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I am a medicinal chemist and postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Queensland, Australia, where I obtained my BSc (Hons) with a major in organic chemistry in 2011. Following this, I worked at the Institute for Future Environments and later the Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities at QUT, where I gained experience in analytical chemistry, as well as molecular biology and genetics. In 2015, I returned to UQ to begin my PhD in the design and synthesis of novel antifungals targeting invasive infection under the supervision of Prof. Craig Williams and Prof. Luke Guddat, which I completed in 2019. Since this time I have worked at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow under the supervision of Prof. Craig Williams, Prof. Avril Robertson, and now Prof. James De Voss. Broadly, my research interests lie in the pursuit of drug design and development campaigns addressing difficult or under-researched clinical concerns, and in particular, the use of novel bioisosteric approaches to improve drugability and drug efficacy.

More recently, I have developed an interest in Australian mushroom species. Very little recorded knowledge on our endemic mushrooms species exists. My research in this space seeks to characterise the genetic and molecular features of Australian wood rot mushrooms, which are critical players in maintaining and restoring the health of our unique forests ecosystems. With this information we aim to better understand our fungal biodiversity and the ecological roles they play, and to explore their potential as a platform for the identification of new drug molecules.

Dr Marlize Bekker is a Senior Lecturer in Food Chemistry at The University of Queensland’s School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability. She has a PhD in Chemistry and has over 15 years of experience in flavour and aroma chemistry in food and beverage products. Her research interests include fermented food and beverages. Specifically, evaluating the formation, fate, and function of key aroma and flavour compounds in these food and beverage products and examining the impacts of processing on flavour. Marlize is also interested in the isolation and identification of important flavour and aroma compounds from natural Australian bush foods and the development of new products. Her expertise lies heavily in the application of chromatographic techniques.

Coursework Masters research projects are available on all active projects. Please register your interest by emailing m.bekker@uq.edu.au

Active projects:

• A Deadly Solution: Combining Traditional Knowledge and Western Science for an Indigenous-led Bushfood Industry (ARC Discovery-Indigenous)
• Maximising flavour throughout the vanilla production process (Faculty of Science BIRRST Partner 2024 funding scheme)
• Exploring the Flavour Potential of Australian Cocoa (Faculty of Science BIRRST Partner 2024 funding scheme)
• Unlocking Nature's Signals: Discovering the Semiochemicals for Effective Management of Australian Native Sugarcane Soldier Fly(Sugar Research Australia’s 2024 Sugar Industry Research Award Round)
• Optimising Cold Brew Tea Extraction and Concentration Processes (FaBA Industry Kickstarter)

Recently completed projects:

• Identifying heirloom sugarcane varieties with high sugar and unique flavour profiles (UQ’s Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (AFIA) Industry Kickstarter Grant program)
• Identifying the desirable flavour, aroma, and sensory profiles of novel Australian native lime hybrids (UQ’s Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (AFIA) Industry Kickstarter Grant program)

Roland De Marco is an internationally recognized leader in the field of electrochemical sensors. His major strength is in the field of electrochemical surface and interface analysis, and he has a strong track record of using state-of-the-art electrochemical and surface analytical techniques in the micro- and nano-characterization of electrochemical devices. He has been recognized for his national and international leadership in neutron and synchrotron science through his past appointments on the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) Ltd. Board as well as member of the Australian Synchrotron Stakeholders Committee.

ResearcherID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/F-7213-2011; ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1357-3727; Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI); Member of the American Chemical Society (MACS); Fellow of the Queensland Academy and Arts and Science (FQAAS); Member of the European Academy of Sciences (MEUAS).

Dr Thomas Hay is a food scientist and flavour chemist specialising in metabolomics and food materials analysis. His research explores bioactive compounds, pigments, and functional ingredients from foods as natural alternatives to food additives for colour, texture, and flavour.

Thomas is strongly interested in developing innovative alternative food formulations that enhance sustainability and support positive health outcomes.

Senior Research Fellow

Room 7048, Level 7, Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence Phone:+61 7 334-61898; Fax: +61 7 334-61999 Email: a.hewavitharana@pharmacy.uq.edu.au

Amitha obtained her B.Sc. from the University of Colombo (Sri Lanka), M.Sc. from the university of Victoria (B.C., Canada) and PhD in analytical chemistry from the University of Alberta (Canada). Following that, she held brief research positions at the Massey University (New Zealand) and NZ Leather Research Institute. She then held a research scientist position at the NZ Dairy Research Institute (NZDRI, currently Fonterra Research) for 4 years before moving to Australia in 1997.

