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Brooke-Mai is a Senior Lecturer in Speech Pathology and a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist. Her research interests include the rehabilitation of motor speech disorders, brain mechanisms underpinning speech recovery, and the application of telerehabilitation to improve access to speech pathology services.

Dr Melanie White heads the Dynamics of Morphogenesis Lab at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), University of Queensland and is an ARC Future Fellow. She completed a PhD in Neuroscience at University College London followed by postdoctoral research at The University of Edinburgh. During this time Mel engineered viruses to modulate gene expression in the brain to investigate neuronal function and as a therapeutic approach for neurodegenerative disease. Her work was published in Neuron and PNAS, featured in Nature Reviews Neuroscience and received extensive international media coverage (including the BBC and The Guardian).

In 2012 Mel switched fields to apply quantitative imaging in developmental biology. Her work revealed key mechanisms driving the earliest morphogenetic events in mammalian embryogenesis and was published in Cell, Science, Nature Cell Biology, Developmental Cell and Nature Protocols. Her research was featured on the cover of multiple journals including Cell and she was awarded the inaugural American Society for Cell Biology Porter Prize for Research Excellence (2018).

In 2020, Mel joined the IMB where she will combine her passion for neuroscience and developmental biology to investigate the dynamics of neural tube morphogenesis.

Research overview

The brain and the spinal cord control most of the functions of the body and the mind, yet the dynamics of how they first form is poorly understood. Both structures arise from a common precursor, the neural tube, which forms very early in embryonic development. To generate the forces that sculpt and shape the neural tube, changes in cellular architecture must be tightly coordinated in space and time. These morphological rearrangements occur concurrently with biochemical signalling pathways that specify early neural cell fates.

Our research aims to understand how cellular properties and transcriptional regulators interact with mechanical forces in real time to direct vertebrate neural tube formation and neural cell fate specification. We study the dynamics of neural tube formation by applying advanced imaging technologies in transgenic avian models and human stem cell models.

Associate Professor

Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence Email: karen.whitfield@uq.edu.au

Dr Karen Whitfield is an Associate Professor within the School of Pharmacy and is the Program Lead for the Master of Clinical Pharmacy.https://future-students.uq.edu.au/study/programs/master-clinical-pharmacy-5718

Karen was awarded the Research Excellence Award for Research Support - Metro North Health Service in 2020 and the Australian Clinical Pharmacist awarded by the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia in 2017

Karen has worked at a number of different hospital including Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Infirmary, North Staffordshire Hospital Trust (Surgical and Paediatric Directorate Pharmacist), The Townsville Hospital. Most recently she has worked at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (from 2015-2021) holding several positions including, Team Leader Women's and Newborns and Assistant Director Cancer Care Services. She has also held a number of teaching positions including, Sr Lecturer James Cooke University, Teacher Practitioner with Medicines Services Queensland and lecturer with the University of Queensland.

Her specialist interests include Women's Health and Neonatology

She completed a Diploma in Hospital Pharmacy (1991), Masters in Clinical Pharmacy (1996) and completed her PhD at Aston University in 2002 under the supervision of Dr John Marriott and Dr Keith Wilson at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital UK, investigating sedatives in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Karen has presented work Nationally and Internationally at several Seminars and Conferences including, Life Long Learning for Pharmacists Conference (Dublin 2020, Croatia 2016), FIP webinar series ‘Hearing from our Hero’s’ (2020), Monash Pharmacy Education Symposium (2019), MM2018 SHPA Conference Brisbane (2018), Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists Conference UK (2015), Society of Obstetric Medicine Australia and New Zealand (Melbourne 2015).

Dr Jocelyn Widagdo is a molecular neuroscientist at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), The University of Queensland. She received her PhD from the University of New South Wales and, after a short period of postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Dr Widagdo returned to Australia in 2012 and joined the QBI, where she is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research. She leads a research team focused on uncovering the epitranscriptomic mechanisms that regulate brain function. Her work centres on how RNA modifications regulate synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. Beyond RNA, her research extends to chemical modifications of DNA and proteins, and explores how these highly dynamic molecular changes orchestrate neuronal activity and may contribute to brain disorders. Dr Widagdo’s research is supported by the Australian Research Council and was awarded a Discovery Early Career Researcher Fellowship. Through her research, she hopes to open new paths toward understanding molecular switches that support healthy brain aging.

