Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
Availability:
Available for supervision
Dr Peter Baker is an Honorary Associate Professor at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
From 2021-2023, Peter was an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Health, University of Queensland. For twelve years until the end of 2020, he was a Senior Lecturer in Biostatistics at the School of Public Health and a senior statistical collaborator, advisor and consultant to several research projects in the Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health.
With fourty years experience as a statistical consultant and researcher, Peter has a passion for biometrics in agricultural research and biostatistics applied to public health and medical research. He also champions reproducible research and reporting and to this end has developed R and Make software to aid the workflow of data analysts in any field. As a statistical consultant and collaborator, he has contributed to many agricultural, genetic, public health and medical research projects. His contribution has ranged from advice on standard statistical approaches to the application of novel methods to improve statistical analysis or the development of new statistical methodology to fill a gap in the knowledge.
Peter's current research interests:
efficient statistical computing using R, Make, Git and related software for the workflow of data analysis,
reproducible research and reporting using R, Markdown, Quarto and Sweave,
tailoring R functions and developing bespoke packages for specific statistical analyses, and
applied statistlcal research in novel methods for epidemiological and medial research, including
graphical models for multivariate data in epidemiology,
statistical methods for modelling trajectories of alcohol consumption in youths,
propensity score analysis to adjust for selection bias in observational studies, and
Bayesian methods for epidemiological and medical MCMC studies.
Dr Baker is an Accredited Statistician (ASTAT) with the Statistical Society of Australia (see SSAI_Accreditation)
A/Prof Federica Barzi is a Principal Research Fellow in Biostatistics at the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and within the Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Queensland. She was awarded a PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Sydney University in 2004 and has a BSc degree in Statistics from the University of Padova, Italy.
A/Prof Barzi is an applied Biostatistician with extensive experience on study design and data analysis of randomized clinical trials, very large observational studies and data linkage. She has worked across a variety of specialties including cardiology, nephrology, nutrition, oncology and emergency care. She has been involved in Indigenous Health since 2005 and from April 2014, with her appointment at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, A/Prof Barzi’s contribution to research focuses solely on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. She has co-authored over a hundred and thirty peer reviewed journal articles with colleagues from various institutions and has secured, as a CI, over 24M in research funding since 2006.
Research at the interface between applied statistics and quantitative genetics with extensive publications on the analysis and interpretation of multi-way data from large-scale plant breeding experiments, particularly those involving genotype by environment interaction. Theory and application of pattern analysis - clustering and ordination procedures - appropriate for data collected from plant breeding experiments and/or stored in germplasm databases. Analysis, interpretation and impact of genotype x environment interaction for primary economic plant attributes (yield and quality) and data management, integration and analysis (bioinformatics).
Other Activities:
Past President of the International Biometric Society (2010-11) and the Statistical Society of Australia Incorporated (2005-07). Life member of the Statistical Society of Australia Incorporated (2010). Australian Medal for Agricultural Science from the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (1998).
Previous Head of the School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences (2001-10).
Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Australian Institute of Company Directors, Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology and Institute of Statisticians (which has merged with the Royal Statistical Society).
Member of the Board of Trustees of the International Rice Research Institute (2013-15).
I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Digital Health and Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) interested in the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases, especially obesity, across the lifecourse.
Through research, I aim to add health to life and equity to health by changing policies and practices to reduce the impact of obesity.
My research program aims to forge a new nexus across dietetics, digital health and public health to improve healthy weight. In my Postdoctoral Fellowship, I have established a new evidence base that supports precision public health approaches to the prevention and management of obesity, including innovate methods of public health surveillance that can use data from sources such as electronic medical records. I trained as a Paediatric Dietitian and have experience as a clinician-researcher working in Queensland's healthcare system, specifically in preventing and managing childhood obesity via clinical, community, and public health programs.
I have used epidemiology, public health informatics, action research, co-design, and ethnographic methods to generate new knowledge in obesity and digital health. I was awarded my PhD (UQ) in November 2020, which developed and validated i-PATHWAY, a clinical model to predict childhood obesity from the first 1,000 days to help guide its prevention. This research was the first of its kind in Australia and uncovered new evidence for risk factors for childhood obesity that are evident from the early years.
At The University of Queensland (UQ), I am a member of the Queensland Digital Health Centre, located within the Centre for Health Services Research (Faculty of Medicine). I established and currently Co-Chair the UQ Digital Health HDR Cohort, which provides research mentorship and support to ~20 PhD, MPhil and Honours research students.
