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Dr Sarah Reedman is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Queensland Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation Research Centre group within the UQ Child Health Research Centre. Sarah is passionate about enabling participation of young people with disabilities in sports and active recreation. She is interested demonstrating how paediatric physiotherapists, occupational therapists and exercise physiologists are well-placed to deliver effective physical activity promotion interventions in young people with disabilites. Sarah is also involved in the conduct of a large, multi-site randomized controlled trial of an intensive functional goal-directed motor training intervention in children with bilateral cerebral palsy (Hand Arm Bimanual Intensive Training Including Lower Extremity [HABIT-ILE]).

Sarah is experienced in the following research methods:

• Design, conduct and administration of randomized controlled trials (including multi-site trials)
• Cross-sectional and cohort studies
• Validation of rehabilitation outcome measures
• Objective measurement of physical activity behaviours, tri-axial accelerometry

Sarah is available as an associate supervisor for HDR students.

I am an Organic Chemist and research the design and preparation of new medicines for diseases including arthritis and cancer

Dr. Robert C. Reid was awarded B.Sc. Hons 1 (1986) and Ph.D. (1990) degrees from the University of Sydney, Department of Organic Chemistry. He studied the stereospecific total synthesis of complex natural products with Professor Max J. Crossley and then undertook postdoctoral studies with Professor Sir Jack E. Baldwin FRS at the Dyson Perrins Laboratory, Oxford University UK (1990-93) studying the biosynthesis of penicillins. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (formerly known as the Centre for Drug Design and Development) at the University of Queensland with Professor David Fairlie. Research interests include Organic Synthesis, medicinal chemistry, drug design and development, nonpeptidic GPCR antagonists, natural products, protease inhibitors, other enzyme inhibitors, and peptidomimetics.

Dr Lynne Reid is a General Practitioner, medical educator and researcher with expertise in general practice education, sport and exercise medicine, musculoskeletal medicine, and preventive healthcare. She is a Senior Lecturer within the University of Queensland Medical School and works across undergraduate teaching, clinical supervision, assessment, and curriculum development.

Her work focuses on preparing future doctors for contemporary practice, with particular interests in immersive clinical education, evidence-based medicine, communication skills, preventative health, and whole-person care.

Her broader interests include:

• General practice and community-based medical education

• Sport and exercise medicine

• Musculoskeletal medicine and injury management

• Preventive health

• Women’s health

• Clinical assessment and feedback

• Digital health and AI in medical education

• Exercise prescription in primary care

Dr Reid is passionate about strengthening the role of general practice within the health system and building supportive learning environments for students, trainees and clinicians.

Natasha is a Clinical Psychologist and Senior Research Fellow at the Child Health Research Centre. Natasha leads the Perinatal and Early Life Exposures Research Group.

The Perinatal and Early Life Exposures Group is dedicated to uncovering the foundational influences on lifelong health and wellbeing. Their research focuses on the critical impact of environmental, nutritional, substance exposures, and psychosocial factors during the perinatal and early childhood periods on long-term health outcomes. By advancing our understanding of these early exposures, they aim to inform public health strategies, improve clinical practices, and ultimately enhance the health and well-being of future generations. Their work contributes to reducing the burden of chronic diseases and mental health disorders, promoting healthier developmental outcomes, intergenerational health benefits and fostering resilient communities.

Children and families should be at the centre of the healthcare and research that affects them.

Claire is a paediatric researcher and dietitian working to improve how healthcare and research are designed, delivered and experienced by children and their families.

Her research program spans paediatric clinical trial design, tube feeding and nutrition, priority setting, and consumer and community involvement in research. Claire is particularly interested in developing approaches that enable children and young people to meaningfully shape the research intended to improve their health and healthcare. She believes children and families should be at the centre of the healthcare and research that affects them.

Claire is based within UQ's ULTRA Clinical Trials Capability team and is affiliated with the Child Health Research Centre. She is also Senior Paediatric Dietitian at Queensland Children's Hospital and an executive member of the Children's Inpatient Research Collaborative of Australia and New Zealand (CIRCAN), contributing to collaborative paediatric research across Australia and New Zealand.

