in Calgary until 2018. He joined the Imaging, Sensing and Biomedical Engineering team in the School of ITEE at UQ in 2019 and was awarded the ARC DECRA fellowship in 2021. His research interests include developing novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast mechanisms, e.g. Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM), fast and multi-parametric MRI acquisitions, and advanced image reconstruction techniques, including deep learning and artificial intelligence, to advance medical imaging techniques for clinical applications.

Dr Sun is currently recruiting graduate students. Check out Available Projects for details. Open to both Domestic and International students.

Tianze Sun is a Research Fellow at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research at The University of Queensland. Tianze received her Bachelor of Psychological Science with first-class honours in 2019 from UQ and later in 2024, her Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology.

Her current research focuses on evaluating public health policies to minimise the harm associated with youth substance use. Tianze's work employs a multidisciplinary approach, combining co-design with young people, working with generative AI, analysis of large-scale epidemiological data, and social media data mining to address these complex challenges. She is passionate about leveraging cutting-edge technologies and collaborating with diverse groups to develop innovative solutions that have a positive impact on the lives of young people.

Tianze has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals such as JAMA Paediatrics, Addiction, and Tobacco Control. Her work has attracted significant national and international attention, with features in outlets like The Guardian, Forbes, and ABC News.

She works with an exceptionally talented team of researchers from various disciplines and is always keen to work with motivated students and collaborators who share her passions.

Associate Professor Peter Sutton's research interests are in Engineering Education, Embedded Computing Systems and Reconfigurable Computing

Associate Professor Peter Sutton has worked, studied and taught in the area of computer systems since completing his undergraduate studies in 1990. His particular research interests are in Engineering Education, Embedded System Design Software, Electronic Design Automation, and Reconfigurable Computing Systems.

Matt Sutton is a statistician and Bayesian computation researcher specialising in advanced Monte Carlo methods for complex and high-dimensional models. Currently a lecturer in mathematics and statistics at the University of Queensland, he develops new approaches to scalable Bayesian inference through piecewise deterministic Markov processes (PDMPs) and related non-reversible algorithms.

He holds an ARC DECRA fellowship on Scalable Bayesian inference for secure and reliable decision making and is a Chief Investigator on the ARC Discovery Project Fixing the holes in Bayesian model comparison. His research focuses on enhancing the efficiency and reliability of simulation-based inference by leveraging continuous-time dynamics, gradient-driven sampling, and robust model comparison methods for modern Bayesian computation.

I am a computational biologist specialising in the integration of multi-omics data to study rheumatoid arthritis (RA). My research combines clinical data, serum proteomics, single-cell transcriptomics, and spatial transcriptomics to understand disease progression, patient trajectories, and flare events.

I am particularly interested in the immune landscape of synovial tissue and how spatial organisation of immune and stromal cells contributes to inflammation and remission. Through advanced statistical modelling and machine learning, including clustering and trajectory inference, I aim to identify predictors of flare and uncover mechanisms that drive differences in patient outcomes.

Alongside my work in RA, I also investigate the link between systemic inflammation and cardiovascular disease, applying spatial, single-cell transcriptomics, proteomics and bioinformatics approaches to explore how chronic inflammation contributes to cardiac dysfunction.

The overarching goal of my research is to improve early prediction of disease trajectories, support personalised management strategies, and contribute to the development of targeted therapies for patients with RA.

Dr Kamila Svobodova is a Senior Research Fellow at the Sustainable Minerals Institute. Her work focuses on the social and ecological dimensions of mining, mine closure and regional transitions, combining expertise in social science, spatial planning and landscape ecology. Her research explores how mining and energy transitions reshape landscapes, communities and governance systems. Using systems thinking, spatial analysis and participatory approaches, she works to support more inclusive and sustainable land-use decision-making in mining-affected regions.

