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Prof Ben Panizza is the Chairman of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery for Metro South and Director of the Queensland Head and Neck Cancer Centre. He has been active in head and neck cancer management for 27 years. He has created innovative approaches in dealing with malignancies extending to the skull base one of the most anatomically complex regions of the body. He is recognised as a world leader in cutaneous malignancy extending to the temporal bone and perineurial spread of keratinocyte skin cancers, being regularly invited overseas to present. Prof Panizza is active in integrating new treatments with surgery to change treatment paradigms and improve outcomes for patients. He is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland and works collaboratively with basic scientist and has supervised to completion 28 research higher degrees over the last 12 years. He has established an in department clinical trials unit to run clinical trials from proof of principle to phase 3 clinical trials enabling access and rapid translation for his scientific partners at the Princess Alexandra Hospital which has one of Australia's largest head and neck clinics. Prof Panizza is a clinical consultant and advisor to industry (Merck, Sanofi, QBiotics, Decibel Therapeutics) and sits on the governing bodies of both the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncological Societies and The World Federation of Skull Base Societies. He has been the President of the Australian and New Zealand Head and Neck Cancer Society and was the Foundation president of the Australian and New Zealand Skull Base Society. He is active in publishing and sits on the editorial boards of the major head and neck journals (Head Neck, Oral Oncology, Skull Base, ANZ Journal of Surgery).

Dr Chris Papic is a Research Fellow in musculoskeletal injury at the RECOVER Injury Research Centre (University of Queensland) and a Clinical Exercise Physiologist (ESSA) with 10 years of experience in rehabilitation hospital settings. Chris co-leads the 'Knowledge translation, education and implementation' theme for the Centre for Innovation in Pain and Health Research (CIPHeR); CIPHeR unites groups of pain researchers across The University of Queensland to work collaboratively toward the single end of cracking the code on pain. Chris is an Early Career Network Collaboration Committee member for the International Association for the Study of Pain.

Chris' research and clinical passion is to optimise care for people with pain after traumatic injury. His research focusses on translation and implementation science projects including: development and implementation of Australian whiplash clinical guidelines with health professionals and insurers; upskilling physiotherapists in delivering integrated psychological and physical care for people after road traffic injury (https://cre-rfrti.centre.uq.edu.au/clinical-trials/picot-clinical-trial); adapting an integrated intervention for stress and pain management from primary care settings to hospital orthopaedic wards; development and evaluation of a simple text message intervention to support recovery after whiplash injury.

Nicole is a Research Fellow at the RECOVER Injury Research Centre, working within the Improving Health Outcomes after Musculoskeletal Injury program. Her current research focuses on the design and implementation of single-case experimental design studies to evaluate multidisciplinary interventions for whiplash and other musculoskeletal injuries sustained in road traffic incidents. Nicole completed her PhD in Psychology at The University of Queensland, where she investigated the effectiveness and mechanisms of mind-body therapies for pain management in injured athletes. This work advanced understanding of psychological predictors of pain, injury perception, and recovery in sporting contexts. Nicole has published in leading journals including Journal of Sports Sciences and Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, and presented at national and international conferences such as the Australian Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting. She holds a Master of Clinical Research from The University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) from UQ, and is committed to developing personalised, evidence-based approaches to injury rehabilitation.

Cristian Riveros-Matthey is a dedicated and highly motivated researcher with a strong academic background in biomechanics and motor control, holding a PhD from the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences (HMNS) at The University of Queensland.

He has demonstrated expertise in applying advanced technologies for human movement analysis, including markerless 3D motion capture systems, force sensors, surface and high-density electromyography (hdEMG), and ultrasound imaging. He is also proficient in data analysis and signal processing using MATLAB and Python.

Cristian’s research focuses on musculoskeletal simulation and optimisation to investigate the principles underlying action selection and the cost functions that drive human movement in constrained locomotor tasks, such as cycling, level walking, and uphill walking.

Dr. Steven Rynne is an Associate Professor in Sport Pedagogy and Coaching as well as the Director of Engagement and Partnerships with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland, Australia. The major theme that runs throughout Steven’s work is learning in sport. Within this broad theme he has worked and conducted research with a variety of peak domestic and international sporting bodies aimed at fostering high performance through learning (e.g. how elite coaches learn their craft) and understanding outcomes for sport participants (e.g. sport for reconciliation). Steven teaches undergraduate and graduate students, is a cycling coach and registered HPE teacher, and has been immersed in junior and community sport settings for more than two decades.

I build quantitative systems for understanding how humans move, perform, using data from wearable sensors in real-world conditions.

