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Stephen is a physiologist with expertise in endocrinology. His research focuses on the regulation of metabolism, growth, appetite, and reproduction - exploring how hormones regulate physiological processes. He collaborates with animal nutritionists and veterinary clinicians, supported by industry partners such as Meat & Livestock Australia, to address critical issues in animal health and production.

Complementing his scientific work, Stephen is an educational leader with a strong record in shaping teaching strategy, curriculum renewal, and student success. As Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Biomedical Sciences (2019–2024), he led his School’s teaching response to the COVID-19 pandemic, earning a UQ Service Excellence commendation and the Faculty of Medicine’s Academic Leader of the Year award. He also provides strategic leadership in the renewal of the UQ Bachelor of Biomedical Science, guiding the development of a future-focused program designed to enhance students’ sense of belonging, engagement, and graduate capabilities. The redesigned program launches in 2026. Stephen has recently returned as Director of Teaching and Learning in Biomedical Sciences for another term (April 2025 - present).

Stephen has taught physiology to more than 40,000 students across biomedical, veterinary, allied health, and medical programs. He has received multiple awards for teaching excellence and innovation, including a national ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning. He is a Senior Fellow in the Higher Education Academy. In scholarly educational work Stephen is currently investigating how students engage with complexity in developing an advanced understanding of physiology.

Perinatal Implementation Scientist & Postdoctoral Researcher & Science Communicator:

I am a full-time perinatal implementation science researcher. Since 2018, I have worked for the not-for profit, Mater Research, conducting research in implementing stillbirth prevention strategies. My vision is to make substantive improvements in national maternity care standards through actioning effective and targeted evidence-based implementation strategies to embed best practice recommendations into maternity care.I work as a Postdoctoral Research Officer with the Centre for Research Excellence in Stillbirth.

Communication and consumer involvement in research:

I am a leader within Mater Research for enhancing consumer involvement in research. Awarded a Stillbirth Foundation Research Grant (2021) I am leading a research study developing "A Guide to Research for Bereaved Parents", to improve the capacity of researchers and bereaved parents to co-design and translate research together.

Development of research workforce:

As Co-chair of the Early to Mid-Career Researcher (EMCR) Committee, I advocate for EMCRs and clinician researchers. Providing peer support, I organise external speakers to encourage scientific discussions and expertise sharing at monthly meetings. As an EMCR representative on the Mater Research Student Committee, I review student applications, offering constructive feedback to help prospective students obtain scholarships. I judge student awards and regularly chair student sessions at events such as the Mater Research Showcase and monthly Seminar Series.

Lisa is a speech pathologist and conjoint research fellow with Metro North Health and The University of Queensland and works with the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre (QARC). Her research focuses on examining experiences, determining priorities, and co-designing meaningful solutions with lived-experience experts, and improving consumer partnerships. Lisa’s PhD used a novel application of Experience-Based Co-Design, to co-design aphasia services for QARC, who have adopted her findings as a future focus of the centre.

(he/him)

• I do my best work in the classroom: I am a teaching-focussed academic specialising in ecology and zoology with the UQ School of the Environment (SENV). I coordinate BIOL2010 Ecology, BIOL2910 Advanced Ecology, BIOL2205 Insect Science and SCIE3010 Science Engagement in the Community, and teach into a variety of other biology courses and pre-service teaching courses. Learn more about my classroom and teaching style here.
• Our science undergraduate students inspire me! I'm the Bachelor of Science Program Director at our Faculty of Science and in this role I provide overarching leadership around the positioning, review, renewal, quality assurance, and student experience for UQ's Bachelor of Science program. I am always keen to hear from our BSc students about your student experience!
• Within SENV I chair an incredible team of colleagues in my capacity as Director of Engagement and Advancement, which manages the relationship between us and our future students, international university partners, alumni, donors, and industry partners.
• I get to support secondary teachers in Queensland train our next generation of scientists! I deliver professional development workshops to senior science teachers, science technicians, and teacher librarians. Together, we have built a strong community of best practice in teaching secondary biology in Queensland.
• I lead an award-winning team (informally known as the 'G-Unit') that engages with high schools in Queensland and key international university partners, and this includes the development and delivery of bespoke learning immersions (including study tours), future student recruitment, and science communication.
• The research I currently do spans the secondary to tertiary education transition space and I am interested in characterising and developing best practice in teaching in secondary and university biology classrooms. My secondary area of interest is in university education business development.
• I still get to indulge in my love for the weird and whimsical natural world. I completed my PhD in 2017 on insect-plant interactions and still dabble in behavioural ecology research: understanding the intricate relationships between plants and their insect partners enable us to learn more about the ecosystem services they provide.

Victor Anggono received his PhD in 2007 from the University of Sydney and undertook his postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. In 2012, Dr Anggono returned to Australia as an NHMRC CJ Martin Research Fellow and joined the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland, where he is currently a Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader at the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research. His research aims to understand the molecular mechanisms of synaptic vesicle and glutamate receptor trafficking in neurons, processes that are essential for synaptic transmission, plasticity, learning and memory, and how their dysregulations impact on the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr Anggono has published in journals such as Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Journal of Neuroscience and Cell Reports, and has attracted more than 1500 citations. For his works, Dr Anggono was awarded the Boomerang Award (Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2011), the Young Scientist Award (Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists, 2015), the Science to Art Award (NHMRC, 2015) and more recently the Young Investigator Award (Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry, 2016).

Associate Professor Anthony Angwin is a speech pathologist conducting research on word learning and neurogenic communication disorders. In particular, his research interests are focussed upon the use of psycholinguistic and neuroimaging methodologies to investigate language processing and word learning in both healthy adults as well as people with Parkinson's disease, stroke and dementia.

