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Key research areas: Intellectual and developmental disability; Inclusive mathematics education; Down syndrome; Mathematics learning difficulties; Quality of life.

Dr Rhonda Faragher AO is a Professor in Inclusive Education. She has internationally recognised expertise in the mathematics education of learners with Down syndrome. In her research and teaching, she works to improve the educational outcomes of students who have difficulties learning mathematics, for whatever reason, including through educational disadvantage. Beyond mathematics education, she has expertise in inclusive education in a range of contexts, including secondary classrooms.

Dr Faragher is the Director of the Down Syndrome Research Program within the School of Education. She is an appointed Board member to the Academy on Education, Teaching and Research of IASSIDD - the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Chair of the Down syndrome Special Interest Research Group of IASSIDD, Vice-President of Down Syndrome International and an Independent Director of Down Syndrome Australia. She is Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities.

Dr Faragher is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of IASSIDD and has received a number of awards for her work including the 2020 UQ Award for Excellence in Community, Diversity and Inclusion, the 2016 ACU Vice-Chancellor's Medal for Staff Excellence, a Commonwealth of Australia Endeavour Executive Award and the 2011 Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia Research Award. In 2023, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Recent books / chapters

Faragher, R. (2023). A practical guide to educating learners with Down syndrome. Supporting lifelong learning. Routledge.

Faragher, R. M. (2023). Individual student characteristics, abilities and personal qualities and the teacher’s role in improving mathematics learning outcomes. In A. Manizade, N. Buchholtz, & K. Beswick (Eds.), The evolution of research on teaching mathematics. International perspectives in the digital era. (pp. 227-253). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-31193-2

Faragher, R., Robertson, P., & Bird, G. (2020). International guidelines for the education of learners with Down syndrome. DSi.

Siemon, D., Warren, E., Beswick, K., Faragher, R., Miller, J., Horne, M., Jazby, D., & Breed, M. (2020). Teaching mathematics: foundations to middle years. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press.

Brown, R. I., & Faragher, R. (Eds.). (2018). Quality of life and intellectual disability. Knowledge application to other social and educational challenges. (Revised ed.). Nova.

Recent articles

Faragher, R., & Lloyd, J. (Early View). Continuing conceptualising QOL through application to the lives of young adults with Down syndrome. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12479

Vassos, M., Faragher, R., Nankervis, K., Breedt, R., Boyle, F., Smith, S., & Kelly, J. (2023). The ethical, legal, and social implications of genomics and disability: Findings from a scoping review and their humanrights implications. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-023-00362-1

Yanes, T., Vaishnavi, N., Wallingford, C., Faragher, R., Nankervis, K., Jacobs, C., Vassos, M., Boyle, F., Carroll, A., Smith, S., & McInerney-Leo, A. (2023). Australasian genetic counselors’ attitudes toward disability and prenatal testing: Findings from a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 1-12. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.1002/jgc4.1788

Wanjagua, R., Hepburn, S., Faragher, R., John, S. T., Gayathri, K., Gitonga, M., Meshy, C. F., Miranda, L., & Sindano, D. (2022). Key learnings from COVID‐19 to sustain quality of life for families of individuals with IDD. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 19(1), 72–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12415

Faragher, R., Chen, M., Miranda, L., Poon, K., Rumiati, Chang, F., & Chen, H. (2021). Inclusive Education in Asia: Insights From Some Country Case Studies. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 18(1), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12369

Faragher, R.M. & Clarke, B. A. (2020). Inclusive practices in the teaching of mathematics : some findings from research including children with Down syndrome. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 32(1), 121–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-019-00294-x

Faragher, R,M. (2019). The New 'Functional Mathematics' for Learners with Down Syndrome : Numeracy for a Digital World. International Journal of Disability, Development, and Education, 66(2), 206–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2019.1571172

Jad is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Frazer Institute, currently focused on the detailed immune profiling of novel group A Streptococcus vaccines, with a specific interest in dissecting the diverse immune responses generated by StrepA vaccines. His expertise is built upon a PhD in cancer immunotherapy and immunology, where he investigated the role of complement receptors in glioblastoma (GBM) tumour growth. Jad possesses strong technical proficiency in working with murine models and advanced multi-colour flow cytometry (capable of +40 colours). Furthermore, his commitment to education is recognized through a fellowship in the Higher Education Academy.