My work sits at the intersection of machine learning, signal processing, and sports and health science. I develop the analytical infrastructure that makes large-scale, free-living sensor research feasible: pipelines for IMU and GNSS data, predictive models for physical activity and pain dynamics, and validation frameworks for wearable devices.

At UQ, I contribute to the CIPHeR program (NIH/NHMRC-funded), investigating mechanisms of chronic low back pain through longitudinal modelling of movement, sleep, stress, and pain. I also lead Metric Trails, an applied R&D initiative developing high-precision geospatial standards for trail and mountain running.

My background spans academia and industry. Before UQ, I led data science teams at LATAM Airlines and built research programs in wearable analytics and geospatial modelling at Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile, where I supervised 19 postgraduate theses.

I work across disciplines, with physiotherapists, sports scientists, engineers, and clinicians, and across an international network of collaborators in Australia, Chile, Norway and Spain.

Michelle Smith is a Associate Professor in Physiotherapy and a Titled Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist. She is Program Director for the Masters of Sports Physiotherapy and Masters of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy programs at UQ, Co-director of the International Ankle Consortium, Co-director of the Sports Injury Rehabilitation and Prevention for Health (SIRPH) research unit and Associate Editor of Physical Therapy and Sport.

The overarching theme of Michelle's research is lower limb joint health. Her research focuses on the prevention and management of lower limb joint injuries and pathologies across the lifespan to enable unrestricted participation in sport, physical activity and work. There are three key areas of her research:

1. To improve understanding of ankle injuries and osteoarthritis across the lifespan: Ankle sprains are the most common injury seen in emergency departments and are a primary cause of ankle osteoarthritis, which in light of its post-traumatic nature, often affects young adults. To optimise outcomes and participation for people with ankle pathologies, my research characterises impairments and participation restrictions in the continuum from ankle injury to osteoarthritis and establishes the efficacy of interventions to manage these conditions.
2. To understand the effectiveness and implementation of injury prevention strategies: While neuromuscular exercise program and taping/bracing have been shown to decrease injury risk, translation of research into practice is limited. My research investigates the implementation of injury prevention initiatives in adolescent athletes and involves stakeholders to better understand barriers and facilitators.
3. To evaluate the implementation of lower limb osteoarthritis interventions: Exercise and education for hip and knee osteoarthritis have been shown to improve quality of life and functional outcomes. My research investigates the implementation of such programs in public hospitals and private physiotherapy practices on patient outcomes and service delivery.

Michelle has presented her research and delivered keynote and invited presentations at national and international multi-disciplinary conferences. She teaches across the undergraduate and postgraduate physiotherapy curriculum in the areas of musculoskeletal health and sports injuries. She has been recognised for her high teaching quality and impact at both School and Faculty levels through receipt of Teaching Excellence Awards. She is the Chair of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences External Engagement Committee and Deputy Chair of the Sports and Exercise Physiotherapy Group of the Austrailan Physiotherapy Association. She is a member of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Foot and Ankle Working Group, International Foot and Ankle Osteoarthritis Consortium, and Australian Foot and Ankle Research Network.

Dr Melinda Smith (nee Franettovich) is a Lecturer in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. She also works as a Physiotherapist at Clem Jones Centre Physio & Rehab and delivers online and face to face professional development workshops for health professionals. Her research, teaching and clinical focus is lower limb musculoskeletal function and health, with a special interest in the foot and ankle. Melinda's aim is to enrich people's lives by facilitating physical activity and sport participation through improving the prevention, assessment and treatment of lower limb musculoskeletal pain and injury.

Her research publications extend across several areas including lower limb function, sports and running related injuries, taping, foot orthoses, footwear, measurement of foot posture and mobility, gait-retraining and musculoskeletal imaging. She has contributed to three book chapters including neuromuscular control of the foot and ankle, advances in magnetic resonance imaging, and sports medicine (foot). Melinda has presented her research at international and national conferences across several fields including Physiotherapy, Podiatry and Sports Medicine. The impact of her research in the clinical setting is evidenced by invitations from professional organisations, private practices and hospital departments to deliver professional development for their health professionals. Through her research she has collaborated with school, community and elite level sporting clubs and associations, physiotherapy private practices and footwear manufacturers. Melinda's mission is to conduct high quality, innovative research that engages with community and industry partners to deliver impactful outcomes.

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)

Dr Michalis Stylianou is a senior lecturer with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at The University of Queensland. His research interests focus around creating active and healthy schools using comprehensive and coordinated approaches that involve school staff, parents, and the community. Michalis is also a member of the Active Healthy Kids Australia research working group, a collaboration among Australian children’s physical activity and health researchers who advocate for actions to increase the physical activity levels among Australian children using the Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Young People as the core monitoring metric.

