Find an expert

Professor André Van Zundert is the Professor and Chair of Anaesthesiology at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He is the Chair of RBWH 'Burns, Trauma, Critical Care and Research Centre'.

Professor André van Zundert is also the Chair of The University of Queensland 'Centre for Excellence & Innovation in Anaesthesia'. His research interest is in airway management, regional anaesthesia and obstetrics, for which he has received international recognition. He has been greatly acknowledged for his contributions to: 1) Pain Relief in Childbirth (the suggested technique is still practiced all over the world in the labour ward); 2) providing safe and effective airway management using videolaryngoscopy and videolaryngeal mask airways; and 3) Pain therapy. He authored three major standard textbooks in anaesthesia.

Honorary Professor at Queensland Brain Institute. About 400 million general anaesthesia procedures are performed annually worldwide. While anaesthesia is extremely safe, it remains largely unknown why recovery can be delayed or problematic in some patients, especially in elderly people and in those with pre-existing neurological decline. Currently, there are no treatments available to counteract or speed up anaesthesia recovery, which still remains an entirely passive process. Our inability to counteract general anaesthesia has serious secondary consequences, such as increased length of hospital stay, and ongoing complications, including postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Professor van Zundert's interest in promoting research in this area prompted collaboration with the van Swinderen Lab at Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) and was facilitated by his joining as an Honorary Professor. Professor van Zundert’s research focus at QBI is centred on uncovering anaesthesia reversal agents, targeting pre-and post-synaptic neurotransmission receptors.

Luigi Vandi is the Co-Director for the Centre for Advanced Materials Processing and Manufacturing (AMPAM) and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering. He conducts research in materials science, ranging from advanced manufacturing, in-life performance and end-of life conversion to higher value products. He obtained his PhD on hybrid materials from The University of Queensland, and his MSc from the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine in France.

His translational research activities have a strong focus on industry relevant projects. His experience in high-performance composites manufacturing for automotive and aerospace applications, includes working at Ferrari F1 Team in Italy, where he was responsible for the manufacture of carbon fibre suspensions and gearbox of the F1 car. In Australia, he played a key role in developing a patented technology as part of a collaborative project with Airbus and CRC-ACS. He is currently responsible for AMPAM’s sustainability theme and leads research in ‘Biocomposites & Circular Economy’. He has secured over $9 million of funding in this field and delivered high impact sustainable solutions. He is the first author of 4 active patents, in the fields of advanced manufacturing, biocomposites and biopolymers, including the development of novel sustainable biocomposite materials that are marine biodegradable biopolymer.

Luigi is driven by solution-based research, and in particular bringing latest innovations in materials science to the benefits of a future circular economy. His goal is to provide an expertise at the crossover between materials science and sustainable development to address the challenges of today’s linear economy.

Luigi lectured 4th year Aerospace Composites (course AERO4300), and 2nd year Engineering Investigation & Statistical Analysis (course CHEE2010)

Professor Eric J. Vanman is a social psychologist and social neuroscientist whose research examines the emotional, physiological, and neural mechanisms underlying social behaviour. His work focuses on empathy, intergroup relations, and human interaction with emerging technologies, including AI, social robots, and social media.

Using experimental and psychophysiological methods such as facial EMG, EEG, and behavioural paradigms, he bridges social psychology, affective neuroscience, and the psychology of technology. A central theme of his work is understanding what human emotional responses to artificial agents reveal about the social brain.

His research has contributed to the study of implicit emotion and bias and informs contemporary debates about digital empathy, online behaviour, and the psychological impact of new technologies. He teaches and supervises across social psychology, social neuroscience, and the psychology of technology.

Dr Tristan Vanyai's research interests are in the fields of hypersonic propulsion, aerodynamics, combustion visualisation and laser diagnostics, using both experimental and numerical techniques.

Dr Vanyai received his Doctor of Philosophy from The University of Queensland in 2018, after completing a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering (First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Science double degree at Monash University in 2012.

