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Dr Will Anderson is a Research Fellow at The University of Queensland, specialising in molecular diagnostics, nanoparticle characterisation, and translational device development. His current work focuses on developing diagnostics for single molecule quantitation and low-cost, accessible technologies for nucleic acid analysis.

Dr Anderson has over 15 years of R&D experience spanning academia and industry, with expertise in:

• Nanopore sensing and nanoparticle analysis

• Nucleic acid extraction and quantification

• Diagnostic device prototyping and point-of-care platforms with a focus on fluorescence-based detection

• Research translation, IP strategy, and regulatory frameworks

Dr Anderson’s work bridges fundamental research and real-world application, with a strong focus on enabling diagnostic innovation through mechatronics, assay development, and collaborative industry engagement.

Perinatal Implementation Scientist & Senior Research Fellow:

I am a full-time perinatal implementation science researcher. Since 2018, I have worked for the not-for profit, Mater Research, conducting research across 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 Senior Research Fellow with the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Stillbirth. As co-lead of the Stillbirth CRE’s national research programs, I provide strategic leadership in implementing stillbirth prevention strategies and advancing consumer engagement in stillbirth research.

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 BIOL1050 Organisms: Interactions & Functions, BIOL2010 Ecology, BIOL2910 Advanced Ecology, BIOL2205 Insect Science, BIOL3238 Insect Structure, Function & Physiology, 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 is a neurochemist/neuronal cell biologist with an established track record in studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, focusing on the regulation of neuronal trafficking at the pre- and post-synaptic compartments. He received his PhD from the University of Sydney in 2007. Supported by an NHMRC CJ Martin and a Human Frontiers Long-term Fellowships, he subsequently conducted postdoctoral training at the Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA). Victor returned to Australia in 2012 and established an independent research laboratory at the Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland in 2014. He is currently an Associate Professor (supported by an ARC Future Fellowship) and leads a team of 10 researchers. Victor has published more than 60 papers in leading journals, including Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications, PNAS, Cell Reports and Journal of Neuroscience. His work has received 7 recommendations from the Faculty Opinions and attracted over 4,900 citations (Google Scholar). Victor was awarded the Boomerang Award (Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2011) and the Young Scientist Award (Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists, 2015) for his research excellence. He has an excellent track record of mentoring, with two of his first postdoctoral fellows being funded by ARC DECRAs. He has supervised 6 PhD and 6 Honours students to completion.

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 Aplin’s research focuses on the home environment in a range of health and social service contexts. This includes home modifications, occupational therapy community practice, home care and housing. Within these practice contexts her research fits within three themes, understanding, application and evaluation. 1) Understanding the experience of home or life at home and how it is impacted by services and social structures. 2) Applying findings to develop practice including assessment, interventions, practice models and training and 3) Evaluating current and developed practices within services.

A key area of research for Dr Aplin is home modification practice. Her PhD sought to understand the experience of home and how this influenced and is impacted by home modifications. Applying these findings, she developed two measurement instruments to inform decision making, and evaluate home modification practice. She has continued research into home modification practice along with other projects exploring the relationships between home and health and evaluating and developing services provided in the home including community OT practice and home care. Additionally, Tammy has research interests in assistive technology, including best practice in their provision.

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 is also the major convenor for English as an International Language (EIL) 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 Geoff Argus is the Director of Rural Health for the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences. He is a nationally recognised leader in rural health with a career spanning over 20 years as a clinician, health leader and academic. A/Prof Argus has served as a Board Director with the Australian Rural Health Education Network and the National Rural Health Alliance.

From 2017 to 2025, A/Prof Argus led the establishment, growth and expansion of Southern Queensland Rural Health (SQRH), a University Department of Rural Health, that operates as a partnership between UQ, the University of Southern Queensland, Darling Downs Health and South West Hospital and Health Service. In 2022, SQRH was awarded $5M 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 holds qualifications in Clinical Psychology and Public Health with research interests in rural health workforce planning and development, rural health education and training strategies, innovative rural health service delivery models and health issues directly impacting rural communities.