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Dr Jon Fanning is a dedicated clinician with 15 years’ experience in clinical medicine including specialist training in Anaesthesia, Intensive care, and Neurology. Passionate about advancing clinical research and advocating for clinician-researchers, Jon balances research leadership, teaching and mentoring alongside his own research and active medical practice. Jon’s career includes a diverse research portfolio with a strong focus on harm minimisation (especially neurological injury) in operative and critical care settings. He has undertaken dedicated training in clinical trials (University of Oxford Clinical Trials Unit, UK), and in epidemiology (Harvard University, USA). In 2022 Jon undertook a Visiting Fulbright Scholarship in Cardiac intensive care and ECMO (Cardiovascular Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA).

To facilitate innovative discovery and advances in the fields of perioperative medicine, clinical trials, and ECMO, Jon invests considerable effort in building research capacity through collaboration with national and international research institutions. Valuing the diverse perspectives of multidisciplinary colleagues at all stages of their career, Jon recruits and supervises senior scientists, clinician-researchers and top PhD and MPhil students and looks to repay the generosity he has received from supervisors and mentors.

Additionally, Jon fosters research networks and ensures research integrity through leadership positions such as current positions as co-chair of the Queensland Cardiovascular Research Network; and as Expert Panel Member and writing committee representative for Therapeutic Guidelines.

Professor Kristen Gibbons is Group Lead of the Children’s Intensive Care Research Program at the Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Co-Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Paediatric Study Group (ANZICS PSG).

Professor Gibbons holds qualifications in mathematics, information technology, biostatistics, and research communication, and completed her PhD in Biostatistics at UQ. Her career has been dedicated to transforming outcomes for critically ill children through the design and delivery of large-scale international clinical trials and the development of innovative digital platforms to support high-quality research.

She has been instrumental in leading landmark studies, including the NITRIC trial, the largest trial ever undertaken in paediatric congenital heart disease surgery. This trial demonstrated no benefit of using nitric oxide during cardiopulmonary bypass, changing clinical practice internationally and influencing guidance from the American Academy of Paediatrics. Alongside this, Professor Gibbons has pioneered a comprehensive clinical trials digital platform now used across more than 20 projects and 10,000 patient records worldwide.

Professor Gibbons’ research spans clinical trial methodologies, epidemiology, machine learning, prediction modelling, and bioethics, with a strong commitment to improving consent practices in paediatric and adult intensive care research. Her leadership has attracted over $22 million in competitive grant funding, including major NHMRC and MRFF awards, and her contributions have been recognised with the UQ Faculty of Medicine Leader of the Future Award (2023) and the Child Health Research Centre Collaborator of the Year Award (2024).

She is also deeply invested in training and mentoring the next generation of clinician-researchers and data scientists, supervising PhD, Masters, and biostatistics students.

Wendy Goodwin is a clinical veterinary anaesthetist and academic at the School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland since 2010. She received her veterinary degree and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland, with her doctoral research focused on 'Studies of Alfaxalone in Horses'. Wendy is a registered specialist veterinary anaesthetist and Fellow of the Australian & New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Critical Care, and additionally holds Membership in Equine Medicine.

Wendy is internationally recognized for her expertise with the anaesthetic molecule alfaxalone in various formulations across multiple species. Her doctoral research established foundational knowledge on alfaxalone use in horses, and she has continued to advance the understanding of this important anaesthetic agent through her ongoing research. This expertise encompasses both traditional and novel alfaxalone formulations, dosing strategies, and applications across species ranging from companion animals to large animals and laboratory species.

Beyond her alfaxalone expertise, Wendy is passionate about veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia, having dedicated the majority of her professional career to pursuing excellence in this field. Her clinical anaesthetic experience has covered a wide range of species including horses, small animal companion animals, farm animals, avian and exotic animals and animals used in scientific research. Her research portfolio spans veterinary anaesthetic safety culture, innovative pain management and total intravenous anaesthesia techniques, critical care, traumatic haemorrhage and injury, and translational large animal models for medical research.

Beyond traditional anaesthetic research, Wendy examines leadership and workplace culture in veterinary practice, investigating how leadership styles impact error disclosure and safety climate. She continues to publish in peer-reviewed journals and present at international conferences, demonstrating her ongoing commitment to advancing veterinary anaesthesia and improving both clinical outcomes and professional wellbeing.