In Australia, she commenced her career as a lecturer in analytical chemistry at the University of Western Sydney, and then at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) until 2001. Following that, she held research positions in CSIRO (food science) and in QHSS (investigative chemistry) before joining the school of pharmacy in 2004.

Nature-based rehabilitation science and technology, with a focus on ecological engineering of mine wastes (e.g., AMD-waste rocks, tailings (coal tailings, magnetite tailings, bauxite residues (or red mud), Cu/Pb-Zn tailings)) into earth materials (e.g., soil, engineered rocks) and resilient landforms for cost-effective sustainable rehabilitation at mine waste landscapes.

Professor Huang is a full professor and the group leader of Ecological Engineering in Mining, in the Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland. Since 2010, Prof Huang has pioneered new concepts and technological framework to manage and rehabilitate mine wastes (e.g., tailings, acidic and metalliferous waste rocks), through putting pedogenesis in engineering nutshell, i.e., eco-engineering of pedogenesis in mine wastes. He is leading an industry-enaged and interdisciplinary research group that is partnered with leading mining companies and empowered by multidisciplinary knowledge and skills on: environmental molecular microbiology, environmental mineralogy, soil science, native plant rhizosphere (micro)biology, soil-plant relations, and bio-chemical engineering of environmental materials (e.g., functional carbon and mineral absorbents, environmental geopolymers).

He is highly experienced in industry-partnered research and translation of knowledge into field-based technologies for tackling large environmental challenges in the mining industry, for example, technologies for tackling global tailings problem. Since 2010, he has led many large and industry-partnered research projects attracting about $21M funding. The research aims to deliver transformative knowledge and practices (i.e., technologies/methdologies) in the rehabilitation of mine wastes (e.g., tailings, mineral residues, spoils, waste rocks) and mined landscapes for non-polluting and ecologically and financially sustainable outcomes. Prof Huang has successfully demonstrated innovative methodology and technology to achieve nature-based outcomes in treating and rehabilitating tailings and waste rocks. Prof Huang’s research program was featured in Rio Tinto’s media releases as one of the four most successful global R&D partnerships in 2024. Prof Huang led the development of the first field-feasible technology to treat and dealkalize alkaline bauxite residues for sustainable rehabilitation. His industry-partnered research was recognised in 2019 UQ’s Partners in Research Excellence Award (Resilient Environments) (Rio Tinto and QAL). Prof Huang is also developing new knowledge and technologies for achieving non-polluting and ecologically sustainable rehabilitation of, for example, coal mine spoils and tailings, Fe-ore tailings, bauxite tailings (from mining bauxite), and Cu/Pb-Zn tailings.

Membership of Board, Committee and Society

Professional associations and societies

2010 – Present Australian Soil Science Society.

2023 – Present AuSIMM

2015 – Present American Society of Mining and Reclamation (ASMR)

Editorial boards/services

2025 - present: Member of Editorial Board, Energy & Environment Nexus

2022 – present: Associate editor (Soil), Reclamation Sciences

Awards & Patent

2019 UQ’s Partners in Research Excellence Award (Resilient Environments) (Rio Tinto and QAL)

2017 SMI-Industry Engagement Award, University of Queensland

2015 SMI-Inaugural Bright Research Ideas Forum Award, University of Queensland

2014 SMI-RHD Supervision Award, University of Queensland

2015 Foliar fertilizer US 20150266786. In. (Google Patents). Huang L, Nguyen AV, Rudolph V, Xu G (equal contribution)

Dr Natasha Hungerford is an organic chemist and has extensive experience in natural products chemistry. She is a Senior Research Fellow leading the Natural Toxin group within the Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agricultural and Food Innovation (QAAFI) and is based at the Health and Food Sciences Precinct (Cooper's Plains). She joined QAAFI in 2016 and specialises in natural plant toxins and their impacts on livestock and human health, including food safety and regulations. Collaborative projects with government/industry have spanned mitigation of toxin impacts on cattle, to evaluation of toxins in honey (and health impacts). Subsequent examinations of stingless bee honey serendipitously led to the ground-breaking discovery of the rare sugar trehalulose as a major component of these honeys. Dr Hungerford continues to lead and manage projects to address agricultural industry challenges, including reducing methane gas emissions for a carbon neutral beef industry and international stingless bee honey development.

Dr Hungerford achieved her PhD in 1998, through the UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research in natural products chemistry and in synthetic organic chemistry, at the University of Oxford, Australian National University, The University of Sydney, Griffith University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr Kevin M. Koo is currently a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Fellow and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) Future Leader Fellow at The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR). Dr Koo was awarded his PhD (Dean’s Award for Outstanding Thesis) from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering & Nanotechnology (AIBN), UQ in 2018. His PhD research was on the molecular analysis of nucleic acid biomarkers in prostate cancer liquid biopsies (with a particular interest in fusion genes), and the development of associated nanotechnology-based biosensors to facilitate precision cancer treatment.