I am a genetic epidemiologist specialising in the genetics of neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular focus on Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, and other age-related conditions. I lead a dynamic team of scientists dedicated to understanding how genetic and environmental factors influence neurodegeneration, brain health, and related health outcomes. My research is interdisciplinary, integrating advanced statistical genetics, bioinformatics, and data science to unravel disease mechanisms, improve patient stratification, and identify potential therapeutic targets.

In 2020, I founded the Australian Parkinson’s Genetics Study (APGS), now the largest Parkinson’s cohort in Australia with over 10,000 participants. This landmark study has positioned Australia as a key contributor to global Parkinson’s genetics research. I am also actively involved in the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2), where I contribute to large-scale data analysis and work within the underrepresented populations working group to enhance diversity in genetic research worldwide.

Committed to training the next generation of researchers, I have supervised over 16 students, including several PhD candidates who have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. Two of my recent PhD graduates received the Outstanding Thesis Award, and another received the AIPS Florey Next Generation Award.

I have published consistently in prominent journals, including Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, BRAIN, Biological Psychiatry, and SLEEP. To date, I have authored over 100 academic articles, which have been widely cited, and I have secured competitive funding from NHMRC, MRFF, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Shake It Up Australia Foundation, the US National Institutes of Health, and the Alzheimer’s Association. My work has been recognised with several prestigious awards, including the 2023 Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship from the Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research Foundation, the 2021 Enrico Greppi International Migraine Research Award, and the 2024 Adele Green Emerging Leader Award from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. I am also a Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, a program by the University of California San Francisco and Trinity College Dublin, which supports my commitment to promoting brain health equity worldwide.

Dr Felipe Retamal-Walter is a bilingual speech pathologist, audiologist, and early career academic at The University of Queensland. His research focuses on improving access, equity, and quality in communication and hearing healthcare across the lifespan. Drawing on over 15 years of experience across Chile and Australia, Felipe leads and contributes to international research projects funded nationally and internationally. He is a recipient of multiple academic recognitions, including top-cited article awards, international fellowships, and an invention patent for neonatal care technology.

Felipe uses mixed methods, implementation science, and participatory research approaches to co-design and evaluate practical, person-centred models of care. He works in partnership with families, students, clinicians, educators, and policymakers across many regions in Australia and the Pacific, North and South America, and Europe to develop tools, training, and systems that respond to the needs of underserved and diverse communities.

Felipe’s research themes include:

• Design, improvement, and evaluation of service delivery models to enhance access to timely and high-quality services. This is achieved by building honest, transparent, and long-lasting partnerships that consider all stakeholders as equal partners in care: clients, families, communities, healthcare professionals, and policymakers.
• Development and validation of implementation tools and measures to enhance person- and family-centred care, engagement, and shared decision-making in healthcare services. These tools promote equitable, community-based access for people across the lifespan in diverse regions and contexts.
• Implementation of culturally responsive education and training approaches to prepare health professions students for inclusive, digitally enabled, and person-centred practice in global and diverse contexts.

Felipe is an active member of the World Health Organization’s World Hearing Forum. He serves on The University of Queensland’s Cultural Inclusion Council and several research engagement themes. His work has informed national policy, clinical training programs, and service delivery innovations across Australia and other global settings. As an advocate for inclusion, Felipe also leads interdisciplinary initiatives that embed equity, diversity, and cultural responsiveness in healthcare and health education systems.

I am a postdoc at the Computational Imaging Group, led by Steffen Bollmann. I recently finished my Ph.D. in Computational Imaging at UQ. Specifically, my Ph.D. work involved predicting the functional organization of the human visual cortex from underlying anatomy using geometric deep learning. To tackle this and other research questions, I am leveraging my interdisciplinary background in Biophysics (Bachelor's degree; University of Sao Paulo, Brazil), Neuroscience (Master's degree; Federal University of ABC, Brazil), and now the intersection of AI and imaging. I am interested in (geometric) deep learning, vision, neuroscience, and explainable and fair AI research.