My research interests are in social and developmental psychology, focusing on connectedness, participation, and the development of gender and social cognition. I was a dancer with the Queensland Ballet before completing my Bachelor of Psychological Science and PhD at the University of Queensland. Hence, I am also interested in the role of The Arts in mental health and well-being for all. My research is primarily conducted within the Social Identity and Groups Network and The Early Cognitive Development Centre.

Dr Scott Farrell BPhty(Hons) PhD FACP is a Research Fellow and physiotherapist at RECOVER Injury Research Centre, The University of Queensland. His research investigates neurological, genetic and inflammatory mechanisms underpinning chronic musculoskeletal pain, with a particular focus on whiplash associated disorder.

Scott’s research methods span statistical genetics and big data analysis, immunohistochemistry, blood markers, imaging and quantitative sensory testing, including collaborations with University of Oxford, University of Adelaide and Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital. Scott has published in leading pain medicine and neurology journals (e.g., Brain, PAIN, J Pain, Spine J) and received >$2 million in research funding. He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists, past Chair of the Qld branch of the Australian Physiotherapy Association Pain National Group, and research affiliate with the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital.

Trish Farry is an Australian certified nurse with specialist qualifications in Emergency & Critical Care and Anaesthesia & Analgesia (VTS - USA). She is a clinical instructor in anaesthesia, and co-coordinates the Bachelor of Veterinary Technology) 3rd year program. Her areas of teaching include small animal anaesthesia and analgesia and clinical practices for undergraduate veterinary and veterinary technology students. Professional positions held by Trish include the Board of Regents for the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM), and President of the Academy of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Techncians (AVECCT).

Christi Favor has been lecturing part-time in philosophy in a range of subjects at both the University of Queensland and the Australian Catholic University. She taught for 12 years in the Applied Ethics and Human Rights program at Queensland University of Technology, responsible for their moral theory stream. She has extensive tertiary teaching experience in critical reasoning and a broad range of areas of moral philosophy, including environmental ethics, distributive justice, political theory, gender equality, bioethics, and professional ethics. She has developed and delivered curriculum programs at QUT and UQ designed to bring the practical relevance of ethics and moral philosophy into the curriculum for undergraduate and post-graduate science students. Christi is also involved in bringing the benefits of moral philosophy to disadvantaged or marginalised groups through the Clemente Australia program. Christi has recently launched a Professional Development offering with Associate Professor Andrew Crowden in the ethical dimensions of research, targeted to those involved in research ethics review, approval and governance processes, including HREC Members, researchers, HDR students, research sponsors and research governance professionals. Recent publications include her entry "Distributive Justice," with Julian Lamont in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2012), and "Expressive Desert and Deserving Compensation," in the collection she co-edited with Gerald Gaus and Julian Lamont, Essays on Philosophy, Politics and Economics with Stanford University Press (2010).

Itia is an optical physicist and neuroscientist recently awarded an ARC DECRA fellowship. She is based at the Queensland Brain Institute in Brisbane. Her research focuses on studying the zebrafish brain using advanced techniques such as whole brain calcium imaging and specialized light shaping devices. Notably, she has pioneered the application of optical tweezers to simulate the zebrafish inner-ear's responses to acceleration and hearing, offering novel insights into sensory processing mechanisms. She has also engineered imaging systems for conducting optogenetic experiments with real-time feedback in zebrafish models. Beyond technique development, Itia explores the noradrenergic system in zebrafish, investigating its pivotal role in modulating sensory functions. Her interdisciplinary approach combines optical physics with neuroscience to advance our understanding of neural circuits and sensory perception mechanisms in zebrafish.