Post-PhD, he begun a productive postdoctoral career with dual industry/academia appointments: as the Head of Assay Development/Lab Director in XING Technologies Pty Ltd (a Brisbane-based biotech start-up) to undertake product development projects for commercialization of disease in vitro diagnostics, and as an Honorary Fellow/Principal Research Scientist at UQCCR to continue his academic research in precision cancer nanodiagnostics. His research skills and experiences are honed through dedicated career time spent in both academic research and regulated industry environments.

Dr Koo's research encompasses multi-disciplinary fields of molecular biomarker and nanobiosensor development, translation, and commercialization for precision disease management applications. Presently, he is working on the design and development of integrated multi-bioanalyte sensing technologies to resolve the various challenges around holistic disease pathway understanding and clinical biomarker profiling.

Dr Koo's research endeavours have been recognized by a Metrohm Australia-New Zealand Young Chemist Award (2018), Springer Thesis Award (2019) and Queensland Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2023).

Junxian Lim is an accomplished molecular biologist at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. With a strong background in cell biology, protein biochemistry, and pharmacology, he has established himself in the field. Collaborating with researchers at universities, institutions, as well as international industry partners like AstraZeneca and Sosei Heptares, he has contributed significantly to advancing scientific knowledge.

Throughout his doctoral studies, Junxian authored seven ground-breaking studies focused on the development of novel bioactive inhibitors targeting immune cells and inflammatory diseases. These contributions have paved the way for innovative approaches to drug development. Utilizing his expertise, he has successfully developed and characterized a diverse range of protein and cellular assays that enable in-depth investigations into immunity and inflammation. His research findings have been published in prestigious scientific journals, including Nature Communications, Cell Reports, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Diabetes, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and the British Journal of Pharmacology. His work has been highly cited, reflecting its impact and significance within the scientific community.

Recognized for his outstanding mentoring abilities, Junxian has supervised or co-supervised the research of two completed PhD students, six completed MPhil students, and three completed Honours students. The success of his former students is a testament to his dedication and guidance. They continue to excel and actively contribute to research endeavours around the world, spanning countries such as Australia, Singapore, Korea, India, Japan, and China.

Beyond his research and mentoring achievements, Junxian actively participates in the scientific community. He serves on the editorial boards of esteemed journals like Journal of Translational Medicine, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences and Biology. This involvement allows him to stay at the forefront of scientific advancements and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge within his field.

Professor Mobli is a structural biologist and a group leader at the University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN). He is well known internationally for his contributions to the basic theory of multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance and its applications to resolving the molecular structure of peptides and proteins, as well as studying their physiochemical properties and function. Mehdi's contributions to the field has been recognised by being appointed an Executive Editor of the AMPERE society's journal "Magnetic Resonance", and to the advisory board of the international Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank (BMRB) as well as serving on the board of directors of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Magnetic Resonance (ANZMAG). He is a former ARC Future Fellow and recipient of the ASBMB MERCK medal, the Australia Peptide Society's Tregear Award, the ANZMAG Sir Paul Callaghan medal and the Lorne Proteins Young Investigator Award (now Robin Anders Award).

Prof. Mobli's research group focuses on characterising the structure and function of receptors involved in neuronal signalling, with a particular focus on developing new approaches for the discovery and characterisation of modulators of these receptors through innovations in bioinformatics, biochemistry and and biophysics. This work has led to publication of more than 100 research articles attracting over 6,000 citations.

Jochen’s research focusses on monitoring of trace organic pollutants, including pioneering work on sources, fate, monitoring techniques (including development of passive sampling techniques) and trends in human exposure to trace contaminants. More recently his group has been leading research in the field of wastewater epidemiology.

Jochen joined QAEHS in 1997 and was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship in 2012 to understand changes in chemical exposure through integrative sampling and systematic archiving. As part of his research program at QAEHS he has lead numerous national and international studies, such as Australia's National Dioxin Program, the Brominated Flame Retardant Program and a major study to investigate bush-fire emissions (the results of which are included in the UNEP Toolkit). He works closely with governments (state, federal and international including UNEP) on the development of systematic monitoring strategies, including for protection of the Great Barrier Reef. As part of his Future Fellowship, he has established an extensive sample archive, the Australian Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB), to allow retrospective analysis of changes in pollutant exposure in Australia.

Jochen’s work on passive samplers, bioanalytical techniques for emerging chemicals and wastewater epidemiology has received support from ARC and numerous industry partners.