Dr. Pratheep Annamalai is a polymer and nanomaterials scientist with a keen interest in engineering materials for sustainable living. He is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences. He has extensive expertise in both translational and fundamental research using nanotechnological tools towards sustainability. Currently, he is interested in alternative proteins and valorisation of agricultural crops and food waste into reactive, building blocks for improving the performance and utility of bioproducts. Thematically, his research focuses on

• Food Processing (plant-based food products)
• Bioproducts (from agri-food waste)
• Sustainable building blocks (for advanced materials).

Before joining UQ, Pratheep studied Chemistry in University of Madras, received PhD in Chemistry from University of Pune (India), then went on to work as a postdoctoral researcher on hydrophobic membranes at the Université Montpellier II (France), and on ‘stimuli-responsive smart materials’ at the Adolphe Merkle Institute - Université de Fribourg (Switzerland).

Upon being instrumental in the discovery of ‘spinifex nanofibre nanotechnology’ and establishing Australia’s first nanocellulose pilot-plant, he has been awarded UQ Excellence awards for leadership and industry partnerships for 2019. Recognising his contribution to the nanomaterials, polymer nanocomposites, polymer degradation and stabilisation regionally and globally, he has been invited to serve as a committee member for ISO/TC229-WG2 for characterisation of nanomaterials (2016), a mentor in TAPPI mentoring program (2018), guest/academic editor for various journals (Fibres, Int. J Polymer Science, PLOS One). He has served as a member of the UQ-LNR ethics committee for reviewing the applications (2017-) and a member of the AIBN-ECR committee in 2014.

Associate Professor Annika Antonsson is a virologist with epidemiological training. Viruses can cause cancer, and Annika’s research has been focused on human papillomavirus (HPV) and its role in different types of cancer. HPV is the virus that causes cervical cancer.

Her current main research areas are oral HPV infections in the general population and HPV in mouth and throat cancer (mucosal squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck; HNSCC).

Some cancers of the mouth and throat are increasing and some of this increase is caused by HPV infection. HPV is a sexually transmitted infection and changing sexual behaviour is believed to have caused the increase in HPV-positive tumours of the mouth and throat. Annika is investigating how often HPV in found in HNSCCs and if there are any lifestyle factors linked with having HPV or not to have HPV in tumours.

It is not known how common the potentially cancer-causing viruses are in the mouth of the general population, and this is another area of research Annika is looking into. She has also worked on HPV in skin (normal skin and cancer), infections in breast carcinogenesis, HPV in oesophageal cancer and polyomaviruses in normal skin and skin cancer.

Emma Antrobus is a senior lecturer in criminology the School of Social Science. Emma has a background in social psychology and has interests in the legitimacy of social agencies and youth involvement in the criminal justice system. Her recent research focuses on randomized controlled trials examining the impact of police behaviour and legitimacy, and interventions for young people at risk.

Dr Lauren Aoude is a research leader at the University of Queensland (UQ) Frazer Institute. Her research program explores barriers to precision oncology, and establishes more accurate prognostics to enhance therapeutic options for oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) and melanoma patients. Her research integrates genomic sequencing data with clinical, pathological and imaging information. Recent work includes the establishment of patient-derived organoid models to enable a personalised medicine approach.

During her PhD (completed Nov 2014, QIMR Berghofer) she was a key member of international collaborations that significantly enhanced the understanding of melanoma susceptibility in at-risk families. Dr Aoude joined UQ as an NHMRC Early Career Fellow (2016-2021), where she led projects exploring precision medicine for metastatic melanoma and oesophageal cancer. In 2021, she was awarded a UQ Amplify fellowship to pursue research while expanding teaching and mentoring opportunities, including an on-going course co-ordinator role in the Master of Medicine Skin Cancer Program.

In 2025, she was awarded an NHMRC (EL2) Emerging Leader Fellowship. Her program vision is to better inform treatment decisions and improve health outcomes for patients through the integration of genomics into the clinic.

Dr Reza Arab is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the School of Languages and Cultures. His expertise lies in pragmatics, cultural linguistics, and intercultural communication, with a focus on how humour, metaphor, and language practices shape belonging, identity, and interaction across cultural and institutional contexts.

His research spans historical pragmatics, contrastive semantics, and discourse analysis, particularly in national and Indigenous settings. He has led and contributed to projects on humour in prison discourse, media representations, and political communication. Dr Arab also contributes to the English as an International Language (EIL) major at UQ.

I am currently an Honorary Fellow at The University of Queensland and a postdoc at UCLA and Stanford. I am a marine community ecologist and marine spatial planner. My research focuses on understanding the impacts of marine heatwaves on kelp forest ecosystems. I also research the role of marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures for providing climate resilience and designing networks of climate-smart marine protected areas. I support conservation initiatives with NGOs, parks, and fishers, and teach decision tools such as Marxan. My heart remains in my beautiful Costa Brava, Spain (Catalonia), where I do my best to support conservation. I am a naive dreamer, and I know future generations will dive into healthy kelp forests and thriving marine ecosystems.

Associate Professor Argus is the inaugural Director of Southern Queensland Rural Health (SQRH), a Commonwealth funded University Department of Rural Health established in late 2017. Located in Toowoomba and Charleville, the SQRH footprint covers the Darling Downs, South Burnett and South West Queensland regions. SQRHs research program covers five key areas:

1. Rural health workforce development
2. Rural training strategies
3. Research into innovative rural health service delivery models
4. Health issues directly impacting on rural communities
5. Improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health

In 2022, SQRH was awarded $5M over 2 years under the Rural Health Mutlidisciplinary Training Program to establish a rural allied health training hub in St George Queensland and an aged care training hub in Chinchilla, Queensland.

A/Prof Argus is a Board Director with the Australian Rural Health Education Network and the National Rural Health Alliance.