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Dr François-René Bertin (DVM, MS, PhD, dipl.ACVIM (LAIM)) is an equine internist with expertise in clinical endocrinology.

François-René completed a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (University of Nantes, France), an American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) residency in equine internal medicine (Purdue University, USA) and a PhD in physiology (McGill University, Canada). He moved to the School of Veterinary Science at UQ in 2016.

François-René’s research interests lie in the pathophysiology of hyperinsulinaemia-associated laminitis and the disorders of the equine hypothalamo-pituitary adrenocortical axis. Some of his current projects examine the regulators of pancreatic b-cell activity and the mechanisms of pituitary gland senescence. François-René has received awards from the School of Veterinary Science and the Faculty of Science for his contribution to Research and HDR student supervision.

François-René teaches equine internal medicine into the veterinary science and veterinary technology programs and coordinates the Equine Clinical Studies course. He has received Teaching and Learning Faculty Awards.

Dr Cuffe is a systems physiologist focused on understanding the complex changes to maternal physiology that occur during pregnancy and the impact of pregnancy dysfunction of programmed cardiovascular, metabolic and renal disease in offspring. Dr Cuffe has a particular focus on understanding the role of the placenta and its hormones in mediating both maternal and offspring disease. He is most recognised for his research investigating how maternal stress, thyroid dysfunction, hypoxia or altered nutrition affect placental development and program disease in the mother after pregnancy as well as her offspring. Dr Cuffe has an exceptional track record and is excited to take new honours and PhD students into his research laboratory.

Dr Shelley Keating is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) and a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, University of Queensland. With a strong grounding in exercise metabolism and body composition, Dr Keating leads a program of research aimed at changing the way we prioritise, access and deliver lifestyle intervention for people with obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/ metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and type 2 diabetes. Dr Keating holds qualifications in clinical exercise physiology BExSciRehab (Hon-1); MExSpSci (Clinical Exercise Science); PhD (Exercise Physiology) and over 15 years’ experience as an AEP developing, delivering, and disseminating exercise interventions in adults with obesity and related chronic diseases.

Dr. Sherman Leung is the Head of Research Operations at Wesley Research Institute - the research partner of UnitingCare. UnitingCare is the largest private employer in Queensland, encompassing four hospitals (The Wesley Hospital, St. Andrew's War Memorial Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital and St. Stephen's Hospital), as well as significant community-based offerings through Lifeline, Blue Care, Family and Disability Services, and ARRCS.

Dr. Leung is a PhD trained scientist, conducting his research training at Mater Research Institute, The University of Queensland, during which his research was published in highly regarded peer-reviewed journals, including in 'Diabetes', receiving the Cover Image, an 'In This Issue' feature, and shared across the Australian-wide 7 Network news.

He has extensive experience in clinical trials, having worked at Microba Life Sciences, an ASX-listed biotechnology start-up, and Nucleus Network, Australia’s largest early phase clinical trial site having overseen the conduct of several high-profile COVID-19 projects including Nuvaxovid by Novavax that has been granted emergency authorisation in 40 countries including by the TGA, EMEA & FDA.

He contributes his spare time to the greater good through numerous initiatives in the industry including being a Board Director of the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA), Editorial Board for 'Trials' – a BMC journal promoting all aspects of trials including methods, processes and non-significant outcomes for transparency in the field – being a former member of the Metro North Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), and offering regular guest classrooms on clinical trials, informed consent and ethics at The University of Queensland.

Professor David McIntyre trained in Endocrinology in Australia and Belgium. He works clinically as Director of Obstetric Medicine at Mater Health Services and is an Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Medicine (Mater Research). David has published over 250 papers (>25000 citations), primarily in the field of medical complications of pregnancy, with a particular focus on diabetes and obesity. Recent research has examined the effects of diabetes, obesity and hypertension during pregnancy on the health of Mothers and Babies, during pregnancy and with long term follow up. David is a Past Chair of the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society and the International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG). In 2016, David became the first Australian trained clinician to receive the Norbert Freinkel Award for contributions to diabetes in pregnancy from the American Diabetes Association. In 2019 he was awarded the Jørgen Pedersen Lecture for diabetes in pregnancy by DPSG Europe and the Stream Lead Award Lecture for “Diabetes and Women” by the International Diabetes Federation.

Soumyalekshmi Nair has a degree in Veterinary and Animal Sciences (2009) and a Master of Veterinary Science in Animal Biotechnology (2011) from India. She completed her PhD in 2021 from the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Queensland. In her PhD she investigated the role of extracellular vesicles in gestational diabetes mellitus which involves developing extracellular vesicle -based biomarker for the early screening of pregnant women as well as therapeutic targets for the treatment of women with gestational diabetes. She was awarded the Research Training Scholarship from the University of Queensland and received prestigious awards from the Society of Reproductive Investigation and Australian and New Zealand Society for Extracellular Vesicles. Currently she is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Exosome Biology Lab, UQ Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR). Her research interest is understanding the molecular mechanism by which extracellular vesicles can regulate the key signalling pathways in diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and ovarian cancer, with a focus on translating this knowledge into clinical utility. She has several key publications in the field including research articles and reviews and presented at major national and international conferences. She is passionate about supporting women in science and enhancing community engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Prof Katharina Ronacher obtained an MSc degree in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Vienna (Austria). Thereafter, she was awarded a prestigious fellowship from the Austrian Ministry of Science and Technology to complete a PhD at the University of Cape Town (South Africa). She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Stellenbosch University, where she was subsequently offered a faculty position. Prof Ronacher was Senior Scientist on several large clinical research trials funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Union and the US National Institutes of Health with focus on identification of biomarkers for tuberculosis (TB) treatment response. In parallel, she established her independent research group investigating how endocrine factors impact immune responses to TB, for which she received uninterrupted funding from national and international funding bodies since 2008. In 2015, she was awarded a NIH R01 grant for her ground-breaking research into the underlying immunological and metabolic mechanisms of increased susceptibility of diabetes patients to TB. With this grant she has lead the international ALERT Consortium with clinical field sites in South Africa and at the Texas/Mexico border.