Dr Jenna L. Taylor obtained her PhD in Exercise Physiology from The University of Queensland in 2019 as an NHMRC postgraduate research scholar. She then completed a 3-year postdoctoral research fellowship in the United States at The Mayo Clinic with the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. She is now a Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at UQ and heads up the Physiology and Ultrasound Laboratory for Science and Exercise (PULSE). Her interest in cardiovascular disease stems from her clinical experience as an exercise physiologist and dietitian working in a hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation program. Broadly, her research interests involve the effect of exercise training and intensity on improving cardiovascular and brain health, in the settings of healthy ageing and risk reduction for cardiovascular disease and vascular dementia. She is currently the PI on an NIH-funded Clinical Trial (1R21AG073726) investigating the influence of exercise training and intensity on cognitive function and cerebral blood flow regulation in patients with cardiovascular disease.

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.

Julia is a Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Queensland. She has been researching whiplash and neck pain since 2000 and in 2004 completed her PhD focusing on the necks influence on sensorimotor control. She has continued her research in this area in idiopathic neck pain, headache, the elderly and post concussion. She has over 100 publications in this area, written several book chapters and is one of the authors of the book “Management of neck disorders- an evidenced based approach”. Julia works part-time as a physiotherapist in a private practice managing patients such as those with, whiplash, cervicogenic dizziness and post concussion syndrome and been involved as a clinician on several whiplash RCTs. Julia is also an assessor at the Whiplash Physical Diagnostic Clinic. Julia has been an invited speaker at many national and international conferences and workshops in the area of neck pain, whiplash, concussion and dizziness.

Dr Paul Treschman is a Lecturer in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences (HMNS). He is also the Deputy Director of Teaching and Learning in HMNS. He completed his PhD at the University of Queensland (UQ).

Paul’s research interests are in creating supportive and challenging learning environments, with a specific interest in formative assessment and feedback processes in general education and health and physical education settings. Paul’s teaching, research and service are all focused on dialogic processes to enhance learning and relational outcomes.

Dr. Stewart Trost is a Professor in the School of Human Movement Studies Department at The University of Queensland. Trost received his PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of South Carolina, Colombia SC, USA. Trost leads the Children’s Physical Activity Research Group (CPARG) at the QLD Centre of Children’s Health Research. CPARG is dedicated to expanding the body of knowledge on physical activity and its promotion in children and adolescents. An overarching aim of CPARG is to enhance the health of young people by generating the knowledge needed to design and implement effective programs to increase physical activity in children with typical development and those with chronic and complex health conditions. His research interests include device-based assessment of physical activity and sedentary behavior, early life prevention of childhood obesity and chronic disease, therapeutic exercise programs for children with chronic health conditions, and the relationships between physical activity and other health behaviors.

Dr Mike Trott is a Research Fellow with the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR), The University of Queensland, where he serves as Section Head of Epidemiology and Biostatistics within the Physical and Mental Health Research Group. He specialises in lifestyle psychiatry, clinical trials, and psychiatric epidemiology, with a particular focus on addressing the physical health inequities faced by people with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses.

His current research program addresses three major themes:

• Physical activity and sedentary behaviour – understanding their impact on mental and physical health and developing interventions, including the effectiveness of movement breaks to reduce sedentary time and cardiometabolic risk in people with schizophrenia, and the risk profiles of different types of sedentary behaviours.
• Clinical trials – leading the methodological and statistical aspects of a national platform of several schizophrenia clinical trials to find strategies to improve mental and physical health in this population
• Pharmacoepidemiology - using statewide and national linked data to determine the comparative effectiveness of clozapine augmentation strategies for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, as well as examining the mortality gap in several mental illness vs the general population.

Professor Kylie Tucker is Deputy Head of School in the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of Queensland and leads the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences People Portfolio. She is passionate about creating environments where academics can thrive, grow and make meaningful contributions throughout their careers.

Kylie's work sits at the intersection of academic leadership, career development, promotion readiness and professional identity. Through leadership programs, workshops and facilitated peer learning, she creates psychologically safe spaces where academics can reflect on their careers, identify their strengths and values, craft coherent professional narratives, and build meaningful networks that support their future growth. Her emerging platform, Academic Identity and Impact, is founded on the belief that academics must first understand their identity before they can fully understand and articulate their impact.

Alongside these leadership activities, Kylie leads a positive and collaborative research environment that brings together fundamental scientists and clinical researchers to advance knowledge of human movement, rehabilitation and musculoskeletal health. Her research has transformed understanding of how pain influences movement, advanced approaches to estimating muscle forces, and improved assessment of childhood movement control and adolescent skeletal maturity.