Our team partners closely with multiple healthcare and research organisations across Australia to innovate and translate obesity research into practice, including Health and Wellbeing Queensland (public health and prevention of chronic diseases), Queensland Health (healthcare system) and the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (digital health research). I hold an Honorary Appointment with Health and Wellbeing Queensland, and an Affiliate Research Fellow position with the Faculty of Medicine (UQ) to help bridge the gap between obesity research and practice.
Dr. Gary Chan is a NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. His principal research interest lies in the field of substance misuse prevention and the application of cutting-edge statistical method for longitudinal analysis and causal inference. His recent publications have been focused on polysubstance use (including alcohol, tobacco and cannabis) profiles in adolescent populations, examinations of urban-rural differences in substance use, and the epidemiology of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use. He collaborates extensively with leading researchers in major national and international institutes, including the University of Washington, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, University of Melbourne, and University College London. He has also served as a consultant at the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime to improve exisitng methods for monitoring global trends of illicit substance production, trafficking and use. This work has made significant impact on how global data will be collected, and these new data will be used by the United nations and many national governments to inform drug policy decision making. He is a Deputy Statistical and Methodology Editor for the journal Addiction.
Dr. Chan is also a statistical advisor at the School of Psychology, providing statistical advice to academic staff and RHD students. Since 2016, he has also delivered several advanced statistcal workshops at the School on R and statistical modelling.
A/Prof Mark D. Chatfield is a highly experienced statistician and clinical trialist working at the UQ Clinical Trials Centre.
In collaboration with health and medical researchers, he has published >200 times in academic journals. He has been an investigator on 27 NHMRC/MRFF funded (>$50M) studies (mostly clinical trials). He has co-supervised 5 PhD students to completion, and is currently an advisor to 4 PhD students. He has over 20 years of experience as a biostatistician in Australia (Brisbane | Darwin | Sydney) and the UK (Cambridge, 2002-2009).
He plays an active role in the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Statistics in Trials Interest Group.
Stata users around the world enjoy using his table1_mc command.
He is an Honorary Fellow (Associate Professor) with Menzies School of Health Research.
Dr Darsy Darssan is an Accredited Professional Statistician® (PStat®) and a Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA). He obtained three degrees in Statistics at mathematical sciences schools of three different universities: a Bachelor of Science with Honours in 2005 at University of Jaffna, a Master of Applied Science in 2008 at RMIT University and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2014 at Queensland University of Technology.
While doing his two years full time traditional face-to-face master degree, Darsy worked as a part-time Statistician at Australian Council for Educational Research for a year.
Between the two bouts of postgraduate studies, Darsy worked for two years: as a Statistician at the University of New South Wales for a year and another year as an Associate Research Fellow in Applied Statistics at the University of Wollongong.
While doing the highest degree in Statistics Darsy worked as a sessional academic, contributed to teaching introductory statistics to various cohorts of first-year undergraduate students. Upon completion of the doctoral degree, Darsy moved to the University of Liverpool in the UK to do his Postdoctoral research in Biostatistics. Darsy returned home in late 2015 and worked as a Biostatistician at The University of Queensland for three years before taking the current position.
Career Statistician:
As a career statistician, Darsy is interested in developing or extending statistical methodologies to solve problems that arise in real-world data analysis and data collection in Biomedical research.
Service Statistician:
Darsy has experience working as a service statistician. He mainly worked on clinical trials where he was involved in study designs, randomisation, protocols development, statistical analysis plans, final statistical reports. He actively participated in data safety monitoring boards. Darsy provided statistical service to Biologists, Rheumatologists, Ophthalmologists, Nephrologist, Endocrinologist and Health Service Researchers.
Professor Annette Dobson's research interests are in: Biostatistics (generalised linear modelling, clinical biostatistics, statistical methods relevant to longitudinal studies), and Epidemiology (tobacco control, cardiovascular disease, women's health).
Dr Stephane Dufau is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Cognitive neuroscience within the Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland. Stephane is a Senior Research Fellow at Mater Research (Mater Epilepsy Unit Research group). He worked as a Research Engineer at CNRS, France (currently on unpaid leave).
Professor Jason Ferris, is the Director of Research and Statistical Support Services (RASSS), University of Queensland. While providing service primarily to the Faculty of Medicine the service is expanding to support other organisation units. He is also a leading research academic at the Centre for Health Services Research (CHSR) where he is the Program Leader for Global Substance Use and Mental Health (GSUMH) unit. He holds an honorary professorial role at Turning Point, Victoria (2018-) and is also the Chief Data Scientist for the Global Drug Survey (2013-). Since 2019 he has held a ministerial appointment as an Advisory Council Member to the Queensland Mental Health Commission and is an interRAI Fellow (interrai.org).
