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Professor Rae received her PhD in 2007 in the area of reproductive physiology and has been working in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternal and infant health and chronic disease since that time. She began as the Group Lead for the Indigenous Health Research group at the Mater Research Institute in a role that bridges the Mater, University of QLD and is actively growing partnerships with the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector in QLD. The importance of maternal health for Indigenous communities has been identified as a critical national research priority by Indigenous communities. Her work has had a multidisciplicinary nature and while always focused on the health of Indigneous Australians she has published in areas including pregnancy and birth outcomes, nutrition, psychosocial health, growth and development during infancy, the use of arts in health education to name a few.She has a particular passion for working in partnership to co-design research projects that support improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Her specific focus has primarily been to develop programs that reduce chronic diseases which afflict Aboriginal people more commonly through early detection and diagnosis, health education, and developing a thorough understanding of risk factors that impact on this community. She has mentored her team of staff and students to co-produce and co-disseminate findings from these programs of work and to build research capacity for all team members including those who identify as Indigenous and for those from rural locations of research studies.

Prior to her role at Mater Research, she was the inaugaral Director of the Gomeroi gaaynggal program (2007-2019), which had two major programs of work 1. ArtsHealth for community engagement, health education and health promotion and 2. A Health research program for understanding the development of chronic disease in the Indigenous community through the Gomeroi gaaynggal cohort. Program 1 was successful in transitioning its funding to local Aboriginal community-controlled sector in Tamworth (2019). Prior to its transition, she led a community focussed ArtsHealth program to improve health knowledge, particularly in the areas of social and emotional wellbeing in the community, with the assistance of a team of beginning Indigenous researchers. Over 100,000 hours of community education were delivered through this program. 2. The Gomeroi gaaynggal cohort work has involved the recruitment and retention of a prospective longitudinal cohort of Indigenous women from pregnancy through until the infants are 10 years of age highlighting her expertise in working with Indigenous families during their antenatal and early childhood years. The importance of maternal health for this population is a critical priority to improving the life-long health of the Indigenous communities of Australia.

Dr. Divya Ramnath is a post-doctoral researcher in Prof. Matt Sweet's lab at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), The University of Queensland. As an early career post-doctoral researcher, she led a new project, characterising inflammation-associated determinants of chronic liver disease at the IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research (CIDR).

Dr Isuru Ranasinghe is a Senior Staff Specialist Cardiologist and the A/Prof in Cardiology at the Prince Charles Hospital and the Northside Clinical Unit of the Faculty of Medicine at UQ. He leads research in clinical cardiology, cardiovascular epidemiology and healthcare safety and quality. Dr Ranasinghe has recipient of nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships including the NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship, the NHMRC Neil-Hamilton-Fairley Early Career Fellowship and the National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellowship. He currently holds an Advancing Queensland Clinical Research Fellowship.

Dr Rash completed his Honours (1996) and PhD (2001) on the pharmacological activity of spider venoms at the Department of Pharmacology, Monash University in the group of Professor Wayne Hodgson. After 18 months as an Assistant Lecturer at Monash Pharmacology, he was awarded an INSERM/NH&MRC Post-doctoral Fellowship to work in the group of Prof. Michel Lazdunski at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology in Antibes, France. It was here that he became involved in discovery and characterisation of venom peptides that act on acid-sensing ion channels, voltage-gated sodium channels and other pain related channels. Upon returning to Australia to the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (The University of Queensland), he established an ASIC research program and was awarded an NH&MRC project grant as CIA to investigate the molecular basis of the interaction of PcTx1 and APETx2 with ASIC1a and ASIC3 respectively. Dr Rash was appointed as senior lecturer in Pharmacology in the School of Biomedical Sciences in early 2016 where he continues his research on identifying novel bioactive peptides from animal venoms, unravelling the molecular basis for their specific channel interactions and their use as research tools and potential therapeutic lead molecules.

I am a Principal Investigator (PI) and a senior research officer (SRO) at Mater research – UQ with excellent clinical and research laboratory skills and expertise in conducting and analyzing laboratory assays and resolving complex research and clinical laboratory problems. I can describe myself as determined, reliable, studious, conscientious, attentive, industrious, diligent, and focused on the timely, quality completion of all lab procedures. I am able to work well under pressure and time constraints within high-volume environments both independently and in collaboration within a team. I am also a highly self-motivated and career-oriented individual with a genuine interest in addressing cancer molecular mechanisms with the goal of developing novel cancer therapeutics and immunotherapy focusing on tumor microenvironment, immunoregulation and signaling pathways in cancer and metastasis.

