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Dr Lahann Wijenayake is the Head of Orthopaedic Surgery at The University of Queensland. He is a Brisbane based orthopaedic surgeon having obtained his FRACS and FAorthA through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Medical Administrators. Dr Wijenayake is a surgeon at the Queensland Children's Hospital. He has a keen interest in medical student teaching as well as research in the field of paediatric orthopaedics, orthopaedics, and medical student education.

I completed my Bachelor of Biotechnology with First Class Honours at the Australian National University (ANU) during 2008. During my honours, I became interested in understanding ways to best harness the immune system in combating viral infections. Consequently, I embarked on a PhD project at The John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU during 2010 to understand ways to improve the efficacy of genetically modified and safe pox viral vaccines to target human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). I completed this project during 2014 and worked as a an Early Career Fellow (sponsored by The Hospital Research Foundation) at the University of Adelaide to develop safe and effective vaccines against HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Zika virus. I joined the The University of Queensland during May, 2019 to develop a 'Rapid Response Vaccine Pipeline' (sponsored by The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)) to target emerging/re-emerging viral infections using a prioprietary 'Molecular Clamp' vaccine technology. My career objective is to develop vaccines that can be effective in protective humans against viral infections.

Janet Wiles is a Professor in Human Centred Computing at the University of Queensland.

Her multidisciplinary team co-designs language technologies to support people living with dementia and their carers and social robots for applications in health, education, and neuroscience. She is currently developing a citizen science project which uses insights from neuroscience, AI and language technologies to explore the electrical characteristics of mycelial networks of symbiotic fungi in local ecosystems. She received her PhD in computer science from the University of Sydney and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychology. She has 30 years’ experience in research and teaching in machine learning, artificial intelligence, bio-inspired computation, complex systems, visualisation, language technologies and social robotics, leading teams that span engineering, humanities, social sciences and neuroscience. She currently teaches research methods for thesis and masters students, and is developing a new course in human-centred AI. Previous special interest courses include a cross disciplinary course ”Voyages in Language Technologies” that introduced computing students to the diversity of Indigenous and non-Indigenous languages, and state-of-the-art tools for deep learning and other analysis techniques for working with language data.

Featured projects

• Human-centred AI
• Florence communication technology
• For more on Human Centred Computing see the HCC projects page

Kim Wilkins is a humanities researcher and acclaimed creative writer who specialises in the intersection of creativity, technology, and cultural industries. Currently Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at UQ, she leads innovative research into the socio-material dimensions of creative industries and the application of creative thinking to complex technological challenges.

Her research portfolio spans popular fiction studies, publishing ecosystems, and technology foresight. Recent projects include pioneering work on speculative fiction storytelling for defence innovation, community publishing in regional Australia, and the application of "story thinking" to anticipate technological impacts. She serves as a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts.

As a creative practitioner, Wilkins has published 30+ novels in 20+ languages, including bestselling historical fiction and fantasy series. Her dual expertise as both researcher and professional writer uniquely positions her to bridge academic inquiry with industry practice, particularly in areas of creativity research, reading and book culture, the future of publishing, and transdisciplinary innovation.

Plant geneticist specialising in predictive breeding and evolutionary genetics across horticultural and crop species. My research accelerates crop improvement by integrating genomics and predictive tools into practical breeding solutions. I lead interdisciplinary collaborations that combine crop growth models, structural genomics, machine learning, and genomic prediction pipelines.

Shelley is an Associate Professor and Senior Principal Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy, UQ as part of the RECARD project.

She is also a Project Officer - Research and Clinical Support in the Department of Obstetric Medicine, Mater Mothers Hospitals, Brisbane.

She is recognised as a leading Australian researcher in maternal health and in implementation science.

Shelley's main research interests include:

• Implementation Science and Translating Research into Practice
• Health service redesign through co-creation
• Nutrition and maternal health ('The first 1000 days')
• Digital technologies and platforms to facilitate behaviour change

Shelley is an Associate Editor for Dietitians Australia’s national journal, Nutrition and Dietetics. In 2010, Shelley received Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian status as recognition of her professional leadership and expertise. The high quality of her research has been recognised with six awards in the field of Evidence-Based Practice and Clinical Research.

With 41 peer reviewed publications in the past 5 years, she has an h-index of 23 and her Field-Weighted Citation Impact score (1.50) is above average for her discipline, particularly in the areas of Health Service Research (FWCI 2.35), Gestational Diabetes (FWCI 1.55), and Gut Microbiota (FWCI 2.10).

I am a physiotherapist with a clinical specialty in the management of individuals with neurological conditions and vestibular disorders. I have a keen interest in examining how the body's balance systems, including the inner ear (vestibular system), eyes (ocular system), and sensory modalities (touch, proprioception), interact with the brain to optimize movement control, functionality, physical activity, and participation outcomes for individuals affected by neurological and vestibular pathologies. This includes conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cerebellar dysfunction, traumatic brain injury, stroke, Parkinson's disease, myasthenia gravis, motor neuron disease, concussion, Meniere's disease, vestibular migraines, acoustic neuromas, and age-related vestibular dysfunction. Additionally, I am interested in the influence of lifestyle choices on vestibular system functioning and integration, particularly how factors such as physical activity, community integration, sleep, and overall wellness affect both neurological and vestibular conditions, including Meniere's disease, vestibular migraines, and age-related vestibular dysfunction.

