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Dr Phong Thai is an ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow. Phong joined Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) in 2018 after his Vice Chancellor Senior Research Fellowship at the International Laboratory of Air Quality and Health at Queensland University of Technology. His research focus at QAEHS involves the expansion of wastewater-based epidemiological approach to estimate community consumption and exposure to a range of licit and illicit substances including tobacco and alcohol, pharmaceuticals and as well as the monitoring of community infection to Covid-19 during the last pandemic. He is a member of the team who manage the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program.

Phong is also working on projects monitoring occurence, fate and transport of environmental pollutants in different matrices. He has lso far ed or contributed to several exciting projects totalling > A$ 15 millions.

JT or JAGADISH THAKER (PhD, 2011) is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland and Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Communication. He is an affiliate researcher with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. His research examines ways to understand and enhance public, business, and policy engagement with climate change and public health.

Dr. Thaker is the Associate Editor of the 3 Volumes of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication (2018), Oxford University Press, Co-Editor of International Trends in Environmental Communication (2021), Routledge, and Author of Corporate Communication on Climate Change: Villains, Victims, and White Knights (2025), Routledge.

Dr. JT Thaker has received over $1.01 million in funding as a PI or a Co-PI from the government (MBIE, National Science Challenges) and other private organisations.

His research was covered by over 1000 media outlets, including The Guardian, The New York Times, Reuters, CNN, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New Zealand Herald, and The Hindu. He has appeared several times on national TV and radio stations. His research was featured by the Royal Society of New Zealand.

He has won several awards, including the three Top Faculty Paper Awards (2022, 2023 and 2026) in Environmental Communication from the International Communication Association, 2022 Golden Anniversary Monograph Award from the National Communication Association, 2021 Outstanding PhD Aulmus from the George Mason University’s Department of Communication, Massey Business School’s Excellence in Research award, and the Top 40 under 40 inspiring teachers award from The Indian Express, a leading newspaper in India. His co-edited book, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication, was a finalist in the Association of American Publishers’ 2019 PROSE Award.

He has served as an expert reviewer or jury for the National Geographic Society, Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC), European Science Foundation, and Health Research Council New Zealand, among other funding agencies.

Nanotechnology revolutionizes the trends in biomedical applications. In particular, nanomaterial-based cancer treatment and immunotherapy are hot topics of interest. By paying attention to the molecular-level details of cancer as well as the changes in the tumor microenvironment, novel nanoparticles can be designed (for example: for in-situ capture of generated tumour associated antigens (TAA) and for the regulation of macrophage phenotypes) for treating cancer. Oral delivery of nanotherapeutics and nanovaccine is another topic of broad interest that can maximize patient comfort, reduce medical expenses and reduce complications in administration. In this regard, nanomaterials can be carefully designed to overcome the challenges in the oral delivery of drugs, adjuvants, and genetic materials. Cutting-edge nanotechnology and nanochemistry are combined to develop silica-based delivery systems for cancer vaccines or cancer treatment.

Shevanuja Theivendran finished her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Mississippi, USA, with 3 years of research experience in synthesizing and characterizing Gold Nanomaterials. During her bachelor's degree, she got a wonderful opportunity to associate with a world-leading expert in the field of crystallization, Prof. Allan Myerson from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA, as a research intern. She was also awarded Taylor Medal in 2016, the university's highest academic award which is awarded as a recognition for her meritorious studies. Thereafter, she got admitted to the Ph.D. program at UQ with the prestigious RTP scholarship in 2018. Shevanuja did her Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Chengzhong Yu, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), focusing on the design of nanoparticles for the capture and delivery of in-situ generated tumour associated antigens (TAA) and the regulation of tumor microenvironment for cancer immunotherapy. She is currently working as a post-doctoral research fellow at AIBN, the University of Queensland. Her current research focuses on the development of nanomaterial-based oral DNA vaccine in collaboration with N4 Pharma and the development of novel nanoplatforms for the regulation of tumor microenvironment by targeting different components of cancer and its microenvironment for cancer treatment.

Dr Natalie Thomas is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Science Research. Natalie's background is in criminology, and her work focuses broadly on the intersections of health and justice and the application of social science research methods to program evaluation. She completed her PhD through the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University. Her research interests include alcohol and other drug regulation and policy, criminal justice policy and programs, qualitative and mixed methods research, program evaluation and evidence reviews.