More recently, Kylie has drawn on her expertise in movement science to investigate the mechanisms underlying adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Affecting approximately one child in every Australian classroom, scoliosis remains a condition with no known cause and limited evidence to guide non-invasive intervention. Her research group has identified novel, targetable muscle characteristics that can be detected early in curve progression, creating new opportunities to improve treatment and reduce the need for spinal fusion surgery.

Kylie remains deeply committed to teaching and educational leadership, having taught muscles and movement control across multiple UQ programs to cohorts ranging from small specialist classes to more than 1,400 students. Within the School of Biomedical Sciences she has served as Deputy Director of Teaching and Learning (2018–2020), inaugural Chair of the REMEDE Committee (2021–2023), Director of Teaching and Learning (2024–2025), and Deputy Head of School (2026–present).

Kylie also co-facilitates UQ's flagship Career Progression for Women program and is committed to helping academics develop confidence, clarity and connection in their careers. Across all her leadership roles, she is known for fostering supportive academic cultures that empower individuals to understand their strengths, articulate the value they bring, and maximise their impact.

Internationally, Kylie is now Past-President of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK) (2026–2028), a global organisation dedicated to advancing the study of human movement and the neuromuscular system. She has contributed to the leadership of the Society since 2018.

Professor Sean Tweedy leads the Para Sport and Adapted Physical Activity Research Group in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, University of Queensland. Through his applied research program he aims to generate the knowledge required to empower people with disabilities to pursue self-directed goals through safe, effective engagement in sport and physical activity. Sean’s research addresses three main areas of need:

• People with disabilities are among the most inactive people in society and consequently have a disproportionately high incidence of preventable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes mellitus. Sean’s research program aims to develop evaluate and translate evidence-based methods for increasing physically active behaviour among community dwelling adults with disabilities.
• Para athletes have impairments which adversely affect sports performance, but the extent to which performance is affected varies greatly with some athletes having impairments that cause severe disadvantage in sport and others that cause relatively minor disadvantage. To ensure that competition is fair and that athletes who succeed are not simply those that have less severe impairments, Para athletes compete in classes, each comprising athletes who have impairments that cause a similar amount of disadvantage in sport. Methods for allocating class are not well established and Sean is Principal Investigator for the International Paralympic Committee’s Classification Research and Development Centre (physical impairments) which aims to develop best practice and evidence-based methods for allocating athletes to classes;
• In Australia, the right of people with disability to participate in sport and recreation is protected but only if the accommodations they require - equipment and/or expertise - are deemed to be "reasonable”. Unfortunately people with severe disabilities and high support needs often require equipment and/or expertise which cannot reasonably be expected of community sport and recreation providers. Sean’s research program aims to develop, evaluate and translate methods for safe, effective engagement in physically demanding, competitive sport for people with severe disabilities and high support needs. ParaSTART is his flagship program in this area - https://habs.uq.edu.au/parastart

I am a Professor Emeritus in Sports Physiotherapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences where I am the Director of the Master of Physiotherapy (Musculoskeletal and Sports Physiotherapy Majors) and co-Director of the Sports Injury Rehabilitation and Prevention for Health Research unit. My research is mainly focussed on non-surgical management of persistent musculoskeletal problems like tendon related pain/disability (tendinopathy) and knee cap pain (patellofemoral pain). I also delve into the underlying mechanisms of these conditions and other common sporting injuries (e.g., ankle sprains) – a leading cause of ankle osteoarthritis.

Since gaining my PhD in 2000, I have been awarded over $30million in competitive research funding as a chief investigator to study these conditions – 5 NHMRC project grants, 2 NHMRC CRE, 2 NHMRC program grants, 2 NHMRC MRFF grants and an ARC Linkage grant. I have also conducted over half a million dollars of commercially sponsored research.

I have authored 2 books, 26 book chapters and over 382 peer reviewed publications (h-index 68). My top tendinopathy papers are cited over 10 times more than average for the field – most are published in the top sports/general medicine and physiotherapy journals . I have 2 highly cited papers – in the top 1% of the academic field of Clinical Medicine 2022. I have presented my work world wide in over 300 workshops, seminars and keynote presentations.

I enjoy my role in mentoring early/mid career academics and supervising researh higher degree students – having supervised 40 PhD and 2 MPhil candidates to completion. In this capacity I lead the physiotherapy research higher degree seminar series where our students engage in presenting their work and hearing from top international researchers on a range of relevant topics. One reason why my work was recently recognised by the school award for research mentoring.