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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.

Professor Kevin Thomas is an internationally recognised environmental health scientist and Director of the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) at The University of Queensland. He leads cutting-edge research aimed at understanding how environmental contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) affect both ecosystems and human health, with a strong focus on translating science into real-world protection and policy impact. He also leads the Minderoo Centre– Plastics and Human Health at UQ and serves as QLD Node Leader and Deputy Director of the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Hyphenated Analytical Separation Technologies (HyTech), where he helps drive innovation in advanced chemical analysis and environmental monitoring. Kevin’s research sits at the intersection of environmental chemistry, analytical science, and environmental health. He is particularly known for his work on human exposure to plastic pollution, developing state-of-the-art mass spectrometric methods to detect and characterise plastics and other emerging contaminants. His work is also reshaping how population health is studied through wastewater-based epidemiology, providing a powerful lens into community-wide exposure and health trends. Beyond traditional sampling methods, Kevin is pioneering novel exposure monitoring approaches—including the use of explanted silicone prostheses and wearable wristbands—to better understand how contaminants interact with the human body in everyday life. Through this work, he is helping redefine how environmental exposure is measured and understood, bridging advanced analytical chemistry with urgent global health challenges.

Professor Thomas’ research is focused on the study of the biology and clinical use of human dendritic cells in autoimmune disease. It has explored basic mechanisms of immunity and dendritic cell function in autoimmune disease.

Professor Thomas is a graduate of the University of Western Australia. She received her MBBS in 1984, and then trained in Perth as a rheumatologist. She commenced a research fellowship with Peter Lipsky at Southwestern Medical Center, University of Texas in 1990, where she first identified and characterised human circulating dendritic cell precursors. She is now Professor of Rheumatology at The University of Queensland's Frazer Institute, Translational Research Institute, consultant Rheumatologist at Princess Alexandra Hospital and fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2020 she was awarded Member of the Order of Australia. She has founded two spin-off companies Dendright (2006-2021), and Liperate in 2022.

Her research seeks to understand autoimmune disease and restoration of immune tolerance. Through this work, she developed dendritic cell-based citrullinated antigen-specific immunotherapy in the first proof-of-concept trial in Rheumatoid Arthritis. She then developed a liposome immunotherapy that targets dendritic cells to induce antigen-specific tolerance, opening new opportunities for the control and prevention of autoimmune disease. Dendright progressed a liposome-based tolerance strategy for rheumatoid arthritis to a phase I trial, and Liperate is planning to open a trial of a liposome-based tolerance strategy for type 1 diabetes in 2024. She has contributed major insights into immune tolerance mechanisms and interaction between microbiome and the immune system to trigger or control spondyloarthropathy.

Emma is a Senior Research Fellow, NHMRC Emerging Leader and prior Heart Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow within the Centre for Online Health (Centre for Health Services Research) at the University of Queensland. She provides input into a range of telehealth projects across the centre. She has a particular interest in the care and management of people with cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases to enhance self-management and reduce barriers to access. Underpinning her work more broadly is an interest in scaling-up effective interventions, monitoring the quality of their delivery and ensuring equitable provision of health services.

Emma completed her PhD (2019) at the University of Melbourne in the School of Population and Global Health as an NHMRC Postgraduate Scholar. Her thesis aimed to understand how the evidence-practice gap in cardiac rehabilitation can be reduced in Australian through enhanced monitoring and evaluation. Emma has also worked across various other research groups including at the University of Oxford at a WHO Collaborating Centre focused on population approaches for non-communicable disease prevention, the Non-Communicable Disease Unit at the University of Melbourne, and a Centre of Research Excellence in Aphasia Rehabilitation (University of Queensland). She has also worked for the Heart Foundation as an academic advisor and also a senior project manager.

Emma has a strong interest in implementation science and sits on the Editorial Board for the journal Implementation Science Communications. She is also part of the Emerging Leaders Committee for the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance (ACvA), and a committee member of the Australian Cardiovascular health and Rehabilitation Association (QLD branch).

Dr Kate Thompson is a Gooreng Gooreng and Yuggera woman and a Lecturer in Health and Social Work in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work (NMSW) at the University of Queensland. Her work focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child, youth, and family wellbeing, with expertise in cultural identity, connection, and culturally safe practice across child protection, health, and social service systems.

Kate’s research is grounded in Indigenous knowledges, qualitative methodologies, and co-design. Her PhD (conferred April 2025) examined cultural identity and connection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out‑of‑home care (OOHC), generating evidence to strengthen the implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle. She is currently a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Linkage Project exploring young people’s experiences of self‑placing in OOHC.

Before entering academia, Kate worked in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community‑controlled organisation as a Foster and Kinship Care Practitioner and later as a Senior Practitioner, providing practice leadership and specialist guidance across OOHC services to support culturally safe, evidence‑informed, and legislatively aligned practice.