Key areas of expertise include:

• Mine closure and post-mining transitions
• Spatial planning and regional development
• Participatory mapping, GIS and spatial modelling
• Community participation and stakeholder engagement
• Cultural ecosystem services and place attachment
• Resource governance and spatial justice

Kamila has more than 20 years of international experience across academia, consultancy and private sector in Europe and Australia. She has contributed to major interdisciplinary research initiatives, including the EU-funded CESMINE project and applied projects within the Sustainable Minerals Institute focused on social aspects of mine closure and complex ore bodies.

Her work integrates qualitative and quantitative methods to inform policy and practice for government, industry and communities navigating environmental and demographic change in resource regions. Kamila also contributes to international scholarship through editorial roles with journals including Ambio and Landscape and Urban Planning.

Matt Sweet is an NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Group Leader at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Matt studies innate immunity, the body’s danger sensing system that responds to infection, injury and dysregulated homeostasis, and the role of this system in health and disease. Matt’s research team focuses on manipulating the innate immune system for the development of anti-infective and anti-inflammatory strategies. To do so, his lab characterizes the roles of specific innate immune pattern recognition receptors and their downstream signalling pathways/gene products in inflammatory and infectious disease processes, with a particular focus on immunometabolism. He has authored >180 journal articles and book chapters, including in Science (2), Science Translational Medicine, Science Immunology, Nature Immunology, Nature Reviews Immunology, Nature Genetics, Nature Communications(4), PNAS USA (6), Cell Metabolism, Developmental Cell and Journal of Experimental Medicine (2), and his career publications have accrued ~22,000 citations. Matt has held several leadership roles at the IMB, including IMB Director of Higher Degree Research (DHDR, 2021-2025), member of the IMB Senior Executive Committee (2023-2025), founding Director of the IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research (2014-2018), and Deputy Head of the IMB Division of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine (2014-2018).

Biography

I was awarded a PhD (The University of Queensland) in 1996 for my research under the supervision of Prof David Hume into gene regulation in macrophages, immune cells with important roles in health and disease. I subsequently undertook a short postdoctoral position in the same laboratory, focusing on the activation of macrophages by pathogen products. I then embarked on a CJ Martin post-doctoral training fellowship with Prof Eddy Liew, FRS at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Returning to The University of Queensland, I had a prominent role within the Cooperative Research Centre for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases (including as UQ node head from 2007-2008) and was appointed as a Group Leader at the IMB in 2007. Since that time, I have held several fellowships, including an ARC Future Fellowship, two NHMRC Senior Research Fellowships, an NHMRC Leadership Fellowship, and a Le Studium Visiting Researcher Award.

Key discoveries

CpG-containing DNA as an activator of innate immunity, and characterization of the receptor (TLR9) detecting this microbial component.

The IL-1 receptor family member ST2 as a critical regulator of innate immunity and inflammation.

Inflammatory and antimicrobial functions of histone deacetylase enzymes (HDACs) in macrophages.

Effects of the growth factor CSF-1 on inflammatory responses in macrophages.

Mechanisms responsible for divergence in TLR responses between human and mouse macrophages, as well as the functional consequences of such divergence.

The first description of the p19/EBI3 heterodimer, subsequently renamed by others as the cytokine IL-39.

TLR-inducible zinc toxicity as an antimicrobial weapon of macrophages, as well as its deficiency in Cystic Fibrosis.

Host evasion strategies used by the bacterial pathogens Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and uropathogenic E. coli.

SCIMP as a novel TLR adaptor that mediates TLR tyrosine phosphorylation and selective cytokine outputs.

Genes and pathways associated with the severity of chronic liver disease.

Molecular mechanisms controlling macrophage immunometabolism, as well as associated inflammatory and antimicrobial responses.

Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities of the metabolite ribulose-5-phosphate.

Research training

I have supervised or co-supervised 34 completed PhD students and 26 completed honours students, and have mentored many post-doctoral researchers over the course of my career. Many of my former staff and students continue to have active research careers around the world (USA, UK, Europe, Australia), including as independent laboratory heads. Others have key roles in and industry and government. I currently supervise 4 PhD students in my laboratory, co-supervise 3 PhD students in other laboratories, and oversee the research activities of 3 post-doctoral researchers in my group. Current and former staff/students have received numerous fellowships and awards during their research careers (e.g. ARC DECRA, NHMRC CJ Martin fellowship, UQ post-doctoral fellowship, Smart State scholarship). I have also examined 32 PhD theses and 3 MPhil theses, primarily in the fields of innate immunity, inflammation and host defence.