Doctor Jake O’Brien is Senior Research Fellow and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS). His main field of interest is in wastewater-based epidemiology, but he also has interest in developing analytical methods for chemicals of emerging concern within biological and environmental samples. Doctor O'Brien is a strong advocate for collaborative research having co-authored with more than 300 collaborators worldwide on over 160 publications. Jake is strongly supportive of early career researcher development and is currently the chair of the EMCR@UQ Committee. He is also a Chief Investigator of the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program since its establishment in 2016.

Cassandra is a Senior Research Fellow at QAEHS, joining the group in 2019. She completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham in 2014 where her research focussed on determining how humans are exposed to flame retardants from their indoor environments. Following her PhD she completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Environment and Climate Change Canada where she was the principal researcher for the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampling (GAPS) Network, researching chemicals of concern in the atmosphere. Following her Postdoctoral Fellowship she worked for the Oil Sands Monitoring Program in Canada, assisting with facilitating a multi-stakeholder funding program for assessing environmental impact of Oil Sands operations, before returning to Australia in 2019.

At QAEHS she is the project lead investigating human exposure to microplastics and developing new methods for detecting micro and nanoplastics in human matrices. Her other research interests include the impact of tyre road wear particles and the chemical additives they contain on urban water ways, and developing novel biomonitoring methods for assessing human exposure to chemicals of concern (e.g. silicone wristbands and breast implants).

Dr Narottam Saha is specialized in the area of environmental analytical chemistry and geochemistry, with Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology, a second Masters Degree (Distinction) in Environmental Sciences ( University of East Anglia, UEA, UK), and PhD in geochemistry (The University of Queensland). In his Masters study, Saha received a commonwealth scholarship, one of the most prestigious international scholarship schemes, for Master Degree in Environmental Sciences, with special emphasis on Clumped Isotope geochemistry and climate science. In 2014, Saha received Australia’s federal government scholarship (IPRS) for undertaking his PhD degree. Saha’s research achievements were well recognised with awards of Stanley Gray Fellowship from Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST, UK) for coral reef research and National Science and Information & Communication Technology (NSICT) Fellowship (2010) from Government of Bangladesh for heavy metal pollution research.

His multidisciplinary research experiences include biogeochemistry of heavy metals, assessment of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks for the population exposed to heavy metals, clumped isotopes geochemistry in recovering palaeo-climate history and developing trace element proxies in coral carbonate skeleton to trace historical gradients of inshore coastal water quality. His PhD research highlights the potential of self-referencing rare earth elements over traditional trace elemental proxies for reconstructing marine water quality, degradation of which is considered as one of the major threats in declining the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) coral community. He has been the first to have discovered a noble V/Ca proxy, which is decoupled from other commonly used runoff proxies, for monitoring historical catchment clearing and firing in coastal areas. His discovery has direct relevance to environmental protection for reefs in the GBR through promoting better land management with improved water quality.

Dr Viviene Santiago is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Natural Toxins group within the Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) and is based at the Health and Food Sciences Precinct (Coopers Plains). With a robust foundation in organic and analytical chemistry, her research primarily focuses on natural products chemistry from terrestrial, marine, and microbial sources.

Dr Santiago joined QAAFI as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in 2023. Her current research involves developing a delivery system for bioactive compounds aimed at reducing enteric methane emissions in cattle and exploring atypical sugars in novel foods such as stingless bee honey. Over the years, she has cultivated a keen interest in utilising liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and molecular networking techniques to investigate chemical diversity from different sources such as natural toxins in certain plants and atypical sugars in stingless bee honey.

Dr Santiago earned her Ph.D. from The University of Queensland, where her dissertation focused on applying advanced molecular networking techniques, such as the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS), to explore the chemical diversity of Australian microbes. Her academic journey also includes a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of the Philippines – Diliman. These academic experiences have equipped her with a comprehensive understanding of natural products chemistry, enabling her to make significant contributions to both academia and industry.

Nick Shaw was appointed to the School as Professor in January 2004 and undertook the role of Head of School of Pharmacy at UQ from 1st July 2004 until 31st December 2014. Nick is a pharmacist, graduating PhD from the University of Manchester in 1985 and was a member of the academic staff of the University of Nottingham from 1985-2003. He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1994 and a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in 2010. He previously founded and chaired the Council of Pharmacy Schools (Australia and New Zealand); he was the chair of the APC Accreditation Committee from 2015 to 2025 and was the chair of the Australian Pharmacy Liaison Forum in 2011. He has taught across a range of subjects to the second and third years of the BPharm (Hons) course at UQ. Nick has supervised and co-supervised over 45 PhD and research Masters students.

In 2013 Nick was awarded the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Bowl of Hygeia for services to the profession.