Lucy Thomas is a teaching and research academic in the Discipline of Physiotherapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland. She is also a registered practicing Titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist with postgraduate qualifications (Grad Dip App Sc (Manipulative Physiotherapy) from the University of Sydney and holds an honorary physiotherapy position at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Particular research interests include:

1. The safety of manual treatment of the neck and recognition of red flag conditions in patients presenting with headache and neck pain.
2. Evaluation of the role of the neck in disorders such as headache and dizziness.
3. Validating simple screening tools for the cervical region for use in clinical practice.
4. Optimising the management of cervical spine disorders.

Lucy completed her Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Newcastle in 2013, with thesis entitled ' Minimising risk factors for cervical spine manipulation'. She holds a Master of Medical Science from the University of Newcastle 'Validity of the Doppler velocimeter as a pre-manipulative screening tool for vertebral artery flow'. Her doctoral research focussed on investigating risk factors and clinical presentation of patients presenting with craniocervical arterial dissection, as well as examining blood flow changes in the cervical arteries with head movement.

Lucy has been an invited speaker at international and national conferences and is regulalry invited to deliver webinars, lectures and workshops both nationally and internationally to present her research findings in the areas of safe practice, evaluation and management of the cervical spine. She has published her research in peer reviewed journals and contributed chapters to three textbooks on cervical spine management. She teaches extensively into the undergraduate and postgraduate physiotherapy programs and supervises several doctoral students.

Damon Thomas is a senior lecturer in literacy education. His current research interests include theories of writing, writing development, pedagogy, and assessment, systemic functional linguistics, argumentation, standardised assessment, and classical rhetoric. Damon's research has made important contributions in the following areas:

• Understanding the complexities of student writing development
• Exploring writing instruction in situ
• Unpacking and critiquing the results of Australia's only large-scale test: the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy.

Damon completed his PhD at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in 2015. He began lecturing at UTAS in 2014 and was promoted to senior lecturer in 2019. He took up a senior lecturer position at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2021. Before starting his academic career, Damon taught as a primary school teacher in Tasmania after completing a Bachelor of Education degree with First Class Honours.

Damon was part of a team of Chief Investigators from the University of Tasmania, Deakin University, and La Trobe University that secured a successful ARC Linkage Project in 2015 in partnership with Anglicare Tasmania (LP150100558). The project investigated conditions that improved learning and wellbeing outcomes in regional, low-SES schools in Tasmania and Victoria. Damon oversaw the literacy component across school sites and conducted in-depth case studies in Tasmanian primary and high schools.

Damon is currently a Chief Investigator on an ARC Discovery Project investigating talk for learning in early years mathematics classrooms. Damon's main role is to employ several linguistic frameworks to understand the complexities of student dialogue and features of productive talk.

Damon is a member of several professional organisations including the Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association (ASFLA), the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia (PETAA), and the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (ALEA). Damon also translates literacy research for practising teachers via his blog: Read Write Think Learn

Dr Hannah Thomas is a Research Fellow and Clinical Psychologist at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and has academic affiliations with both The University of Queensland and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. She completed a PhD on adolescent bullying and cyberbullying, which was recognised by the Australian Psychological Society as the best original contribution to knowledge. As a psychologist she has experience in the delivery of evidence-based treatments for mental health and social difficulties with children and adolescents and their families. Dr Thomas developed and validated the Bullying and Cyberbullying Scale for Adolescents [BCS-A] and co-led the work to have bullying victimisation included as a risk factor for mental disorders in the Global Burden of Disease Study. She is also a co-investigator on the Australian Child Maltreatment Prevalence Study, which is the most comprehensive study the prevalence, health, and economic burden of child maltreatment in Australia. Her ongoing research is focused on the prevention of adverse childhood experiences and mental illness in the population.

Dr George Thomas is a Research Fellow in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland and a member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. His research focuses on children’s digital technology use, family digital routines, healthy screen use, and child health and wellbeing.

George leads an integrated program of research focused on understanding and improving how families manage children’s screen use. His work spans digital health, behavioural science, public health, and research translation through partnerships with government and industry.

His research has informed international policy and guidelines, including reports from UNESCO and the World Health Organization, and contributes to global initiatives such as the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance.

George is also committed to education and mentorship, having supervised more than 40 student research projects across psychology, dietetics, and exercise science, and supporting students to work on real-world policy and community initiatives.