His research focuses on fundamentals of hypersonic propulsion through the scramjet cycle. Robust combustion within low intake compression scramjets is a key technology enabler for hypersonic accelerator vehicles, and can be achieved through utilising techniques such as thermal compression. Dr Vanyai is examining the improvements to scramjet combustion due to thermal compression through experiments in the T4 Stalker Tube facility using advanced optical techniques and comparison with results from numerical simulations.

Dr Antiopi Varelias leads the Transplantation Immunology laboratory at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia and is the Coordinator of the Immunology and Infectious diseases seminar series at the Institute. She was awarded her PhD from The University of Adelaide (Faculty of Medicine) in 2002 and held post-doctoral positions within the University of Adelaide’s Department of Surgery (TQEH) and Haematology/Oncology Unit, TQEH before moving to Brisbane to join the Bone Marrow Transplantation laboratory at QIMR Berghofer in 2008, at the time led by Professor Geoff Hill. Under Professor Hill’s mentorship, she has published many original research articles in peer-reviewed high-ranking journals on graft-versus-host disease and has presented her research findings at many international and national scientific meetings. As a chief investigator, she has been the recipient of funding from the NH&MRC and CCQ and is a member of several professional societies (ASTCT, TTS, TSANZ, AAI, ASI, SMI, ICIS).

Dr Varelias’s research interests focus on improving our fundamental understanding of the pathophysiology of graft-versus-host disease using innovative technologies and pre-clinical models, with the view of translating these findings into clinical practice and thereby provide better transplant outcomes for patients. Current research aims to define the immunological basis that underpins graft-versus-host disease, with an emphasis on cellular, cytokine and microbiome interactions that regulate mucosal immunity during stem cell transplantation.

Associate Professor Paulo Vasconcelos' research is in the fields of: Low-T Geochemistry, Economic Geology and 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology. He received his PhD from The University of California (Berkeley).

Paolo Vasconcelos research interests cover

• Supergene enrichment in ore deposits
• Isotopic dating of weathering processes
• Exploration geochemistry
• Palaeoclimatology and landscape evolution
• Application of K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar and noble gas systematics to ore deposit genesis
• Origin and geochemistry of gem deposits

His chief research projects are in the areas of:

• Weathering Geochronology, Weathering Geochronology and Landscape Evolution
• Mechanisms and timing of silicification in Australia and the genesis of opal deposits
• Cenozoic Magmatism in North East Brazil and in South East Queensland
• U-He, 40Ar/39Ar, and Re-Os as fingerprints of metal sources in orogenic gold deposits
• U-Th/He dating of iron and manganese oxides
• Cosmogenic 3He generation and retention in goethite and hematite
• Hydrothermal vs. supergene origin of orebodies in banded iron formations in the Hamersley iron province, the Quadrilátero Ferrífero iron province, and the Carajás iron province
• Supergene Enrichment in the Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa
• Timing of topaz, emerald and gold mineralization
• 40Ar/39Ar geocronological constraints on postulated hominid fossil sites in Cueva Victoria, Spain

Biography:

Professor James Vaughan is the Chemical Engineering Metallurgy Major Lead and Leader of the Hydrometallurgy Research Group. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering at McGill University followed by Master of Applied Science and PhD degrees in Materials Engineering at The University of British Columbia in Canada. Before joining UQ, James gained industrial metallurgical process research and development experience with Glencore, Barrick and BHP. While at UQ, James served as Director of the University of Queensland Rio Tinto Bauxite & Alumina Technology Centre and has been Lead Chief Investigator of Australian Research Council Linkage and Discovery Projects. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and program technical lead for the CRC Critical Metals for Critical Industries.

Research:

James' research focuses on the fundamental aspects of leaching, ion exchange and precipitation reactions as well as membrane separations. These projects are of interest to the base metals, precious metals and alumina refining industries as well as in the fabrication of value added materials such as lithium ion battery cathode precursors and zeolites.

