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Dr. Albornoz is an early career researcher who has training in neuroscience, immunology, and pharmacology. Prior to migrating to Australia, he completed a bachelor's in Biochemistry followed by a master’s degree in Chile, he then gained experience working in Chile as a research assistant in the Millennium Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, focusing on neurodegeneration and the immune response in the context of Multiple Sclerosis. Later, he was awarded a UQ international scholarship to undertake a Ph.D. at the Institute for Molecular Biosciences (IMB), under the supervision of Prof Matt Cooper, his Ph.D. project has assisted in the development of next-generation NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors, and to validate NLRP3 as a druggable therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease. He completed his Ph.D. in 2019 and continued his post-doctoral research studies under the supervision of Prof Trent Woodruff. A key focus of his current work is testing novel drugs in preclinical models and understanding the role of the peripheral innate immune response in neurodegenerative diseases including motor neuron disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease.

Dr Yibeltal Assefa Alemu (MD, MSc, PhD): is an Associate Professor of Global Health Systems at the School of Public Health. His research program focuses on Global Health, Health Systems, and Primary Health Care towards Universal Health Coverage and Global Health Security. He coordinates two courses on Health Systems (postgraduate) and Global Health & Infectious Diseases (undergraduate).

Before joining the University of Queensland in 2016, he had substantial experience in policy, program, and implementation of disease control programs (DCPs) and health systems at National and Global levels. He has also been involved in the development of implementation and treatment guidelines as well as monitoring and evaluation frameworks of DCPs at National and Global levels since 2007. He led and conducted national surveys, surveillances, and evaluations of DCPs in Ethiopia and other sub-Saharan African countries. He has also gained health systems and disease control program relevant experiences over a range of duties:

2013 – 2016: Deputy Director General, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Coordinated national surveys, surveillance, and program evaluations on disease control programs, health systems, and nutrition and food science; supervised PhD and MPH students from Europe and Ethiopia; and, examine PhD and MPH theses.

2015 – 2016: Executive Director of the International Institute for Primary Health Care, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Established the International Institute for Primary Health Care, in collaboration with the John Hopkins University-School of Public Health; developed its plan and organizational structure; and recruited its staff.

2010 –2013: Director of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, Ethiopia: Coordinated the development of strategic and operational plans, and designed a monitoring and evaluation system for the multi-sectoral response of HIV/AIDS in the country, organize review and dissemination workshops.

2008 –2010: Director of Medical Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Ethiopia: Coordinated the design and implementation of health systems and services, hospital and primary health care reform, including emergency medical systems in the country.

2006 – 2008: Head of the Health Programs Department, Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, Ethiopia: Coordinated the health sector response of HIV/AIDS and other STIs; developed guidelines and training manuals; and coordinated training and mentorship program in the country.

2002 – 2005: Medical Director, Humera District Hospital, Ethiopia: Managed the inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes of the hospital.

2001 – 2005: General Medical Practitioner, Humera District Hospital, Ethiopia: Provided clinical services at out-patient and in-patient departments.

He has published several academic papers in peer-reviewed journals; led the development and publication of 10 national guidelines and training manuals focusing on HIV/AIDS and TB; and participated in the development of more than five global guidelines on HIV/AIDS and TB. His publications have been contributing significantly in the response against HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia and other resource-limited settings. These publications are also highly referred by other publications, including the WHO guidelines. He has served on key international panels since 2007: the WHO consolidated guidelines for ARV use, 2015; Technical Evaluation Reference Group for the Global Fund (2012-2015); Core Group for the development of the patient monitoring system for the WHO consolidated guidelines for ARV use (2013-14); Advisory group for the development of guidelines for task shifting for HIV treatment (2007).

Dr Alemu has also been an invited plenary speaker in different global health meetings: Surveillance of HIV/AIDS; UNAIDS/WHO; Bangkok, Thailand, 2015; Translating Research into Policy and Practice: issues, challenges and recommendations; Ministry of Health of Ethiopia; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2014; The multi-sectoral response for the AIDS epidemic in Ethiopia; Ethiopian Public Health Association, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2012; The role of community health workers for ART delivery: successes and challenges; ITM colloquium, Antwerp, Belgium, 2011; Human resource aspects of ART delivery in resource-limited settings; Geneva health forum, Geneva, Switzerland, 2010; The effect of AIDS programs on the health system: opportunities and challenges; World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2008; Task shifting to scale up ART delivery in Ethiopia: World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2007.

After spending three years as a PhD scholar at the Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, and a visiting researcher for two months at the department of bionanosystem engineering, CBNU, assistant professor for above three years at SVU, Qena, and 13 months a research professor for the Prometeo grant which is one of most prestigious fellowships in Ecuador, one year a research fellow at Griffith University and finally a research fellow at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, I am ready to embark on a new challenge in my academic career. My current destination is a research fellow at the university of Queensland (UQ), School of dentistry.

Dr. Yahia Ali serves as a research fellow and lecturer within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at the University of Queensland, Australia. His primary research focus centers on applying scientific principles to address industrial challenges. He earned his PhD from the University of Queensland, while his MSc and BSc were obtained from the German University in Cairo. Throughout his career, he has amassed extensive expertise in areas such as alloy design, solidification, tribology of materials, and characterization techniques.

In conjunction with his academic responsibilities, Dr. Ali collaborates closely with the UQ Materials Performance (UQMP) consulting group. This interdisciplinary interaction between research and consulting significantly shapes his research direction, particularly in tackling industrial issues. As an illustration, Dr. Ali and his team have developed a distinctive range of devices for evaluating the performance of wear-resistant materials against abrasion and fracture. In Australia, Dr. Ali and his team holds a pivotal role in advancing the mining sector, providing innovative materials solutions, spanning from failure investigation to the development of novel materials. Through consecutive endeavors, they have influenced substantial business decisions for renowned companies like Rio-Tinto, Bradken, Molycop, IXL Metal Casting, Trelleborg, and others, often involving multi-million-dollar investments.

In 2023, Dr. Ali was honored as an Advance Queensland Industry Fellow, with a specific focus on developing sustainable alloys tailored for Queensland's agricultural and mining sectors. Additionally, he leads several projects concentrated on devising new testing techniques that can be conducted in the laboratory while preserving the authentic complexity of the industrial field environment.

Prof. Saleem Ali served as the Director of the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) from 2012 to 2014 and is currently Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware (USA). He retains an affiliate research professorship at UQ and has also held the Chair in Sustainable Resource Development at UQ's Sustainable Minerals Institute. As an environmental planner, his research and practice is highly interdisciplinary and aims to inform social management with rigorous science.

Former Professional Experience

Prof. Ali was a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources from 2002 to 2012 and the founding Director of the Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security at UVM's James Jeffords Center for Policy Research. He was also on the adjunct faculty of Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies and the visiting faculty for the United Nations mandated University for Peace (Costa Rica).

Before embarking on an academic career, Prof. Ali worked as an environmental health and safety professional at General Electric (based at GE headquarters in Fairfield, CT, and at silicone resin manufacturing sites in New York). He has served as a consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Health Canada. He has also been an Associate at the Boston-based consulting firm Industrial Economics Inc. Some of his pro bono projects include a mining impact prospectus for the Crowe Tribe of Montana and research assistance to Cultural Survival (an indigenous rights NGO).

Past Research

Prof. Ali's primary research interests have been in the causes and consequences of environmental conflicts in the research sector, and the process of using ecological factors to promote peace. Some of Prof. Ali’s former research appointments include a visiting fellowship at the Brookings Institution's research center in Doha, Qatar; a Public Policy Fellowship at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, a Baker Foundation Research Fellowship at Harvard Business School and a parliamentary internship at the U.K. House of Commons. Dr Ali has teaching experience in courses on environmental planning, conflict resolution, industrial ecology, research methods and technical writing.

Publications

Prof. Ali’s books include the Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed and a Sustainable Future (Yale University Press, 2010) which received a cover endorsement from Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus for providing a "welcome link between environmental behaviour and poverty alleviation." Among his earlier works is the acclaimed comparative case-based research book Mining, the Environment and Indigenous Development Conflicts (University of Arizona Press). Prof. Ali has served as an editor in many publications including Earth Matters: Indigenous Peoples, The Extractive Industries and Corporate Social Responsibility (edited with Ciaran O'Fairchellaegh) and the widely acclaimed volume Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution (MIT Press, September, 2007), which has received cover endorsements from environmental scientists E.O. Wilson, George Schaller and UNEP executive director Achim Steiner, and a foreword by IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefevre. He has also published in a wide range of peer-reveiwed journals including Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Resources Policy and Journal of Cleaner Production. A full list of publications can be found in the publication interface of thsi page or in Google Scholar.

Awards and Recognition

The World Economic Forum chose Prof. Ali as a "Young Global Leader" in 2011. He has also been selected by the National Geographic Society as an "Emerging Explorer" and was profiled in "Forbes magazine" in September, 2009 in an article titled "The Alchemist."

Other Interests and positions

Prof. Ali is a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas and the IUCN Taskforce on Transboundary Conservation. He is also a professional mediator and has conducted workshops on consensus-building for private and public interests. He has assisted in the peer review process for research publications with the World Bank, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, The Woodrow Wilson Center, the Journal of Environmental Management, the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, the Natural Resources Forum and Yale University Press.

Prof. Ali is involved in numerous non-profit organizations to promote environmental peace-building. He currently serves on the board of The DMZ Forum for Peace and Nature Conservation and International Peace Park Expeditions in the United States and on the board of governors for LEAD-Pakistan. He has also been involved in promoting environmental education in madrassahs (Islamic religious schools) and using techniques from environmental planning to study the rise of these institutions in his ethnic homeland, Pakistan. This prompted Prof. Ali to publish a sole-authored book in January 2009 titled Islam and Education: Conflict and Conformity in Pakistan's Madrassahs (Oxford University Press)

Professor Ali received his doctorate in Environmental Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an M.E.S. in environmental law and policy from Yale University, and his Bachelors in Chemistry from Tufts University (summa cum laude).

My research centers on the intersections of Urban Planning and Public Health, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and practical application. I deliver transdisciplinary solutions to some of the most compelling challenges of our time, 'housing vulnerability' and 'the health outcomes of citymaking'. My work stands out through the application of Systems Thinking to complex planning issues and I explore the connections between planning and the physical, mental, and social health of individuals and communities. My primary focus is on developing resilient cities, capable of maintaining their liveability over time, especially amidst disruptive events and shocks.

Areas of interest are legal and moral philosophy, constitutional law and bills of rights.

Professor James Allan holds the oldest named chair at The University of Queensland. Before arriving in Australia in February of 2005 he spent 11 years teaching law in New Zealand at the University of Otago and before that lectured law in Hong Kong. Professor Allan is a native born Canadian who practised law in a large Toronto law firm and at the Bar in London before shifting to teaching law. He has had sabbaticals at the Cornell Law School, at the Dalhousie Law School in Canada as the Bertha Wilson Visiting Professor in Human Rights, and at the University of San Diego School of Law.

Professor Allan has published widely in the areas of legal philosophy and constitutional law, including in all the top English language legal philosophy journals in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, much the same being true of constitutional law journals as well. Professor Allan also has a sideline interest in bills of rights; he is opposed to them. Indeed he is delighted to have moved to a country without a national bill of rights. He has been actively involved in the efforts trying to stop one from being enacted here in Australia. Professor Allan’s latest book is The age of foolishness: a doubter's guide to constitutionalism in a modern democracy (published 2022). Professor Allan also writes widely for newspapers and weeklies, including The Australian, The Spectator Australia and Quadrant, and since arriving here in Australia he has given or participated in more than 80 lectures, debates and talks.

Professor Rachel Allavena is a specialist veterinary pathologist, multidisciplinary researcher and Deputy Head of School, at the School of Veterinary Science, Gatton. She develops cancer treatments called immunotherapies which wake up the immune system so it fights the cancer. Her unique approach uses pet dogs with natural cancer to conduct the research. This helps the dog and it's family, as well as progressing the development of veterinary treatments and simultaneously advancing human medicine. As Deputy Head of School she aims to support staff and students to make UQ one of the top school's in Australasia, supporting both pets and people. Rachel is a multi-award winning teacher, lecturinging in veterinary pathology, toxicology, animal welfare and laboratory animal science. Her specialist expertise is nationally and internationally recognised in forensics, animal cruelty and toxicology where she acts as an expert witness in criminal and civil legal cases. She is a strong advocate for racing animal welfare, investigating racing animal injury and deaths and conducting research on how to improve animal welfare in sport, society and research. Prof Allavena has an active media profile and has been featured in national and international media including The Conversation, ABC national and regional radio and TV news, commercial and community TV and radio. In 2022-2023 she is a 'Flying Scientist' for Queensland's Office of the Chief Scientist. Rachel really enjoys doing presentations to school students and teachers as well as public outreach events to promote science to the general public. She has presented a TEDx talk on how dogs can help us cure cancer.

Prof Allavena has a PhD in Comparative Medicine from Cornell Univesity in New York, and undertook her pathology specialistation at Ontario Veterinary College. She has worked in drug safety research and development in the pharmaceutical industry in preclinical safety testing and discovery research in the United Kingdom. Her research interests are strongly focused on comparative and translational medicine and animal model validation and development in rodents, dogs and other laboratory animal species. Her major research projects include developing novel cancer immunotherapics and diagnostics for pet dogs naturally suffering from cancer both as a veterinary therapy and comparative model for human cancer. Further, she has extensive research in drivers of koala population decline in SEQLD. She has wide ranging research collaborations specialising in the pathological assessment and study design for animal models in a variety of areas including novel therapeutics, drug safety, toxicology and natural envenomations, biometallic implants, and animal welfare in laboratory animals and domestic species. She is a board certified veterinary anatomic pathologist with the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) and a registered specialist veterinary anatomic pathologist with the Veterinary Surgeon's Board of Queensland through the Australian Veterinary Boards Council. She is the lead diagnostic anatomic pathologist in the UQ School of Veterinary Science Veterinary Laboratory Service, and in her professional capacity she oversees cases for Racing Queensland, Queensland Police and RSPCA Queensland, with a special interest in animal welfare and forensic pathology. She has an extensive successful track record of training anatomic pathologists for American College of Veterinary Pathology board certification. She was awarded a Faculty of Science Teaching Excellence Award in 2015 and a UQ Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2021. She has served as an office holder in the Pathobiology chapter of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists and the Australian Society of Veterinary Pathologists.

Dr Mark C Allenby is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering (2021-ongoing) within UQ's School of Chemical Engineering, and an emerging leader in haematopoietic and vascular tissue engineering. Since his PhD, Mark has been awarded ten consecutive years of clinical, fundamental, and industrial research fellowships in the field of tissue engineering (ARC FoR 400311):

• Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship (2025 - 2029). Engineering vessels to grow and test blood cell therapies.
• Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (2022 - 2025). Vascularised tissues for cell therapy biomanufacturing.
• Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship (2019 - 2022). Cerebral and cardio-vascular tissue biofabrication.

Mark has principally supervised 5 PhDs and 2 MPhil/RAs, co-supervised 7 PhDs, and has been awarded over $3.7m of funding as chief investigator across 25 competitive funding rounds in 7 years. Mark received a PhD and MSc in chemical engineering from Imperial College London, UK and bachelors degrees in mathematics and chemistry from Pepperdine University, USA. Mark's leadership is exhibited by the:

• 2025 Cell and Gene Catalyst Workforce Committee Expert
• 2024 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award
• 2024 UQ EAIT EMCR Industry Engagement Award
• 2024 ASBTE Emerging Leadership Award
• 2024 Friends of CCRM Australia Industry Advisory Network
• 2024, 2023, and 2022 Executive Board Member of ASBTE
• 2023 TERMIS-AP Young Investigator Award
• 2023 RegMedNet Rising Star Finalist
• 2020 QUT ECR Award

Research Interests: Mark leads the BioMimetic Systems Engineering (BMSE) Lab. In the BMSE Lab, we combine Tissue Engineering, Biomedical Image Analysis, and Computational Biology to study and solve medical problems using advanced cell culture and computer models. Our work aligns with bioprocess engineering fundamentals, cell therapy or medical device manufacturing, and clinical collaborators in Haematology and Cardiovascular medicine. We are always looking for excellent postdoctoral, PhD, MPhil, and honours researchers, funded positions are advertised on our lab website.

Academic Interests: Mark is the Convener of UQ's Biomedical Engineering (BME) major, ranked #2 in Australia. BME at UQ spans schools of Chemical Engineering (ChE; #1 in Australia), Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. Mark is the deputy director of higher degree research (HDR) students in UQ ChE. Mark is the creator and coordinator of Quantitative Methods in Biomedical Engineering, and is a lecturer of Process Modeling & Dynamics. Mark has taught courses in biomaterials, process modelling, and reaction engineering in ChE and BME departments at universities in the UK and Australia.

Professor Almond’s current research interests include apocalypticism in early modern England; and demonic possession, exorcism and witchcraft in early modern England. He has particular interests in themes in religious cultural history in the early modern period.

Professor Almond holds the following qualifications: B.D. (Hons.) (London), M.A. (Lancaster), Ph.D. (Adelaide), F.A.H.A.

He is the author of The British Discovery of Buddhism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006, paperback edition); The Witches of Warboys: An extraordinary Story of Sorcery, Sadism, and Satanic Possession (London: I.B.Tauris, in press); Demonic Possession & Exorcism in Early Modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004); Adam and Eve in Seventeenth-Century Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), Heaven and Hell in Enlightenment England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994); The British Discovery of Buddhism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988); Heretic and Hero: Muhammad and the Victorians (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1989); Rudolf Otto: An Introduction to his Philosophical Theology (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984); Mystical Experience and Religious Doctrine: An Investigation of the Study of Mysticism in World Religions (Berlin: Mouton, 1982).

Recent articles include “Adam, Pre-Adamites, and Extra-Terrestrial Beings in Early Modern Europe,” Journal of Religious History 30(2006), 163-74; “‘The Witches of Warboys’: A Bibliographical Note,” in Notes and Queries 52 (2005), 192-3; “Western Images of Islam, 1700-1900, Australian Journal of Politics and History 49(2003), 412-24; “Modern Imaginings of Islam,” St Mark’s Review 192(2003), pp.24-9, reprinted in The Sceptic 24(2004), 6-10. “Fundamentalism, Christianity, and Religion,” The 2001 Sir Robert Madgwick Lecture, Armidale: The University of New England, 2002, Broadcast on ABC Radio National, Encounter, 7.4.02, www.abc.net.au/rn.relig/enc/stories/s520400.htm; " Druids, Patriarchs, and the Primordial Religion”, The Journal of Contemporary Religion 15(2000), 379-94.

He is currently working on a book on apocalypticism in early modern England.