Since 2020, Professor Jason Ferris, in collaboration with Dr Dom Gorse (Director of QCIF Data Science) and many others across QCIF and UQ, have been working on the development and deployment of UQ KeyPoint - an innovative data infrastructure, data governance and digital solution enabling researchers to access, manage, analyse and share sensitive research data in a scalable, fully governed and highly secure environment. The work has received a number of accolades. In 2023, The University of Queensland recognised the value of KeyPoint winning the Award for Excellence in Innovation. In 2022, the Faculty of Medicine recognised his commitment and leadership to the University awarding him and the team the Innovators of the Year Award. Professor Ferris has received other recognition as well. In 2021, the Faculty of Medicine recognised the outstanding support of RASSS with a Service Excellence Award. In 2020, The University of Queensland recognised his contributions to his research field: he was awarded the Faculty of Medicine Leader of the Future Award (Academic) and The Director's Choice Award for contributions to the Centre for Health Services Research. In 2019, he was awarded The Outstanding Mid-Career Researcher within the Centre for Health Services Research and was also chosen as a finalist for the Faculty of Medicine Leader of the Future Award (Academic). Additionally, across the Faculty of Medicine, his Research and Statistical Support Service, was nominated for a Service Excellence Award (2019 and 2020). In 2015, he received the University of Queensland, Early Career Researcher Award within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science. In September, 2014, he received a Highly Commended Early Career Researcher Award within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science.
He has been involved in a number of key projects: The Queensland Evaluation of the Alcohol Fuelled Violence Policy (QUANTEM), The Overarching Evaluation of the National Support for Child and Youth Mental Health Program (CHYME), the evaluation of ProjectSTOP (a decision-making national database for pharmacists aimed at preventing the use of pseudoephedrine based products as a precursor in the manufacture of methamphetamine), and a national review of the links between random breath testing and alcohol-related road traffic accidents. Jason has over 20 years of social science and public health research experience. He has a well-established publication record with a strong focus on alcohol and drug research and public health. With a Master degree in biostatistics he has well developed and expansive quantitative methods skills and a broad range of experience in many of the facets of both social science and medical research. In 2014 his PhD on alcohol epidemiology was conferred.
Previously, as a senior statistician at the Institute for Social Science Research he developed and taught a number of training models in research methods and statistical analysis as part of the Methods for Social Analysis and Statistics (MFSAS). Since its inception in 2012 he has been course coordinator and trainer for a number of these training modules (see below). From 2016-2018 he was the Director of MFSAS. Between 2016-2017 he was also the ISSR Co-postgraduate Coordinator.
Jerzy Filar is Emeritus Professor of Applied Mathematics. Jerzy is a broadly trained applied mathematician with research interests spanning a spectrum of both theoretical and applied topics in Operations Research, Stochastic Modelling, Optimisation, Game Theory and Environmental Modelling. Professor Filar co-authored, or authored, five books or monographs and approximately 100 refereed research papers. He has a record of research grants/contracts with agencies and research institutes such as NSF, ARC, US EPA, World Resources Institute, DSTO, FRDC and the Sir Keith and Sir Ross Smith Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of Springer’s Environmental Modelling and Assessment and served on editorial boards of several other journals. He has supervised or co-supervised 29 PhD students. Jerzy's Erdos Number is 3.
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
Availability:
Available for supervision
Media expert
Marcus Gallagher is an Associate Professor in the Artificial Intelligence Group in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering. His research interests are in artificial intelligence, including optimisation and machine learning. He is particularly interested in understanding the relationship between algorithm performance and problem structure via benchmarking. My work includes cross-disciplinary collaborations and real-world applications of AI techniques.
Dr Gallagher received his BCompSc and GradDipSc from the University of New England, Australia in 1994 and 1995 respectively, and his PhD in 2000 from the University of Queensland, Australia. He also completed a GradCert (Higher Education) in 2010.
I am a Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Data Science, at School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland. I obtained my BSc degree in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, from Beijing Normal University in 2006. I obtained my MPhil and PhD degrees from City University of Hong Kong in 2008 and 2011 respectively, where I was working as a research fellow from Oct 2011 to Feb 2013. During Feb 2013 -- Aug 2014, I was working as a postdoctoral associate at Department of Statistical Science, Duke University. Before joining UQ in Jan 2022, I worked at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. My research interests cover statistical learning theory (kernel methods, stochastic gradient methods, support vector machine, pairwise learning, online learning, error analysis, sparsity analysis, and the implementation of algorithms), mathematical data science, and their applications to artificial intelligence, immunological bioinformatics, systems biology, and computational social science.