Current Projects:

1. Rare earth co-processing (UniQuest)
2. Rere earth ion exchange resin separations (Bayan Mining and Minerals)
3. Inorganic membrane percrystallisation in hydrometallurgy (ARC Discovery / Critical Minerals Trailblazer / AEA Ignite)
4. Effects of solution impurities on gold leaching (Newmont and BHP - ARC Linkage)
5. Recovering pure magnesium chloride from magnesia tails (QMAG)
6. Recycling batteries (V Resource)
7. Alternative processes for recovering gold from leach residue

Teaching and Learning:

• Hydrometallurgy and Electrometallurgy (METL6204)
• Risk in the Process Industries (CHEE4002)
• Metal Production and Recycling (METL2201)

Dr Katerina Vaxevani is an early career researcher in the field of condenced matter physics. She specialized in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy during her PhD in San Sebastian, Spain.

Currently, she works as a post-doctoral researcher in the SPMQT Lab at UQ under the supervision of Dr Peter Jacobson.

For up-to-date information, please see the SPMQT Lab site (https://spmqt.org/).

Beyond her research interests, Katerina is dedicated to the public dissemination of science and to encouraging and supporting women pursuing careers in STEM.

I am a nutritionist with a background in public health and over a decade of experience working in breast cancer research. My work has focused on cancer prevention, optimal care, and improving patient outcomes. I am currently a Research Fellow at the Frazer Institute, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences, The University of Queensland, where I work with the Integrating Genomics into Medicine team. I am also a casual Academic at the School of Public Health, University of Queensland.

Prof. Anand Veeraragavan's research interests are in supersonic combustion of hydrocarbons, hypersonic aerothermodynamics, advanced optical diagnostics for hypersonic flows and microcombustion based portable power. He is the Co-Director for UQ's Centre for Hypersonics. Since 2021, he is an Associate Editor for the AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, which is a Quartile 1 Journal in Aerospace Engineering (Scimago).

Prof. Anand Veeraragavan joined the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering as a mechanical engineering lecturer in 2012. He was an Mid-Career Advance Queensland Research Fellow (2017-2020) awarded for conducting research in the project entitled

Supersonic Combustion of Hydrocarbon Fuels for High-Mach-Number Axisymmetric Scramjets

Anand graduated with a B.Tech in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) in 2002. He obtained his MS (2006) and PhD (2009) degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland. His Doctoral research, which focused on understanding flame stabilization in microscale combustors, won the best thesis award in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland.

After his PhD, he took up a research appointment as a postdoctoral research associate in the Device Research Lab at MIT where he worked on thermophotovoltaics and nanofluid based volumetric solar absorbers. He next joined GE Energy as a combustion technologist in the US. At GE, he worked primarily on designing the next generation, land based, heavy duty, gas turbine engine combustors focusing on cost, operability, reliability and emissions and also completed his lean Six Sigma Greenbelt certification at GE.

He is currently undertaking world-leading research in the field of hypersonics and supersonic combustion sponsored by Australian DST, U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and U.S. Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development (AOARD). This includes leading the Australian effort in prestigious projects such as ground testing and simulations in support of the Boundary Layer Transition/Turbulence (BOLT II) flight test sponsored by the AFOSR.

His research interests include:

• Supersonic combustion of hydrocarbon fuels
• Hypersonic aerothermodynamics
• Optical diagnostics: PLIF for supersonic combustion, FLDI for hypersonic aerothermodynamics, high-speed schlieren
• Micro-combustion driven power systems
• Solar thermal and solar photovoltaic technology development

Dr Kellie Vella is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Digital Cultures & Societies, working on the Australian Research Data Commons' Australian Internet Observatory. Her research centres on human-computer interactions within social and interdisciplinary contexts. She draws upon motivational psychology and participatory research to better understand how to design, apply, and evaluate new technologies for learning and wellbeing.

Associate Professor Jemma Venables is a social work academic and the Program Lead for the Master of Social Work (Qualifying) program. She teaches into the undergraduate and postgraduate social work programs. Jemma's interdisciplinary and industry-engaged programs of research is focused on transforming child and family welfare. Her work spans the continuum from early intervention through to her primary focus – young people’s transition from out-of-home care to adulthood. The research teams she leads and contributes to aim to build knowledge to inform more responsive policies and practices that enhance the wellbeing, connection and outcomes for marginalised and disadvantage children, young people and their families.