I received my Bachelor's in Biology (2001) from Yarmouk University in Jordan, followed by postgraduate degrees from the University of Houston in Houston-Texas (2002-2007). My studies are integrative in nature, joining the best of both the Neuroscience world and Circadian Biology (the study of biological clocks). In the laboratory of Prof. Arnold Eskin, I investigated how processes as complex as learning and memory are modulated by biological clocks i.e. the circadian (about 24 hours) system, using Aplysia californica as the experimental model. After completing my Master's in Science in 2005, my research focused on the mechanism by which biological clocks modulate learning and memory. This work was performed in the laboratories of Prof. Gregg Cahill and Prof. Greg Roman, experts in chronobiology and behavioral neuroscience, respectively. Using Zebrafish as a model system, I investigated the role of melatonin, a night-time restricted hormonal signal, in modulating long-term memory consolidation. My findings, published in Science in 2007, shows that the circadian system via the cyclic night-time confined synthesis/release of melatonin “the hormone of darkness” functions as a modulator, shaping daily variations in the efficiency by which memories are processed. After receiving my Ph.D. in 2007, I joined as a postdoctoral fellow the laboratory of the pharmacologist and melatonin researcher Prof. Margarita Dubocovich. My postdoctoral work engaged in elucidating the role of melatonin in circadian physiology and pharmacology during development and ageing in rodents (Mus musculus) and non-human primates (Macaca mulatta) at the Feinberg School of Medicine (Northwestern University-Chicago) and the State University of New York (SUNY). From 2010-2015, I held a teaching/research position in the Dr. Senckenbergische Anatomy and the Dept. of Neurology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt-Germany. During this time, I was involved in teaching gross human anatomy while continuing my endeavor in understanding the mechanistics involved in shaping memory processes (acquisition, consolidation and retrieval) by the circadian system.

Gillian Ray-Barruel, RN PhD, is a Senior Research Fellow with UQ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work and the Herston Infectious Diseases Institute (HeIDI), and she is Director of Education with the Alliance for Vascular Access Teaching and Research (AVATAR) and Associate Editor for the journal Infection, Disease & Health.

Formerly a critical care nurse and research coordinator, Gillian has 15 years of vascular access research experience, with an emphasis on device assessment and clinical decision making to improve patient outcomes. After identifying a gap between evidence-based guidelines and clinical practice, she created the I-DECIDED® device assessment and decision tool, which has been included in several textbooks and disseminated in multiple languages and is in use in many hospitals worldwide.

Professor Reade is Director of the Greater Brisbane Clinical School and Professor of Military Medicine and Surgery at UQ. The Greater Brisbane Clinical School comprises all the Brisbane teaching hospitals of the University of Queensland along with the preclinical teaching resources of the St Lucia campus and the General Practice Clinical Unit. A specialist intensive care physician, anaesthetist and clinician-researcher, he also leads a program of research relevant to military trauma medicine and surgery that holds equal promise for severely injured civilian trauma patients.

After clinical training in anaesthetics and intensive care medicine in Sydney, Melbourne, Oxford and Pittsburgh, a doctorate in the molecular pathogenesis of nitric oxide production in human septic shock from the University of Oxford and a postdoctoral research fellowship in clinical trials and epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh, Michael returned to Australia as Associate Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at the Austin Hospital & the University of Melbourne in 2007. Michael held faculty appointments at the University of Oxford (where he taught physiology), the University of Pittsburgh (where he was an Instructor in critical care), and currently holds adjunct or honorary appointments at the University of London, the US Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the University of Melbourne and Monash University. He has supervised postgraduate students in basic, applied and clinical research, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy of the United Kingdom.

In parallel with his academic and clinical work, Michael served in the Australian Army Reserve until his appointment to the full-time ADF Chair in 2011. He was commissioned as a General Service Officer in the Australian Army in 1990, and prior to his appointment to UQ had deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo (on attachment to the British Airborne Brigade), Timor, the Solomon Islands and Afghanistan. In 2013 he commanded the Australian Specialist Health Group at the NATO ISAF Role 3 Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and in 2015 in Iraq he was the first Director of Clinical Services of the ADF hospital deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. He deployed again to Iraq in 2016 and 2017. From 2015-2018 he was the Director of Clinical Services of the Australian Regular Army's only field hospital. In 2017 he led this unit to become the first ever ADF hospital accredited by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Trauma Verification Program. He was recognised for this service by appointment as a Member in the Military Division of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours List. From 2019-2022 on promotion to Brigadier he was appointed Director General Health Reserve - Army, responsible for technical regulation of specialist medical, nursing and allied health support. He remains a senior clinical advisor to Joint Health Command of the Australian Defence Force.

Professor Reade's clinical research focusses on treatments for exsanguinating haemorrhage, improving trauma systems, and preventing and treating acute cognitive impairment (such as that which results from traumatic brain injury). He is the Chief Investigator in an NHMRC-funded clinical trial of cyropreserved (frozen) platelets, a technology which holds equal promise to military and civilian trauma patients, particularly those in smaller hospitals. He is also a Chief Investigator in NHMRC-funded multicentre clinical trials of tranexamic acid and fibrinogen concentrate (drugs thought to reduce mortality from traumatic bleeding), the effect of erythropoietin on inflammation and mortality after severe trauma, a novel anti-delirium strategy for use in critically ill patients, and an advanced MRI/biomarker study in traumatic brain injury. He has active research collaborations with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, the National Trauma Research Institute, the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre at Monash University, the ANZICS Clinical Trials Group and the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network.