Suzanna received her PhD in Sociology at the University of Washington where she concentrated on comparative perspectives of crime, immigration, and neighborhood action as well as methodology via association with the Centre for Statistics and the Social Sciences. Her recent work centers around three themes that are related to multiple aspects of crime and the justice system. The first theme examines the comparative context of crime and considers how different people perceive crime and criminals particularly in the neighborhood context. The second considers how perceptions of gun regulation by police, dealers, and the community influence debate and enforcement of Australia’s gun laws and consider these consequences across time and space. The third, considers the perceptions of child maltreatment and abuse and it’s consequences for reporting, monitoring, and court outcomes for children and families. Underscoring all three themes are sociological questions of race and ethnic stratification, and how perceptions of crime influence individual actions.

David Fechner is passionate about reducing suffering for all sentient beings and ensuring that present and future generations can enjoy the beauty of our planet. He collaborates with Compass Group, the world’s largest foodservice provider, v2food, Australia’s leading alternative protein manufacturer, and Food Frontier, a leading advocacy body for alternative proteins, to co-design and experimentally test innovative behaviour change interventions that promote sustainable food choices across diverse dining contexts.

Arkady Fedorov was born in Russia and completed his undergraduate studies at the Physics Department of the St. Petersburg State University. He graduated with PhD from the Clarkson University, US in 2005. His research work was primarily on theoretical aspects of quantum information science and decoherence in solid state systems. He was then appointed a postdoctoral fellow KIT, Gemany working on a theory of superconducting quantum circuits in application to quantum computing and quantum optics phenomena. In 2007-2010 he worked in TU Delft, The Netherlands conducting experiments with superconducting flux qubits. Later on he became a research scientist in ETH Zurich to continue research in the area of superconducting quantum devices. Starting January 2013 he is a group leader at The University of Queensland. His group studies quantum phenonomena in systems consisting of superconducting artificial atoms, microwave resonators and mechanical oscillators.

Jasmina is an Australian registered pharmacist with a community and hospital pharmacy background. After the Bosnian War, which interrupted her Literature studies (!990-92) at Sarajevo’s Faculty of Philosophy, she relocated to Australia and completed her BPharm(Hons Class I) in 2000 and a PhD at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2007. She's been teaching in Australian higher education since 2001, at the UQ (2001-2007), Queensland University of Technology (2007-2009), and Griffith University (2009-2015), developing and implementing BPharm and MPharm programs. Jasmina returned to the UQ School of Pharmacy in 2015. She has taught as a community and hospital pharmacist, preceptor, tutor, simulated learning facilitator, and lecturer, creating, teaching, and coordinating 15 undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Current Teaching: Jasmina teaches into the UQ's Pharmacy Program and coordinates two 2-unit courses at the School of Pharmacy: Quality Use of Medicines A1 (PHRM2011) and A2 (PHRM2012). She also teaches into Integrated Biomedical Sciences for Nursing (BIOM2070) at the Faculty of Medicine.

Research: In addition to her commitment to Pharmacy Practice Research, Jasmina is passionate about her Educational Research, her own teaching, and she remains a curious learner. Her research is aligned with the biopsychosocial model and scientific understanding that is informed by different ways of knowing. She uses quantitative and qualitative techniques, the latter enabling deep and flexible understanding of social and cultural aspects not ascertainable through quantitative approaches. Jasmina is committed to meaningful results that enhance how we practise, teach and learn in the contemporary healthcare.

Jasmina's choices are not always and inevitably career driven, and she remains focused on enhancing the professional practice as well as student experiences - e.g. aiming to help students to recognise the process and joy of learning in class and in the workplace, building lifelong learning skills for personal and professional development. She has supervised to completion masters and doctoral students and her teams received competitively funded grants totalling close to AU$3 million from the Department of Health, and other healthcare and higher education bodies.

For a brief overview of Jasmina's research interests - please either see below (if viewing this on the 'UQ Researchers' page), or click 'View researcher profile' in the top left corner of Jasmina's School profile page to view her 'UQ researchers' page.

I am a Lecturer in the TC Beirne School of Law. I teach Trusts and Equity, although I am interested in all areas of private law and private law theory.

My PhD research evaluated the High Court's reliance on the principle of 'coherence' in private law adjudication. Parts of this research have been published in leading journals, such as the Melbourne University Law Review and the University of Toronto Law Journal.