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

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

I'm a cognitive neuroscientist working to understand the neurobiology of language and use that knowledge to improve outcomes for people with aphasia.

I lead the Language Neuroscience Laboratory, where our research spans three themes:

1. the neuroanatomy of the language network—how language is represented in the brain and localised in individuals
2. functional reorganisation in neurological patients, especially recovery from aphasia after stroke
3. developing aphasia assessments that are practical in fast-paced healthcare settings, ecologically valid, psychometrically sound, multilingual, and free.

Wayne Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Audiology at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland (UQ). He holds a PhD and Post-graduate Diploma in audiology and a BSc(Hons) in auditory physiology. His research interests include listening and listening difficulties in children, the objective assessment of auditory function, and clinical competence in audiology. Wayne has published >110 papers in refereed scientific journals, 12 book chapters and 3 patents; has presented >325 papers at scientific conferences including 17 key-note/opening addresses; and has secured >35 competitive research grants totaling >AUD$4.2 million.

Professor Wolvetang is an international leader in the area of pluripotent stem cell biology and human functional genomics. he initiated and leads Cell Reprogramming Australia, a collaborative framework that facilitates induced pluripotent stem cell research in Australa and is co-director of the UQ Centre in Stem Cell Ageing and Regenerative Engineering (StemCARE). He has extensive expertise in reprogramming somatic cells, differentiation and tissue engineering with adult, embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, genome manipulation with CRISPR, molecular biology, transcriptome analysis, high content image analysis, development and use of microfluidic devices for cell analysis, nanoparticle and scaffold design and delivery, and stem cell and cell-free regenerative medicine approaches.Professor Wolvetang has been instrumental in establishing and enabling the technology for derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells across Australia. Professor Wolvetang made the strategic decision to focus on the generation of induced pluripotent stem from patients with neurological and cardiac disorders because live human cells from such patients can usually not be obtained whereas induced pluripotent stem cells have the ability to generate every cell type of the human brain in unlimited amounts and can recapitulate the disease in the dish. Induced pluripotent stem cells combined with emerging technologies such as CRISPR-based genome editing offers a unique opportunity to study the role of individual genes and combinatorial gene regulatory pathways in the eatiology of monogenic and complex brain disorders. Indeed, combined with RNA-seq and organoid generation we are now for the first time able to gain insight into gene regulatory pathways operational in individual brain cell types of healthy and diseased individuals, investigate the connectivity and function of cells, as well as pinpoint where and when during early development such deregulated pathways lead to pathological changes. Induced pluripotent stem cells further not only provide insight into the underlying pathogenesis of neurological disorders but also constitute a valuable drugscreening platform and, following CRISPR-based gene correction, can form the basis of patient specific cellular therapies for currently incurable diseases.