I am a neuroscientist investigating how cellular signalling and neuron–glia interactions shape brain development, neural circuit function and myelination across the lifespan, and how disruption of these processes contributes to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. My research focuses on neural progenitor cells, oligodendrocyte biology, myelination and neural circuit function, with the broader goal of understanding disease mechanisms and identifying therapeutic targets that can improve the treatment of neurological disorders.

I completed my PhD at the University of Tasmania, investigating ion channel signalling in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and its role in cell survival, neural circuit function and myelination. I subsequently undertook postdoctoral research at The University of Queensland, including at the Queensland Brain Institute, where I investigated neural progenitor function, neuronal migration and cortical development in models of neurodevelopmental disorders. At Mater Research–UQ, my research has focused on oligodendrocyte dysfunction, myelination and cellular signalling in neurological disease, including multiple sclerosis-like pathology.

Across these research programs, I have developed expertise in developmental and cellular neuroscience, neural progenitor biology, neuron–glia interactions, oligodendrocyte biology, myelination and neural circuit function, using molecular and cellular approaches, advanced microscopy, electrophysiology, animal models and behavioural neuroscience. My broader research direction is to understand how dysfunction across different neural cell populations contributes to disease progression and how this knowledge can be translated into new approaches to prevent, treat or modify neurological disease.

Alongside my research, I contribute to tertiary teaching, student supervision and scientific communication across neuroscience, psychology and biomedical sciences. I am particularly interested in research-informed education and in developing the next generation of scientists by sharing scientific knowledge, technical expertise and practical research skills.

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.

Michael (Mike) Roberts is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and Emeritus Professor of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Director of the Therapeutics Research Centre in the Diamantina Institute at The University of Queensland, which is based in the Translational Research Institute adjacent to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Qld, Australia. He is also Professor of Therapeutics & Pharmaceutical Science at the University of South Australia with laboratories in the Basil Hetzel Institute at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia.

Matthew J. Roberts, BSc, MBBS, PhD, FRACS (Urol)

• Consultant Urologist, Royal Brisbane and Women’s (RBWH), Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS), Queensland Health
• Clinician Research Fellow, Metro North Hospital and Health Service
• Group Leader & Associate Professor, The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research

Matthew is a medical graduate of The University of Queensland and completed Urology specialty training in Queensland and New South Wales. He completed his PhD under the supervision of Professor “Frank” Gardiner investigating new biomarkers for the early detection and characterization of prostate cancer.

Matthew is a surgeon-scientist, working clinically as a urologist and robotic surgeon at RBWH & STARS with academic appointment as Clinician Research Fellow at Metro North Health (Qld) and Associate Professor at UQCCR. His clinical and research interests are in Urologic cancers (e.g. prostate cancer), focusing on novel imaging and biomarkers, clinical trials, urological infections and innovation in urology. He has authored over 140 peer reviewed manuscripts in international journals and presented research at more than 20 international urology and clinical cancer meetings. He is a member of the EAU Prostate Cancer Guidelines Committee, Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry (PCOR)-Queensland Steering Committee, Editorial Board of the BJU International, as well as Co-Convenor of the ANZUP 2024 ASM.

Professor Jason Roberts is Director of the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR), an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow L2 at The University of Queensland. He is also a Consultant Clinical Pharmacist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and Interim Director of the Herston Infectious Diseases Institute (HeIDI). He is Director of the NHMRC-funded Centre for Research Excellence RESPOND which is based at UQCCR. He is a clinician-scientist with a strong interest in research and his principal research theme is optimization of antimicrobial dosing in the critically ill. Prof Roberts has authored over 650 published papers and book chapters on this topic, has been awarded over $55 million in grants and has supervised >20 PhD students to completion.

Prof Roberts was recognised as Australia’s leading researcher in two separate categories, Critical Care and Communicable Diseases, by the Australian’s 2019 Research Magazine.

He has been invited to present his results at major international conferences in critical care, infectious diseases, pharmacy, nephrology, transplant and safety. He has served on the Critical Review Panel for ATS/IDSA Guidelines of HAP, HCAP and VAP and the Australian Therapeutic Guidelines - Antibiotic and the 2021 Surviving Sepsis Guidelines. He is the Past Chair of the Working Group for Antimicrobial Use in ICU for the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and an Executive Member of the PK/PD Group (EPASG) within the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

He is Section Editor for the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents and an Associate Editor of the Journal or Pharmacy Practice and Research, the journal for the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia and an Associate Editor for Pharmacotherapy and Aanesthesiology Pain and Critical Care Medicine journal. He has convened >50 seminars/conferences including being co-convenor for Medicines Management 2013, The National Conference for Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia.