Judge, Queensland Court of Appeal (2000-08); President, Industrial Court of Queensland (1998-99); Judge, Solomon Islands Court of Appeal (1993-); Judge, Supreme Court of Queensland (1982-2000); Acting Judge, Supreme Court of Queensland (1982).

Katie Williams is a Senior Lecturer within the University of Queensland's Business School and specialises in Business Information Systems.

Katie's doctoral dissertation, “Investigating Information Systems Risk Management Processes and Information Security Practices within e-business Organisations” focused on the design of a series of classification frameworks relating to various aspects of information systems risk management, including the creation of the CARE framework.

A former KPMG Partner, Katie brings significant curated industry experience in the public sector, with a focus on business and digital transformation, data governance, business analytics and continuous auditing practices. Katie is a member of the Future of health - Business School - University of Queensland and an active member of the University's Business Educator's Hub.

Katie currently teaches into the MBA and Master of Business Analytics programs; and has designed and taught several Executive Education courses focusing on the use of data in aiding decision-mkaing.

Her research interests include AI governance, the impact of AI across the public sector, the use of AI as a pedagogical tool, and data governance.

Tara Williams is a highly experienced multi-site international critical care study research coordinator who has worked in research at the Queensland Children’s Hospital (QCH) for the past 15 years and partnered with the University of Queensland (UQ) on various projects. She is currently an investigator and coordinates the largest paediatric intubation and highly successful NHMRC & THRASHER funded KIDS THRIVE trial with over 961 participants; and several anaesthetic randomised control trials (RCT) including the large multicentred HAMSTER trial. She is the ANZ coordinator for the international P-ICECAP trial and is also undertaking several other critical care research projects currently. Tara's extensive research experience in the critical care environment and her 20 years of paediatric intensive care nursing ensures the smooth transition of complex research trial protocols into the clinical environment. Tara demonstrates a long-standing significant commitment to research that improves children’s outcomes and is the current Vice-Chair for the ANZICS PSG Paediatric Intensive Care Research Coordinator Interest Group (PIRCIG) and the paediatric representative on the Anaesthetic Research Co-ordinators Network (ARCN). Her vast experience at large RCT coordination make her currently one of the most experienced PICU research coordinators in Australia.

Brittany is an Occupational Therapist with over 10 years of clinical experience, having worked in both non-governmental and private sectors. Her career encompasses a broad range of practice areas, with a focus on providing client-centered care. Currently, Brittany is an Associate Lecturer at the University of Queensland, within the Occupational Therapy program. Brittany's research interests focus on improving occupational therapy services for children and women living with epilepsy. Driven by personal caregiving experiences, her work seeks to address the gaps in care and develop targeted interventions that enhance quality of life and participation in everyday activities for this population.

Craig M. Williams was born in Adelaide, Australia. He received his B.Sc. (Hons) degree in chemistry in 1994 from Flinders University. In 1997, he was awarded his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the same institution under the supervision of Professor Rolf H. Prager. He undertook post-doctoral studies as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow working with Professor Armin de Meijere at the Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany, from 1997 to 1999. In early 1999, he accepted a second post-doctoral fellowship at the Australian National University with Professor Lewis N. Mander.

Professor Williams has held an academic position at the University of Queensland since 2000, and during this time has won a number of awards including a Thieme Chemistry Journals Award in 2007, an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship award in 2011, and the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research (SCMB, UQ, 2019). The Williams research group explores numerous interests within the discipline of organic chemistry (e.g. medicinal chemistry, fundamental molecules, natural productisolation, microelectronics, drug and agrichemical development, impact sensitive molecules) enabled by organic synthesis refined through the construction of biologically active complex natural products (diterpenes, polyketides, alkaloids), and designs synthetic methodology to assist in this endeavour (synthetic transformations and reagents). Professor Williams especially enjoys teaching whole molecule retrosynthesis to undergraduate and post-graduate students.

My research focusses on soil health in cropping and pasture systems, specialising in soil carbon and soil organic matter dynamics, microbial ecology, and plant-soil interactions. I am interested in how agronomic interventions impact soil health and in developing methods to reverse soil fertility decline and build healthier, more productive soils. This includes understanding the impacts of tillage, cover cropping, crop rotational diversity, nutrient management, and organic amendments on soil functional processes and crop development and productivity.

I have extensive experience in designing and analyzing field and glasshouse experiments and implementing advanced statistical models using R. I have excellent verbal and written communication skills, maintain positive relationships with collaborators both nationally and internationally, and publish manuscripts in peer-reviewed scientific journals.