She relocated to Brisbane in 2017, where she now heads the Infection, Immunity and Metabolism group at the Mater Research Institute – University of Queensland, but continues to collaborate with clinicians and researchers in South Africa, the USA and Europe and holds an affiliate appointment as Professor Extraordinary at Stellenbosch University.

Prof Ronacher's current research investigates the underlying immunological mechanisms contributing to more severe bacterial and viral respiratory infections in obesity and diabetes. Her research provides critical insights into the role of cholesterol and its derivatives in regulation of inflammation in the lung and how this knowledge can be exploided for novel therapeutic approaches to treat respiratory infections.

MS has 35 years clinical research experience in pathogenesis and management of hypertension (HT), including endocrine varieties such as primary aldosteronism (PA). Working within the Greenslopes Hospital Hypertension Unit (GHHU), he helped demonstrate that PA is 10 times more common than previously thought and to account for approximately 10% of HT, making it the commonest specifically treatable, potentially curable variety, and in the description of a new familial form (FH-II) which recently led to the elucidation of its genetic basis (a gain of function mutation in CLCN2, published in Nature Genetics). The combined GHHU/Princess Alexandra Hospital HT Unit (PAHHU, which MS set up in 2000) has possibly the largest series (>2500) worldwide of patients with PA who have been thoroughly documented and meticulously studied, helping MS to become internationally recognized as an authority on pathogenesis/genetics, diagnostic workup and management of PA. In 2006, MS served as member of an international Task Force sponsored by the US Endocrine Society to develop the first guideline for diagnosis and management of PA (published in J Clin Endocrinol Metab and cited >1200 times with an update published in 2016 and cited >1900 times). He is currently Co-Chair of the working group for the third guideline. MS conceived, developed and validated the seated saline suppression test which has since become the favoured method for definitively confirming the diagnosis of PA in most Australian and in a rapidly growing number of overseas institutions. He has also made major contributions to the understanding of how various physiological and pharmacological factors affect the aldosterone/renin ratio as a screening test for PA and in optimizing approaches to adrenal venous sampling, the most reliable method of differentiating unilateral (surgically curable) from bilateral varieties.

Publications: MS has published 1 book, 20 textbook chapters and >250 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. His journal publications have been cited >14,000 times ("h" index 59).

Grant Support: Since 2019, MS has received ~$16 million in research grant support. He is currently a CI on two MRFF grants and an NHMRC CCRE.

Invited Presentations and Collaboration: MS has been invited to speak at major meetings 137 times (99 international) and has collaborated with researchers in >20 international Units and all Australian states. In 2018, was one of six investigators awarded a highly prestigious Leducq Foundation Transatlantic Networks of Excellence Program grant ($USD 6 million) to study the role of potassium in hypertension.

Committee Highlights: MS is past President of the Asian-Pacific Society of Hypertension and of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia. During his time as HBPRCA President, initiatives that were introduced under his presidency included launching of a successful bid for 24h ABPM to be assigned an item number to enable a Medicare rebate of ABPM services. He was a Member of the NHF BP & Vascular Disease Advisory Committee 1998-2013.

Community Engagement: As President since 1995 of the Queensland Hypertension Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting self-care in the management of hypertension, MS has overseen all of its activities, including bimonthly educational sessions and preparation of educational material for the general community and health professionals. On numerous occasions, MS has provided information to the community on issues related to hypertension by media interview.

Peer Review: Previously serving on Editorial Boards for of J Clin Endocrinol Metab, J Hypertens, Clin Exper Pharmacol Physiol, and Nephology, MS is currently Editor-in-Chief of J Hum Hypertens and a member of the Editorial Board for Hypertension. He has assessed 100’s of manuscripts for major international journals and served as grant application assessor on many occasions for major international and national funding bodies (including the NHMRC).

Other Awards and Honours: (1) John W.H. Tyrer Prize for Research in Internal Medicine, (2) Robert Vandongen Memorial Lecturer (University of WA), 2002, (3) Honorary Professor to the Xinjiang Institute of Hypertension, 2005, (4) Visiting Professor to the Tung Wah Eastern Hospital, Hong Kong, 2008, (5) Gaston Bauer Lecturer, Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, 2012, (5) Nimmo Visitor, Royal Adelaide Hospital, 2015, (6) Paul Korner Award, Hypertension Australia, 2024.

Professor Clair Sullivan is an internationally-recognised leading practising and academic clinical informatician who helps drive digital health transformation in Queensland and globally.

Clair is the Director of the new Queensland Digital Health Centre within the Centre for Health Research at The University of Queensland.

A specialist endocrinologist, Clair graduated with Honours in Medicine from The University of Queensland and earned a Research Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Leeds. In 2014, Clair began a parallel career in the emerging field of digital health and has held significant leadership roles in digital health practice and governance across government and academia. Her work is regularly translated into practice and informs policy in Australia and globally.

Clair was appointed Associate Professor of Medicine in Clinical Informatics at UQ and is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology and an Adjunct Professor, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

She is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australian College of Health Informatics and the Australasian Institute of Digital Health.

Clair serves on several national advisory boards for digital health. She is the recipient of several awards including the 2021 Premier’s Award for Excellence for her team’s work on the digital response to COVID-19 and the 2022 Telstra Brilliant Connected Women in Digital Health Award.

She has generated over $30M in grant funding and has deep collaborations with government and industry. She is ranked in the top 1% of Medical Informatics researchers globally.