He also engages with Industry to perform studies that develop optimised antibiotic dosing regimens that maximise antibiotic efficacy for testing in clinical trials or for use in special patient populations (e.g. critically ill, pneumonia, dialysis).

Conjoint Professor Paul Robinson is the Director of the Children’s Health Environment Program within the Child Health Research Centre (CHRC), and Senior Staff Specialist in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at the Queensland Children’s Hospital. His research program performs translational research outlining the role of peripheral airway function tests in early lung disease detection and ongoing monitoring of established disease.

He has led the development and standardisation of novel measures of lung function across the entire age range from infancy onwards, facilitating the development of commercial equipment available for widespread use. His research focuses on defining the clinical utility of two specific peripheral airway function tests (Multiple breath washout, MBW, and oscillometry) in important obstructive lung diseases (e.g., asthma, cystic fibrosis, and post bone marrow transplant pulmonary graft vs host disease) and in understanding the impacts of environmental exposures. Structure-function relationships have been explored using state-of-the-art imaging techniques, with the aim of also developing new strategies to reduce any radiation exposure associated with these to advance incorporation into clinical care (e.g., ultra-low dose CT).

These novel lung function tools not only in the hospital setting but also in the school and home setting, enabling the successful development of a parent-supervised remote monitoring strategy for asthma which has been shown to reflect clinically meaningful outcomes missed by conventional approaches. In collaboration with industry, this strategy is now being employed in a series of research projects.

Involvement in longitudinal birth cohorts has outlined the early lung function trajectories in health, and the identification of risk factors affecting normal lung development and contributing to the early development of asthma. Studies investigating environmental health have highlighted the adverse effects of ultrafine particle air pollution.

Professor Robinson’s standing as an international expert, both in terms of clinical and research experience, has led to broader leadership roles across national and international levels.

Dr Melanie Robitaille is a Senior Research Fellow working with the Calcium Signalling in Therapeutics Team (CaSTT) in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. This team specializes in the development and application of novel methodologies and cellular assays in drug discovery, including the use of genetically encoded indicator for high-content imaging in live cells.

Her interests are to elucidate how calcium signals are remodelled in disease states, to identify calcium transporters as new therapeutic targets and to develop molecular and cellular screening tools to be used in drug development programs. She has an established profile in cellular and molecular biology, with high expertise in plasmid cloning, lentiviral transduction and the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to modulate gene expression.

Dr Floraidh Rolf is the Deputy Director (South West) for Southern Queensland Rural Health in Charleville Queensland, as well as an educator, researcher and nurse. She is a strong supporter of social justice and activism in healthcare, in particular the duty to address gaps in the care afforded to disenfranchised and vulnerable populations.

Floraidh's background encompasses mental health, critical care, rural and remote health, and higher education. Her research interests include sociological approaches to nursing and health, power and stigma, and qualitative methodology. She is committed to supporting social change through collaborative research.

A/Prof Barbara Rolfe is a Group Leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. A/Prof Rolfe is an immunologist and cell biologist, whose major research interests are the role of the innate immune system in cancer, the identification of novel therapeutic strategies for cancer, and nanomaterial safety. Her research has led to the identification of a previously unknown mechanism by which dysregulation of the immune system contributes to cancer development and growth, and provided information regarding the immune response to nanomaterials and the influence of physicochemical characteristics on biodistribution and cellular uptake. A/Prof Rolfe has used mouse models and small peptide agonists and antagonists to investigate the role of the innate immune system in tumour development and growth. This research demonstrated for the first time an important role for complement proteins in promoting tumour growth via regulation of immunosuppressive innate immune cells. Ongoing research is aimed focussed on gaining a better understanding of the role of complement proteins in tumour growth, developing novel immunotherapeutic strategies for cancer and investigating the application of nanomaterials for targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs.