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Dr Stina Oftedal is an accredited practicing dietitian and postdoctoral research fellow at the Queensland Cerebral Palsy Rehabilitation Research Centre (QCPRRC). Stina completed her undergraduate degree at Queensland University of Technology in 2010, and completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in 2016. Stina's PhD explored the association of modifiable health behaviours (diet and physical activity) on growth and body composition in preschool-aged children with cerebral palsy, and this continues to be the focus of her postdoctoral work. She also has an interest in infant feeding and diet quality.

Hannah is an experienced Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) who holds positions as a Senior Dietitian at The Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service, Knowledge Translation Workforce Development Officer for Metro North Hospital and Health Service, and Honorary Research Fellow within the University of Queensland, Centre for Health Services Research.

Hannah completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in 2024. Her PhD focused on person-centred care and interprofessional practice in nutrition and food services in rehabilitation, and has been internationally recognised. Hannah published four first-author peer-reviewed articles from her PhD research and has been invited to present her work at national conferences. Hannah has also secured competitive research funding to advance her clinical research program and translate her findings into practice across Queensland hospitals and health services, establishing herself as a promising early-career clinician-researcher. This has been reflected in recent awards, including the Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition Prize from Dietitians Australia (2024).

Hannah’s clinical research program aims to improve nutrition care in rehabilitation populations by harnessing technology, data-driven decision-making, and consumer engagement. Recent projects within this program include co-designing and implementing innovative nutrition education videos: https://metronorth.health.qld.gov.au/news/nutrition-information-for-patients, co-developing quality indicators for rehabilitation nutrition and food services with consumers and multidisciplinary staff, and using body composition measures to inform precision nutrition care.

As a Knowledge Translation Workforce Development Officer and clinically embedded researcher, Hannah is committed to bridging the gap between contemporary research and clinical practice. Hannah leads the Metro North arm of the Allied Health Translating Research into Practice (AH-TRIP) initiative: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/database-tools/translating-research-into-practice-trip/translating-research-into-practice, aimed at increasing knowledge translation capacity in health professionals. Her involvement in various projects reflects this commitment to both knowledge translation and innovation, including contributing to developing and implementing a new high-value Malnutrition Model of Care and supporting the implementation of interprofessional mealtime enhancement strategies into routine practice.

Dr Anton Pak is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland. Anton is an applied economist by training and his research interests focus on the behaviour of patients and their choices, utilisation of emergency department services, waiting time modelling, and the economics of digital health. Anton examines empirical questions by utilising health economics theory and concepts and by analysing large panel and cross-sectional datasets (including linked data) using classical econometrics techniques, as well as machine learning methods.

Anton is currently co-leading an Emergency Medicine Foundation funded project “ED waiting time predictions in real-time: development of data acquisition system and performance evaluation of advanced statistical models.”, which is being undertaken in partnership with Princess Alexandra Hospital. Anton has worked extensively on interdisciplinary research with statisticians, mathematical modellers, clinicians, epidemiologists, and public health experts.

Prior to joining the Centre, Anton worked as a Research Fellow in Applied Economics and Data Scientist at James Cook University. His previous experience also includes working as a management consultant and university lecturer.

Anton has a PhD (Economics) from The University of Queensland.

Zoe is a Honorary Research Fellow with the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. She also currently holds an appointment as a Senior Research Officer with the Mental Health Evaluation Research Stream at Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR), where she leads and manages large-scale evaluation projects that seek to enhance mental health services within Queensland. During her time at QCMHR, she has worked on several state-wide evaluations for Queensland Health - including of their Crisis Support Spaces, Adolescent Day Program and Youth and Adult Step-Up-Step-Down Programs.

Zoe's research work largely focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions that seek to promote positive health behaviours and which improve social and mental health outcomes. Previously, she developed and trialled a behavioural support program (Active Choices) for the Department of Veterans Affairs, with the aim of increasing self-managed physical activity and social connectedness in Australian Defence Force veterans. Zoe has also designed and evaluated a brief motivational intervention for cannabis users (iAx), which is now in routine use at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

In addition to her work as a researcher, Zoe has held roles in health consulting where she assisted State and Federal Government agencies, PHNs and peak bodies to design, implement and review health services, programs and policies.

Zoe's educational background in psychology, having completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science (2013) and Doctor of Philosophy (2020) in this discipline.

Nalini has more than 25 years’ experience in innovative design and delivery of medicine and health programs in several countries. Her medical education research focusses on curriculum and assessment design, digital and inclusive education, and integration of biomedical sciences into health professional programs. She has a particular interest in educational technologies (including AI) and cognitive load, and curricular approaches that support positive learning behaviour, wellbeing, critical thinking and professional development. Nalini's research also includes medical imaging diagnositics and the use of AI.

Nalini is the co-founder of the Health Universities Initiative, which frames a whole-of-university approach to student success and wellbeing. She has several awards (Faculty, Vice-Chancellor, Australian Award for University Teaching) for her contributions to higher education. Nalini is the Chair of the International Program for Anatomical Education (FIPAE) of the IFAA, and an Associate Editor of Anatomical Sciences Education (Impact Factor, 7.2). Nalini is a Board Member and Fellow of ANZAHPE, Fellow of the Scientia Education Academy, and Fellow of HERDSA.

Nalini currently supervises 5 PhD students in the following topics:

• Health Advocacy in Medical Education: Evaluation of current practice and implications for medical programs
• Cosmetic female surgery: A consumer-driven evaluation of demand and its implications for medical education
• Fetal and Embryological Collections: A paradigm to examine the ethical practice of informed consent
• Anatomical Education: The role of digital-based pedagogies in future practice
• Liver and Gallbladder Imaging in Paediatric Patients: Developing a pipeline for diagnostic automation

Nalini currently supervises 4 reseach honours students on the following topics:

• Relationship-based support interventions in medical programs
• An evaluation of intersex education in medicine programs in Australia
• Left ventricular compaction: evaluation of MRI diagnostic criteria
• VR in biomedical sciences education: current scope of practice

Jason D. Pole is the Deputy Director of Research for the Queensland Digital Health Centre (QDHeC) and a Professor in the Centre for Health Services Research (CHSR) within the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences. Jason's program of research utilises clinical and surveillance data linked with real-world administrative data to answer health questions in several areas.

Jason has a background in epidemiology, health services research and digital health with an emphasis in the use of real-world data and complex survey instruments.

Currently, Jason has research interests in the areas of digital health applications to improve system performance including patient safety, health care utilization among childhood cancer survivors, the effects of childhood cancer treatment specifically on the development of second cancers and education achievement and has interests in the financial impact of a childhood cancer diagnosis on the family and the long-term financial health of the survivor. More recently, Jason has developed an interest in adolescent and young adult oncology (AYA) survivors and the specific long-term needs of this unique cancer population.

Jason maintains appointments as an Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto and an Adjunct Scientist with the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute and an Adjunct Senior Scientist with ICES, Toronto.

Javad Pool is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Queensland. He completed his PhD in Business Information Systems at UQ Business School in 2022, with a focus on data privacy and the effective use of information systems, specifically in the digital health context. By employing a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, Javad has conducted studies in a wide range of organizational and technological contexts, including healthcare, artificial intelligence, digital health, and social media. His work includes the development of inductive and theory-driven models, contributing to the existing body of knowledge on the effective use of information systems and health informatics research. Passionate about collaboration, Javad seeks to engage with diverse stakeholders, encompassing multidisciplinary researchers, industry professionals, and government partners, to advance research on information resilience and data protection practices. His research endeavors to better understand and address socio-technical challenges within information systems use, including data governance, privacy risks, cybersecurity, data breaches, data protection, misinformation, and responsible use of data.

Sarah is an occupational therapist with over 20 years clinical experience delivering specialised brain injury and complex neurological intervention across the continuum of care in Australia and the UK. Sarah is passionate about conducting research which enables improved rehabilitation outcomes and quality of life for people with brain injury. Her PhD, completed in 2018, investigated client-centred goal setting in the rehabilitation of community dwelling clients with acquired brain injury. The PhD provides insight into how clinicians may implement the client-centred goal setting process in practice to ensure that the meaningful and personally relevant goals of people with brain injury can be formulated, despite known barriers such as memory and self-awareness impairment.

Sarah is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Brain Injury Rehabilitation, Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS) Education and Research Alliance, the University of Queensland. She also works in her private practice, to provide specialised brain injury rehabilitation services in Queensland, Australia.

Dr Melinda Protani is an epidemiologist with over 15 years experience in research and tertiary education. She is the current Program Director for the Master of Epidemiology at UQ. Her research is focussed on cancer aetiology, survivorship and patterns of care, with a particular interest in inequity in access to health services and the receipt of optimal cancer care. Dr Protani has experience in a number of methods including medical record audits, surveys of the general population, patient groups and clinicians, and data linkage using registry and administrative datasets.

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.

Dr Megan Ross (she/her) is a titled research physiotherapist and postdoctoral research fellow at RECOVER Injury Research Centre, The University of Queensland. She is part of a research team, led by Professor Trevor Russell, which focuses on developing more effective and efficient health services supported by technology innovation. Megan’s current research projects include exploring consumer perspectives of the telerehabilitation service delivery model, factors that influence the uptake and utilisation of telerehabilitation, and exploring the acceptability and usability of digital health innovations. Megan has a broad range of research skills that span both quantitative and qualitative methods and co-design approaches, including systematic reviews, cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs and data analysis, discrete choice experiments, interviews and focus group discussions and thematic analysis.

Dr Ross received a Bachelor of Physiotherapy (with First Class Honours) in 2012 and a PhD in Physiotherapy in 2020 from The University of Queensland. Megan is the inaugural Chair of the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee, is Deputy Chair of the Australian Physiotherapy Associations’ National Advisory Committee and sits on the Queensland Gender Affirming Network Steering Committee. Dr Ross leads a program of research in the area of LGBTQIA+ experiences of, and access to healthcare with a focus on physiotherapy and allied health. Megan is passionate about ensuring safe and affirming access to healthcare for people with diverse gender identities, sexual orientations and sex characteristics and has received over $1M AUD in funding, including a CIA MRFF grant to co-design, implement and evaluate an LGBTQIA+ affirming model of primary care. The overarching objective of Dr Ross’s work is to improve access to, provision of, and experiences with health care and ultimately contribute to improved health and wellbeing for the LGBTQIA+ communities.

Professor Nerina Scarinci is the Head of School, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at The University of Queensland. Her main research focus is on the implementation and evaluation of patient- and family-centred care for adults and children with communication disability. Professor Scarinci has clinical and research expertise in the development, implementation, and evaluation of alternative models of allied health service delivery, including group interventions, eHealth, and communication partner training. Professor Scarinci has over 20 years clinical and research experience, with expertise in co-design, patient- and family-centred care, and the evaluation and management of communication disability.

University Profile: Professor Nerina Scarinci is a Professor in Speech Pathology and Director of Higher Degree Reserach Students in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences.

Teaching Themes: Professional Practice and Communication Skills, Children with Special Needs in Communication, Paediatric Speech Pathology, Hearing Impairment, Service Delivery, Professional Issues and Ethics

Research interests: Paediatric and Adult Hearing Impairment, Communication Disability, International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), Third-Party Disability, Family-Centred Care, Early Intervention, Co-Design

Publications: 107 scholarly works, including 86 peer-reviewed journal articles, 10 invited editorials, 2 books, and 9 book chapters. Impact: 1690 citations, H-index = 23, average citations per paper = 21.13, field weighted citation impact = 2.5 (Scopus, August 2022).

Grant funding: Professor Scarinci has attained >$10.2 Million in grant funding, with >$4.12 Million as Chief Investigator and >$6.1 Million as Associate Investigator or Program Lead.

Reviewer: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology; International Journal of Audiology; Ear & Hearing; Speech, Language and Hearing; Disability & Rehabilitation; Child Language Teaching & Therapy, American Journal of Audiology; BMC Geriatrics; Clinical Interventions in Aging.

Editorial Boards: Associate Editor for International Journal of Audiology; Editorial Consultant for International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

Professional Memberships: Speech Pathology Australia; The Hanen Centre; Ida Institute.

Dr Shakti Shrestha is a Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice and Medicines Management at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Queensland (UQ) and undertakes course coordination for the First Semester Bachelor of Pharmacy program - PHRM1101. Shakti shifted to this full time academic role from a Research Fellow position that mainly involved conducting and supporting an Australian Government funded (Dementia Ageing and Aged Care Mission Medical Research Future Fund) research on improving the Quality Use of Medicine in Australian Residential Aged Care via the role of knowledge broker pharmacist (the EMBRACE project). Within his Research Fellow role, Shakti course coordinated Second Year teachout courses for UQ's Bachelor of Pharmacy program.

Shakti obtained his PhD at UQ School of Pharmacy, which focused on optimising medication use in older adults with limited life expectancy, drawing his extensive experience working and researching in a clinical medicine and aged care environment. He was a recipient of the 2018 Australian Research Training Scholarship at UQ for his doctoral degree. He also received the 2022 Career Development Scholarship from UQ that allowed him to develop clinical trial skills at Queensland Health, Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Townsville University Hospital and Gold Coast Private Hospital.

Shakti received his Master's degree in Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Aberdeen (UK) in 2010 and had an opportunity to work with the International Stroke Registry data called SITS-ISTR (Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke-International Stroke Thrombolysis Registry) in the National Health Service (NHS) Grampian Hospital, UK. He received his undergraduate Pharmacy degree from Pokhara University (Nepal) in 2007 and is registered as a Pharmacist both in Nepal and Australia.

Shakti has supervised nine pharmacy undergraduate thesis (4-years BPharm program) to completion in Nepal, and supervised several undergraduate and masters research project students. He continues to supervise a number of independent research projects mainly with the intention to support the capacity building of health professionals in research; these research often make into publications.

Shakti has research expertise in the field of geriatric and palliative medication use and safety, quality use of medicine, pharmacy practice and health services. He has research methodology expertise on systematic review, clinical research design, predictive model development, meta-analysis, medical statistics and qualitative research. He has more than 10 years of experience working in research, academic and clinical roles nationally and internationally.

Dr Kirstine Shrubsole is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre. She holds a Bachelor of Speech Pathology (First Class Honours) from The University of Queensland, and completed her PhD in 2018. Kirstine has a research focus on improving implementation of evidence into practice in speech pathology and multidisciplinary services, with a special interest in stroke and aphasia rehabilitation. She has demonstrated that practice change is achievable for healthcare teams working in aphasia, leading to positive outcomes for patients, clinicians, and organisations.

Kirstine has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has been awarded over $11 million in competitive research funding. Kirstine previously worked as the Conjoint Research Fellow in Speech Pathology (Princess Alexandra Hospital and The University of Queensland), providing research capacity building and mentoring to speech pathologists and supporting multidisciplinary research. Kirstine is the co-founder and Deputy Lead of the Collaboration of Aphasia Triallists’ Implementation Science in Aphasia working group, and a research affiliate of the Centre for Research Excellence in Aphasia Rehabilitation and Recovery.

Kirstine is completing a NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellowship on the following topic:

• The Aphasia Implementation Toolkit Project: Developing an implementation intervention to improve services for stroke survivors with aphasia

She is a chief investigator on three MRFF grants, including:

• Unspoken, Unheard, Unmet: Improving Access to Preventative Health Care through Better Conversations about Care

• Bridging the Digital Divide: Building Health Self-Efficacy through Communication-Accessible Online Environments

• Enhancing utility of neuropsychological evaluation for earlier and effective diagnosis of dementia in Parkinson's disease

Professor Anthony Smith is the Director of The University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health (COH), and Adjunct Professor at the Hans Christian Anderson Children's Hospital and University of Southern Denmark, in Odense, Denmark.

Professor Smith is also the Editor in Chief for the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare (Sage Publishers, London; 5y Impact Factor 4.9).

Professor Smith has more than 25 years of research experience, resulting in the planning, implementation and evaluation of a broad range of telehealth (virtual care) services around Australia. Specific research interests include the feasibility, effectiveness and sustainability of telehealth services in the public health system; genuine consumer engagement; and novel strategies to support our health workforce and telehealth adoption. His research has led to the development of pioneering virtual care services in Australia, including prominent statewide hospital-based telehealth programs in Queensland, wireless (robot) videoconference systems for remote consultations; and a community-based (and telehealth supported) health screening programme for Indigenous children in Queensland. Current projects focus on the integration of telehealth and virtual care services in residential aged care settings; evaluation of community-led First Nations health services; the delivery of video-based rehabilitation services to children in rural and remote primary schools; telementoring services for health professionals in primary care; and discipline specific clinical telehealth services.

Professor Smith chairs the International Conference on Successes and Failures in Telehealth conference. He is also a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. Previous roles have included the President of the Australasian Telehealth Society (ATHS) [2013-2015]; and elected member of the ATHS committee [2008-2024]. In the field of telehealth and virtual care, Prof Smith has over 240 publications, including 230 peer-reviewed journal papers, three edited books and 13 book chapters on related topics. Whilst the field remains highly specialised in comparison to other disciplines, his work is cited over 2000 times each year.

Professor Smith also provides an extensive range of consultancy services for government agencies and industry partners in the field of telehealth, digital health and virtual healthcare.

Recent Awards:

1. Public Engagement and Community-led Research (including Citizen Science) Award, The University of Queensland Research Culture Awards, 2024.

2. Top Researcher in the field of "Medical Informatics"- for work involving telehealth, digital health and virtual care. The Australian Research Awards, 2023

3. Commendation, Academic Leader of the Year, UQ Faculty of Medicine Excellence Awards, The University of Queensland, 2023

4. Excellence in Indigenous Engagement Award - for "enhancing access to specialist health services through the use of telehealth for First Nations people. Engagement Australia Excellence Awards, 2021

5. Spirit of Reconciliation Award - for building research and community partnerships in Queensland. UQ Faculty of Medicine Excellence Awards, The University of Queensaland, 2021

Dr Meng-Wong Taing (Wong) is a registered pharmacists and qualified biostatistician. He graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Pharmacy (with Honours Class 1) in 2002, Graduate Certificate in Technology Innovation Management in 2012, PhD in Pharmacy in 2013. After completion of his PhD he worked as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Translation Research Institute (TRI) investigating novel drug candidates for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity. In 2014, Wong joined the School of Pharmacy as a Lecturer and was awarded the Dean’s commendation for Research Higher Degree Excellence. He demonstrates a strong commitment to applying advanced statistical methods to health research. With broad expertise in quantitative analysis, he has made significant contributions across diverse disciplines including cell biology, social science, and medical research - leading and supporting collaborative projects that address complex health challenges. His work consistently promotes research transparency, methodological rigour, and interdisciplinary innovation. Wong serves on the editorial board of the BMC Medical Education journal.

Dr Caley Tapp is a Research Fellow with the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland, based at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research.

Caley holds qualifications in psychology and epidemiology. She has a PhD in social psychology and completed a post doctoral fellowship on an ARC funded project examining a disease avoidance basis for stigmatisation.

Caley’s role is with the Analysis and Reporting Component of the Australian Mental Health Outcomes and Classification Network (AMHOCN), which leads the design, analysis and reporting of the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (http://www.amhocn.org/). In this role she is involved in a range of projects designed to improve the measurement of patient- and service-level outcomes in Australia’s specialised public sector mental health services. She has experience in conducting systematic literature reviews, as well as conducting experimental, quasi-experimental and qualitative studies. Caley’s other research interests include examining the stigmatisation of people with obesity.

Caley is available to supervise honours, Masters and HDR students on a variety of topics; please get in touch to discuss.

Wubshet is an accredited pharmacist, lecturer, and Mental Health First Aid Instructor at the University of Queensland’s Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences. He also holds an Affiliate Research Fellow position at the University of Sydney School of Pharmacy. Currently, he is a course coordinator for Pharmacy Practice and Medicines Management in the BPharm (Hons) program.

He completed his PhD at the University of Tasmania in 2019. Following that, he held postdoctoral researcher roles at the University of Canberra and University of Sydney, where he coordinated multiple government- and industry-funded clinical trials.

Wubshet's research primarily centres around understanding medication and patient outcomes in individuals with chronic diseases, with a special emphasis on kidney diseases. In collaboration with several researchers and stakeholders in Australia, Wubshet has attracted ~$2.1 million in grant funding. Currently, he is actively involved as an investigator in a large-scale cluster randomised trial (ACTRN12622000329763) funded by the Medical Research Future Fund and led by the University of Sydney. This trial is investigating the effectiveness of a community pharmacy-led point-of-care screening in improving the detection of chronic kidney disease and quality use of medicines.