Kate co‑coordinates Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, families, and communities, taught to nursing, midwifery, and social work undergraduate and graduate‑entry students. She also coordinates Human Development and Social Work, taught to undergraduate social work and psychology students. Her teaching and leadership focus on embedding cultural safety and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being, and doing across nursing, midwifery, and social work curricula.

Kate actively contributes to curriculum transformation, governance, and community engagement through service roles including:

• Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Behavioural Sciences Indigenising Curriculum Advisory Committee (member)
• School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work Indigenising Curriculum Working Party (co‑chair)
• UQ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Alumni Reference Group
• Australian Association for Adolescent Health (Board Director, 2020–2024), contributing to national conferences, youth‑focused forums, and professional webinars

She has also led the School of NMSW’s engagement with community through organising and facilitating stalls at the Murri School Health Expo for the past two years.

Professor Rachel Thomson is a Head of the Greenslopes Clinical Unit, Thoracic Physician and clinical researcher working at Greenslopes Private Hospital.

She has an international reputation in the area of Pulmonary Nontuberculous mycobacterial disease. She has published widely in the area and is regularly invited to speak at international and national meetings.https://medical-school.uq.edu.au/research/ntm-research-group

Her current research focuses on immunological and environmental aspects of susceptibility to NTM infection, characteristics of the lung and gut microbiome in NTM, and improving treatment outcomes.

In a clinical capacity, Professor Thomson is able to offer patients expert management of their disease at Pulmedica, Greenslopes Private Hospital, at public clinics at The Prince Charles Hospital and the MetroSouth Clinical TB service of the Princess Alexandra Hospital and via telehealth for patients across Australia. Patients can also access novel treatments through clinical trials in both the private and public sector.

Prof Thomson also has a special interest in respiratory problems of the elite athlete. This includes asthma management, vocal cord dysfunction, and the requirements of national and international doping organisations for asthma medications.

BSc in Biology (1988) Umea University, Sweden

PhD in Molecular Biology (1994), Umea University, Sweden. Supervisor: Thomas Edlund

Postdoc, Molecular Neurobiology (1994-1999) Salk Institute, La Jolla, USA. Mentor: John B. Thomas

Assistant Professor (1999-2004), Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

Professor of Developmental Biology (2004-2019), Linkoping University, Sweden

Professor of Developmental Biology (2019-), University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (2013-)

Member of ARC Collegeof Experts (2025-2027)

Simone Thornton is a lecturer in philosophy in the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry at the University of Wollongong, where she teaches environmental philosophy, global ethics and the meaning of life and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. Her research interests intersect social, political, environmental and educational philosophy with a focus on developing eco-rationality through education. Simone is a founding member of the Australian Philosophy Research Group along with Mary Graham, Gilbert Burgh and Michelle Boulous Walker.

Karen Thorpe is Australian Research Council, Laureate Professor and Group Leader in Child Development, Education and Care at the Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland. Her research is grounded in the understanding that early learning experiences shape brain development and are critical in establishing trajectories of health, social inclusion and learning across the lifespan. A particular focus of her work is early care and education environments including parenting, parent work, quality of care and education, and the early years workforce.

Karen leads a multi-disciplinary team of developmental scientists undertaking large scale longitudinal studies with embedded studies to explicate mechanisms that enable or limit children’s life chances. She was Foundation Psychologist on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children at the University of Bristol, UK; led the evaluation of the Preparing School Trial for Queensland Government; led the Queensland team of the E4Kids study of quality in Australian Early Education and Care and a recent data linkage project with Queensland Government to track participants through their school journey. In partnership with Queensland Government, Goodstart Early Learning and the Creche and Kindergarten Association she led a large population study of the Australian ECEC workforce (ARC Linkage). Her current research, as a chief investigator on the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families across the life course, and through an ARC Laureate fellowship, is to examine barriers to providing high quality early learning services in developmentally vulnerable communities.

In 2013 and again in 2019 Karen was named by the Australian Financial Review as among Australia's 100 Women of Influence for the impacts of her research on educational and family policy. In 2020 she was recognised by Australian Government, Advance Global Awards for her international contribution to education. Karen chairs the Australian Early Years Reference Council for Evidence for Learning, Australia whose remit is to build a strong evidence-base in early childhood education and care with focus on translation into policy and practice. She is also director on the board of the Australian Research Council for Children and Youth and advisor to the national board of Beyond Blue – Be You.

Jacob is an Honorary Research Fellow within the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of Queensland and is looking to recruit prospective honours and RHD students interested in studying the neurophysiology of human movement. Potential students can send him an email (j.thorstensen@uq.edu.au) to chat about projects on offer, or to suggest an idea for a project.

Jacob’s PhD was in human neurophysiology (Griffith University, Australia), where he studied how endogenously released neuromodulators (e.g., monoamines such as serotonin and dopamine) control the excitability of cortico-motoneuronal pathways and muscle activation in healthy human subjects. Jacob also has postdoctoral training in clinical neuroscience (The University of Queensland, Australia), where he further developed his expertise in neuromodulation by investigating the use of non-invasive neurostimulation techniques (e.g., repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, rTMS) as a clinical intervention after nervous system injury.