Professor Reade is also developing a research programme focussed on trauma systems design, in collaboration with colleagues at the Jamieson Trauma Institute on the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital campus, Australian state ambulance services and the US and UK armed forces, aiming (for example) to optimise the allocation of prehospital and hospital resources in the management of life-threatening trauma.

Professor Reade currently supervises 10 postgraduate students (including 4 PhD students) and one postdoctoral research fellow, most of whom are Defence Force officers. He holds or has held research grants totalling >A$51M, has published >230 peer-reviewed papers and delivered >440 lectures at national and international conferences. From 2019-2021, Professor Reade was President of the Australasian Trauma Society.

Associate Prof Amy McCart Reed holds a PhD in molecular biology from The University of Queensland. She is a Fellow of the Faculty of Science of the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia. Her early postdoctoral work focused on understanding the genetic basis of colorectal cancer using experimental disease models, as part of a Cancer Research UK-funded colorectal cancer program led by Professors Ian Tomlinson and Andrew Silver. After returning to Australia, she was recruited to the Molecular Breast Pathology group at UQ’s Centre for Clinical Research and has undertaken a series of studies investigating the genomic landscape of breast cancer special types. Amy's research program includes studies on Metaplastic breast cancer and Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, two breast cancer special types in need of targetted therapy options. A/Prof McCart Reed is the scientific lead on an MRFF-funded genomics program investigating the potential for the application of Whole Genome Sequencing in the breast cancer care pathway in Australia, 'Q-IMPROvE'. She applies genomics and spatial transcriptomics methodologies to archival clinical samples to understand the differences between tumour types and their potential for treatment. Amy is passionate about clinical research, biobanking and precision oncology. In addition to her breast cancer research portfolio, she is on the steering committee for the Brisbane Breast Bank and the Scientific Advisory Board for Breast Cancer Trials.

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.

Simon Reid is a Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland. He is a keen advocate of One Health and the application of systems thinking approaches to understand and improve interventions for wicked zoonotic disease problems at the human-animal-ecosystem interface such as leptospirosis, brucellosis, human-bat interactions and antimicrobial resistance. His research focuses on understanding how to improve multisectoral governance, planning and implementation of responses to manage One Health problems. He delivers postgraduate courses in systems thinking, communicable disease control and One Health.

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.

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 Retamal-Walter is Lecturer in Speech Pathology in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at The University of Queensland. Building on over 15 years of professional experience, Dr Retamal-Walter's interest in Information and Communication Technologies relies on the use of technology to provide person- and family-centred services directly into the home environment, which is a person's natural communication environment. His research interests also include the use of simulation, virtual/augmented reality, and other innovative approaches in the preparation and training of students from speech pathology, allied health, and other health and education disciplines.

University Profile: Dr Retamal-Walter is Lecturer in Speech Pathology in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences.

Teaching Themes: Communication and Feeding Difficulties in Paediatrics; Hearing Loss Across the Lifespan.

Research interests: Telepractice, Communication Difficulties, Hearing Impairment, Person- and Family-Centred Care, Early Intervention, Telehealth, Professional Education, Interprofessional Practice.

Publications: 4 peer-reviewed journal articles, 1 book chapter.

Peer-Reviewer: Exceptional Children (Sage), International Journal of Audiology (Taylor & Francis), International Journal of Developmental Disabilities (Taylor & Francis), IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (EMBS), Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation (BMC), Speech, Language and Hearing (Taylor & Francis), Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology (Taylor & Francis), Chilean Journal of Speech-Language and Hearing.

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 an early career neuroscientist investigating the capacity for neural progenitor cell behaviour to shape neural circuit formation, maintenance and function during development and throughout adulthood. More specifically, the role of oligodendrocyte progenitors and myelin in brain circuit formation and maintenance. My research examines the brain under health and pathological conditions by performing manipulations relevant to autism spectrum disorder, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia. While under the supervision of Prof Helen Cooper at the Queensland Brain Institute – University of Queensland - I studied how the WRC-Cyfip1-FMRP protein network impaired apical radial glial progenitor function and neural migration, leading to cortical malformation and Autism-like traits in mice. During my PhD at University of Tasmania and under the supervision of Prof Kaylene Young, I studied the effect of neuronal activity on cells of the oligodendrocyte lineage. I found that voltage-gated calcium channels are critical for oligodendrocyte progenitor cell survival and characterised the impact of kainite receptor dysfunction on neuropathology and behaviour in mice. Currently under the supervision of Dr Carlie Cullen I am using transgenic mice strategies to determine how aberrant myelination can contribute to onset of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. I am also using mouse models of demyelination to investigate the effect of infectious diseases such as COVID19 and influenza on oligodendrocyte lineage cell function and the impact for myelin repair and multiple sclerosis disease progression. I have a long-standing interest in neuroscience research, that extends from understanding how brain function is regulated during development and in healthy ageing, and the dysregulated signalling pathways that enable neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.

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.