Professor Wolvetang received his PhD in 1992 from the Department of Biochemistry, University of Amsterdam for his original work on peroxisomal disease (6 papers). He undertook postdoctoral studies at the Department of Biochemistry and the Institute for Reproduction and Development of Monash University, investigating apoptosis, Down syndrome and Ets transcription factors, respectively, obtaining the first evidence for an intra-chromosomal regulatory loop on chromosome 21 involving Ets2 (3 papers), and revealing the role of p53 in immune-suppression in Down syndrome (Hum Mol. Genetics). He then joined Prof Martin Pera in the Australian Stem Cell Centre in 2003 to pioneer human embryonic stem cell research in Australia, resulting in a first author Nature Biotechnology paper in 2006 identifying CD30 as a marker for genetically abnormal hESC (72 cites). He was appointed group leader of the Basic human stem cell biology laboratory in the ASCC research laboratory and senior lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Cell biology until he accepted his current position as an independent group leader at the AIBN and Professor in stem cell biology at the University of Queensland in 2008. There he started to generate integration-free induced pluripotent stem cells from human neurological diseases such as ataxia-telangiectasia (Stem cells translational medicine). In recognition of his leadership role in this area of research he was appointed leader of the “Reprogramming and Induction of pluripotency” Collaborative Stream of the Australian Stem Cell Centre until the end of that initiative in 2011, coordinating collaborative research between eight stem cell laboratories across Australia. He subsequently initiated and is now the president of Cell Reprogramming Australia, a collaborative framework aiming to facilitate and accelerate iPS cell research in Australia and the Asia pacific region and inform the general public about reprogramming technology. His research continues to combine cell reprogramming technology, genome editing/analysis tools and microfluidic/nanoparticle based detection/ delivery technologies with the aim of creating human in vitro models of disease, unravel the underlying gene regulatory networks and enable novel cell- and delivery-based therapeutics, respectively. He further co-direct the UQ-Centre for stem cell ageing and regenerative engineering (UQ-StemCARE).

Dr Woodruff is a Professor of Pharmacology who leads a research team aiming to find new therapeutic treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. Current therapies for these diseases are vastly inadequate, and so new research is needed to identify novel targets to slow or halt their progression. Prof Woodruff’s specific research revolves around the innate immune system in the brain, and the role of neuroinflammation in propagating disease. A key focus of his current work is testing new drugs developed at the University of Queensland in models of motor neuron disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Huntington’s disease, and Parkinson's disease, as well as maintaining an active interest in acute inflammatory disorders including sepsis and ischemia-reperfusion injuries. Using a series of potent and orally active complement C5a and NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors developed at UQ, Prof Woodruff's team has demonstrated the therapeutic potential of targeting innate immune-mediated neuroinflammation to reduce neuronal cell death in animal models of these neurodegenerative diseases. His team has recently shown that in addition to their roles in neurodegeneration, innate immune factors also play essential roles in stem and neuronal cell development during embryogenesis, revealing the widespread physiological and pathological roles of this evolutionarily ancient immune system.

Dr Lee Woods is an internationally recognised leader in digital health workforce capability and education, and practising Registered Nurse in primary care. She is Senior Research Fellow and Lead of the Workforce & Education Team at the Queensland Digital Health Centre (QDHeC), University of Queensland. Her academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Nursing (2005), Graduate Certificates in Clinical Nursing (2009) and Research (2019), First Class Honours (2015), and a PhD (2019). She also completed a four-year Fellowship by Training with the Australasian Institute of Digital Health (2021) and advanced co-design and design thinking training through the University of Sydney and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (2016–2017).

Dr Woods has an H-index of 17, more than 790 citations, and has secured over AUD$2.9M in research funding. She leads an interdisciplinary team of 4 researchers and 6 doctoral students, with supervision completions including 1 PhD, 2 Masters, and 1 Honours. She served as Guest Editor for the Australian Journal of Rural Health special issue on digital interventions (2024).

Her leadership includes major projects such as the Queensland Health digital maturity assessment, which informed the refresh of Queensland’s state-wide digital health strategy Digital Health 2031 and measured 165 health services representing 56,000 consumers. She also helped lead the Embedding Digital Health Education into Health Degrees initiative, a global first in establishing a nationally agreed core curriculum for pre-registration health degrees. Dr Woods co-authored two national workforce strategies and co-developed Australia’s first health workforce fellowship program in digital health.

She is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health, was the Chair of the National Digital Health Early to Mid Career Conference (2024) and holds advisory roles in digital health education and research across Australia. Her contributions have been recognised through awards for industry engagement, service, and diversity, and she was selected to meet with Ministers of Parliament in Canberra (2023). Internationally, Dr Woods represents Australia on the International Medical Informatics Association Nursing Informatics Society and leads an AU–UK partnership to develop an AI literacy career framework for healthcare workers. She will deliver a keynote at the Perioperative Nurses International Conference (2026).

Mechanisms of drug-induced liver damage.