Professional activities

I have served as an editorial board member for several international journals including Journal of Leukocyte Biology (current), Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology (current), and Immunology and Cell Biology (past). I have served on NHMRC project grant review panels in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 (as panel chair) and 2014, NHMRC Ideas panels in 2020 and 2024, NHMRC Investigator panels in 2021 and 2022, as well as a member of the NHMRC RGMS user reference group committee from 2010-2012. I acted as national representative for the Australasian Society of Immunology (ASI) Infection and Immunity special interest group from 2012-2017 and currently serve as a board member for the International Society for Zinc Biology. At UQ, I served as chair of an animal ethics committee from 2013-2014 and co-organized the UQ Host-Pathogen interaction network from 2007-2010 (prior to the establishment of the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre). Other leadership roles have included IMB Director of Higher Degree Research (DHDR, 2021-2025), member of the IMB Senior Executive Committee (2023-2025), founding Director of the IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research (2014-2018), and Deputy Head of the IMB Division of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine (2014-2018).

I have made extensive contributions to conference organization in my discipline. I co-organized the national TLROZ2009 and TLROZ2012 conferences, I organized the first ever Australasian Society for Immunology (ASI) Infection and Immunity workshop (2009), was chair of the ASI Program Committee and co-organizer of the Infection and Immunity workshop for ASI2017, and I co-organized the annual IMB Inflammation Symposium (2014-2018). I also co-chaired the 2019 World Conference of Inflammation (Sydney, September 2019). In addition, I have been a member of the organizing committee for ASI2009, the 2014 International Cytokine and Interferon Society conference, the Lorne Infection and Immunity conference (2014-2020), the Queensland Immunology Networking Symposium (2020-2024), the Brisbane Immunology Group annual meeting (2008-2024), and the International Society for Zinc Biology Conference (2026).

Dr Sarah Sweet's research interests are in astrophysics, in the field of galaxy evolution. She received her PhD from the University of Queensland in 2014. Dr Sweet then worked at the Australian National University and at Swinburne University of Technology, before returning to UQ as a Lecturer in Astrophysics in 2020. She was awarded an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship in 2022 and became a Senior Lecturer in 2023.

John Swinson's principal interests are intellectual property law, Internet law, privacy law, AI law, cybersecurity law and the application of law to new technologies.

John graduated from the T.C. Beirne School of Law in 1988 with a University Medal. He also has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in computer science from The University of Queensland and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School where he studied as a Fulbright Fellow and a Frank Knox Scholar. In 1989, John worked as a judge's associate to Justice C W Pincus of the Federal Court of Australia. John is admitted to the NY Bar, and worked as an associate at Kenyon & Kenyon in NYC from September 1991 to January 1997. From 1999 until 2017, John was an adjunct professor at QUT.

John was a partner at the law firm King & Wood Mallesons from 1999 to 2021. He was also Chairman of the auDA Policy Review Panel, which made recommendations to the auDA Board to revise Australia's domain name policies in 2019.

Since 2000, John has been an arbitrator for the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva, and has decided over 800 disputes regarding the ownership of domain names.

John commenced as a professor at the T.C. Beirne School of Law in November 2017.

• Art and Humanities teachings in Medical Education Belinda's work will build on knowledge of creative pedagogy and how it can be used in medical training.
• Interprofessioal Education in Medical Simulation Training Interprofessional collaboration in clinical settings improves the quality of patient care. Foundations of collaborative care lie in interprofessional education (IPE) of students, and clinicians. Belinda has been involved in teaching many IPE experiences across the breadth of the health disciplines over the last 10 years.
• Medical Simulation Training Belinda is an experienced medical simulation educator. She is involved across many simulation based learning activities in phase 1 and 2 of the Doctor of Medicine program. Simulation education uses action research to continuously improve the education services provided.