Overall, Jacob’s research involves direct electrophysiological data collection from awake human participants, and his work spans across basic and clinical neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, and exercise science. He has a strong background in mechanistic human neurophysiology experiments, and extensive experience with non-invasive brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation techniques that quantify or modulate the output of the human nervous system and muscles.

Professor Kris Thurecht has appointments at AIBN and UQ’s Centre for Advanced Imaging where he is the Deputy Director of Imaging Technologies. Professor Thurecht has been recognised for scientific excellence with a 2012 Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Award and a 2010 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award for his work in developing polymer ‘theranostics’. In 2015 he was recognised by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Polymer Division through award of the David Sangster Polymer Science and Technology Award for scientific excellence for a mid-career researcher. Since obtaining his PhD in 2005, he has been the recipient of five competitive national and international fellowships, the latest being an NHMRC CDF, and prior to that award an ARC Future Fellowship. He has contributed scientific and review articles to various leading journals in his field, including invited articles in the Emerging Young Investigator issue of Chemical Communications and a Young Talent article in Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics. Professor Thurecht has been chief investigator on grants from various funding bodies, including ARC Discovery grants; ARC Linkage Grants, with both national and international companies; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants; and funding from various cancer foundations. He is co-inventor on 8 patents. He is CI on the ARC Training Centre for Innovation in BioMedical Imaging Technology in which he is theme leader, and is Director of the ARC Research Hub for Advanced Manufacture of Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals.

Moe Thuzar (MBBS, FRCP UK, FRACP, PhD) is a Senior Endocrinologist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH), the Director of Translational Engagement at the Translational Research Institute (TRI, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane. She is the clinical & research Lead in Adrenal Endocrinology in the Endocrinology Department at the PAH, and has a strong research interest in the Neuroendocrine Regulation of Metabolism and Cardiovascular Health in Humans, particularly the Adrenal Endocrine System and Primary Aldosteronsim.

After completing her specialist training and receiving FRACP (Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians) in early 2014, she undertook her PhD study (2014-2018, UQ) investigating the role of adrenal neuroendocrine system in the regulation of human brown adipose tissue and energy metabolism under the primary supervision of Professor Ken Ho. Moe then joined the Endocrine Hypertension Unit of Professor Michael Stowasser, pursuing further research in Cardiovascular Endocrinology, in particular, elucidating the role of the mineralocorticoid system in the regulation of cardiometabolic health and its interplay with other systems in humans, and investigating optimal diagnostic and management strategies for primary aldosteronism. She joined the Executive Leadership Team of the TRI as the Director of Translational Engagement in 2026, providing strategic leadship for programs fostering partnerships between scientists, clinicians, industry and consumers, and an innovative ecosystem acclerating discoveries into clinical solutions.

Her research has informed a number of National and International Clinical Practice Guidelines including the US Endocrine Society's Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Primary Aldosteronism (2025), Lipid Management in Patients with Endocrine Disorders (2020), the Chinese Society of Cardiology/Chinese Medical Association's Joint Guideline for Management of Hypertension (2024), Australian & New Zealand Guideline for Adrenal Venous Sampling in Primary Aldosteronism (2025), the Endocrine Society of Australia/Australian Association of Clinical Biochemist/Royal Australasian College of Pathologists' Joint Guideline for Endocrine Dynamic Testing (2021), QLD Statewide Protocol for Management of Diabetes Ketoacidosis (2014).

She has received numerous awards for her work including US Endocrine Society’s Presidential Awards for Excellence in Cardiovascular Endocrinology Research (2017) and in Adipocyte Biology Research (2017), Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian & New Zealand Obesity Society (2016), Australasian Women in Endocrinology Young Investigator Award (2017), Queensland Health & Medical Research Award (Previously “Premier’s award”, finalist, 2017), Young Investigator Award, International Aldosterone Conference (runner-up, 2019), Endocrine Society of Australia's Paul Lee Award (2023). She is a Principal Investigator (PI) or Chief Investigator (CI) of a number of successful competitive grants, totalling ~4 millions to date, which include Royal Australasian College of Physicians-Australian Diabetes Society Research Establishment Fellowship (2023), MRFF Clinician Researchers Project Grant (CI, 2022-2025), Metro South Research Support Scheme Program Grant (PI, 2021-2023), Diabetes Australia Project Grant (PI, 2019-2021), Metro South Research Support Scheme Early Career Researcher Grant (PI, 2019-2022), Endocrine Society of Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019). She has served as an expert reviewer for Grant review panels including UK Research & Innovation Grants Scheme, NHMRC Project Grants Scheme and for top journals in the field, and held editorial roles for a number of journals including the Frontiers in Endocrinology, Metabolites.