Liver disease has long been associated with the abuse and clinical use of drugs. My research interests focus on ethanol, perhaps the most commonly abused drug, and the widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Both NSAIDS and ethanol are widely tolerated but induce liver disease in a small number of individuals.

Research projects listed below investigate immunological and genetic phenomena associated with drug-induced liver disease.

• Does ethanol alter hepatic gene expression to cause liver damage?
• Is protein modification by ethanol metabolites involved in the aetiology of alcoholic tissue injury?
• Are proteins modified by reactive molecules formed during ethanol metabolism viable biomarkers of ethanol intake?

Helen has over 30 years’ experience as a clinician (orthoptist) and an innovative educator. She was the Academic Lead Assessment in the Academy for Medical Education from mid 2017 to March 2024. Helen’s expertise has been built on a career spanning clinical practice in rural and urban settings fuelling a passion for learning from her early mentor, the late Prof Fred Hollows. Her career in higher education has spanned several roles including lecturing and reforming the orthoptics curriculum, leading elearning projects across five health facilities at the University of Sydney before moving to lead academic development at Charles Darwin University. She has worked in three medical schools (University of Sydney, Flinders University and the University of Queensland) inspiring educators to enhance clinical skills teaching, developing clinical supervisors in Northern Australia and most recently leading assessment design for the new Doctor of Medicine program at University of Queensland. She has received multiple teaching and learning awards at University of Sydney (2003, 2004), Flinders University (2016) and the Australian Awards for University Teaching: Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2017).

Olivia is a Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics and Director of Teaching and Learning at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland.​

Her work sits at the intersection of nutrition science, Indigenous food systems, the microbiome and interprofessional practice, with a focus on nutritional resilience, food sovereignty and personalised nutrition. She leads a coherent program of research examining how dietary patterns and food environments shape microbiome resilience and health outcomes, and how this knowledge can be translated into culturally safe practice, education and policy.​

This program integrates culinary nutrition, chronic disease prevention, Indigenous bush‑food and food sovereignty projects, and AI‑enabled analysis to improve the lived experience of patients, students and communities. Olivia has published widely in nutrition science and dietetics and works in partnership with First Nations communities, industry and government to advance understanding of how food systems can support health, equity and cultural continuity.​

As a recognised leader in teaching and learning innovation, Olivia plays a central role in shaping the next generation of dietitians and health professionals. She integrates AI, cultural safety, Indigenous methodologies and inclusive design into her teaching to strengthen student confidence, belonging and leadership, intentionally bridging education, research and community engagement so that evidence supports community‑led solutions and real‑world impact across health systems and society.

Dr. Ayaho Yamamoto is the Group Leader of Laboratory Science at the Children's Health and Environmental Program and is a research fellow in the field of Biomedical Science. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanistic links between environmental exposures and adverse respiratory outcomes. In particular, she focuses on the cellular responses following air pollution exposure and/or viral infection on human respiratory epithelium, and the age differences in immune defence mechanisms. Investigate on early intervention strategies with dietary antioxidants to improve respiratory health and reduce the risk of long-term chronic diseases.

Dr. Yamamoto has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health and Public Health; her research focused on childhood asthma. She has a Master of Science in Biomedical Science and Pharmacology; the research focus was to understand the mechanisms and to test new drugs for osteoporosis and chondrosarcomas metastasis. She has worked in a Uni-based start-up company for drug development.

Dr Jun Yan is a molecular biologist, currently working in the field of neurological diseases. Dr Yan's research interest is cell signal transduction pathways invoved in mechanisms of the disease development.

Dr Jun Yan completed her postgraduate study at The University of Queensland, after which she undertook a postdoctoral position in Experimental Oncology laboratory in Department of Patholody, UQ and worked on Ras / Raf signalling pathway. In 2001 she joined the Neuroimmunology Research group in Department of Medicine, UQ, and works on neurological diseases, including autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS), ischaemic stroke and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) . She has been investigating NF-kB signal transduction pathway in MS and ALS, and cell immune responese to ischaemic stroke.