Dr. Anthony Halog: A Pioneer in Sustainable Systems and Circular Economy
Dr. Anthony Halog is a leading authority in sustainable systems engineering and circular economy, with over 22 years of post-PhD experience in academia and research. His work focuses on integrating life cycle assessment (LCA), systems thinking, and industrial ecology to advance global sustainability efforts. Dr. Halog has successfully led numerous research projects in industrial ecology and sustainable supply chain management, contributing significantly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and Planetary Boundaries frameworks.
His prolific career includes over 125 publications that have been widely cited and referenced in policy documents by international bodies such as the United Nations and the European Union. With a strong commitment to mentoring, Dr. Halog has guided numerous PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers, fostering the next generation of sustainability experts. Since completing his PhD, he has examined numerous theses from various universities in Australia, North America, Africa, and Asia. His experience also extends to reviewing several grant proposals for prestigious funding bodies, including the National Science Foundation in the USA and European funding schemes.
Dr. Anthony Halog has received numerous fellowships and awards throughout his career. Notably, he was awarded fellowships from prestigious institutions such as the OECD, DAAD, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). He has held visiting fellowships across the globe, including in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, focusing on areas like Circular Economy, Green Hydrogen Policy, and Life Cycle Assessment. Dr. Halog's accolades also include early career fellowships from NSERC (Canada) and JSPS, along with several international research grants and academic scholarships, reflecting his global recognition in sustainability science and engineering.
Key areas of expertise include circular economy, bioeconomy, LCA, sustainable supply chain management, and the application of operations research and optimization in engineering sustainable systems. Dr. Halog’s interdisciplinary approach and international collaborations have positioned him as a thought leader in transitioning to a low-carbon, circular economy.
Valentin was awarded a PhD from the French National Institute of Higher Education in Agricultural Sciences and the University of Montpellier (France) in 2018. His thesis focused on methodological developments for genetic differentiation analysis in the Next Generation Sequencing era in a neutral and adaptive context. Since 2019, he works as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Queensland in the Program in Complex Trait Genomics group under the supervision of Professor Peter Visscher. His current research focuses on studying the within and between-population genetic variation in human complex traits.
Dr Huang has an Honours degree in Science (Advanced Mathematics) from the University of Sydney, and a PhD (Statistics) from the University of Chicago on a McCormick Fellowship. He previously lectured at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Technology Sydney, before moving to the University of Queensland where he is currently the Statistics Major Convenor and Mathematics Honours Coordinator.
Dirk Kroese's research interests are in: Monte Carlo methods, rare-event simulation, the cross-entropy method, applied probability, and randomised optimisation.
Dirk Kroese is a professor of Mathematics and Statistics at the School of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Queensland. He has held teaching and research positions at The University of Texas at Austin, Princeton University, the University of Twente, the University of Melbourne, and the University of Adelaide. His research interests include Monte Carlo methods, adaptive importance sampling, randomized optimization, and rare-event simulation. He has over 120 peer-reviewed publications, including six monographs:
Rubinstein, R.Y., Kroese, D.P. (2004). The Cross-Entropy Method: A Unified Approach to Combinatorial Optimization, Monte-Carlo Simulation, and Machine Learning, Springer, New York.
Rubinstein, R. Y. , Kroese, D. P. (2007). Simulation and the Monte Carlo Method, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons.
Kroese, D.P., Taimre, T., and Botev, Z.I. (2011). Handbook of Monte Carlo Methods, Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Kroese, D.P. and Chan, J.C.C. (2014). Statistical Modeling and Computation, Springer, New York.
Rubinstein, R. Y. , Kroese, D. P. (2017). Simulation and the Monte Carlo Method, 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons.
Kroese, D.P., Botev, Z.I., Taimre, T and Vaisman, R. (2019) Data Science and Machine Learning: Mathematical and Statistical Methods, Chapman & Hill/CRC.
Kroese, D.P. and Botev, Z.I. (2023). An Advanced Course in Probability and Stochastic Processes, Chapman & Hill/CRC.
Carmen is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. Carmen's research program is centred around the epidemiology of substance use, focusing on youth vaping and illicit substances. Her current project aims to leverage social media data to monitor and address the emerging threat of youth substance use.
Carmen has expertise in a range of statistical methodologies including survey designs, clinical trials, meta-analysis, survival analysis etc. She has published in excess of 95 peer-reviewed publications in the field of addiction and mental health (Google Scholar: >8.4K citations, h-index = 35, 31% output in top 10% citation percentile).
Carmen has qualifications in biostatistics, public health and epidemiology and experiences in teaching and mentoring. She is seeking highly motivated student with backgrounds in public health/psychology/epidemiology/statistics to join her team, focusing on research related to social media and youth vaping.