MBChB FRCA FANZCA FFICM PhD

Prof Lipman is Executive Director of the Burns Trauma & Critical Care Research Centre; Professor of Anesthesiology & Critical Care, The University of Queensland and until recently (for 23 years) was Director of Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital; He holds Honorary Professorial appointments at Chinese University of Hong Kong, Unversity of Witwatersrand (South Africa) and Qeensland University of Technology.

He has qualifications in anesthesia and intensive care and has set up and been in charge of a number of Intensive Care and Trauma Units in South Africa before coming to Australia in 1997. he currently manages a large multidisciplinary research team with an output of over 120 peer-reviewed articles per annum. He has supervised dozens of PhD students to completion and is currently supervising 6 PhD, 1 MPhil and 1 MBBS/Hons students. Prof Lipman has been instrumental in developing the anaesthesiology and critical care component of a graduate medical program for Queensland and continues to lecture to medical and postgraduate students.

Prof Lipman is the author of over 550 peer reviewed publications, 30 book chapters and has been invited to deliver over 120 lectures at national and international conferences in many countries across the world. His research interests include all aspects of infection management in intensive care and he has a special interest in the pharmacokinetics of antibiotic dosage, an area in which he received his MD in 2006. His research into antibiotic usage in acute situations has received international recognition and he is regarded as an expert in the field. As such, he and his research team have conducted and presently conduct a number of clinical trials in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Europe and the UK.

Prof Lipman is an Editorial Board member for 10 International Journals, is Section Editor on four Antibiotic related Journals, reviews for 23 journals and is an external reviewer for NHMRC project grants (Local) as well as equivalent for a number overseas countries.

He is Chief Investigator on a 7000 patient International Randomised Controlled Trial comparing bolus dosing versus continuous infusions of meropenem and piperacillin-tazobactam

Dr Jessica Schults is a Queensland Government Clinical Research Fellow and incoming NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow (2026) based at the Herston Infectious Diseases Institute and The University of Queensland. A previous paediatric critical care nurse, Jessica has extensive clinical experience in critical care, with a particular passion for ventilator associated infections. Jessica’s research program aims to reduce the burden of healthcare-associated infections through better hospital surveillance, safer invasive device care, and rapid translation of evidence. She is a Chief Investigator on the IVCare adaptive platform trial, which evaluates strategies to prevent catheter-related bloodstream infections, and leads the NHMRC-funded REBUILD project, which aims to strengthen national infection control systems using a learning health system approach. Jessica has a strong interest in the application of digital technologies, including AI-enabled risk prediction and clinical decision support tools. Jessica has strong, established partnerships with national and international healthcare consumers, organisations, and health services. She holds leadership roles with the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, is a board member for the ANZ Intensive Care Foundation and is a technical advisor to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Jessica is committed to growing the next generation of clinician-researchers, in-particular, in the underrepresented field of nursing.

Dr Smith is an early career academic and Registrar in Intensive Care Medicine at RBWH and Mater Hospitals. Despite being at an early stage in his medical and research career, Sam has already gained valuable experience and enthusiasm in medical education and research, crossing clinical and methodological domains.

Dr Smith gained his primary medical qualification at James Cook University, graduating in 2019 with Honours and awards in research/ Evidence Based Medicine, rural medicine, and surgery. His Honours research, supervised by Professor Jonathan Golledge, focussed on the economic impacts of readmission after surgery for peripheral artery disease (PAD). For this research, he was awarded the Professor Philip Walker Scholarship in Vascular Research, allowing him to present his findings internationally. He has co-authored papers in vascular and cardiothoracic surgery, tropical infectious diseases, and care of critically unwell and trauma patients.

Aside from clinical duties, Sam is also active in teaching, guest lecturing at James Cook University and the University of Queensland, as well as teaching medical students in the clinical setting. In his clinical practice, Sam has developing interests in critical care medicine, vascular access, POCUS and incorporating best evidence into daily practice. His committment to teaching, research and governance led to Dr Smith being awarded the CPMEC QLD Junior Doctor of the Year Award in 2021. Sam is always very keen to share his enthusiasm for all things evidence-based with students or really anyone who will listen.

Qualifications

• MBBS (Hons.)
• MPH&TM
• Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education

Critical Care Medicine focuses on supporting patients, often with one or multiple organ failures. Based at the largest Australian cardiac hospital, our research investigates better ways to support patients with heart and/or lung failure. We explore technological, pharmacological and engineering advances that could help our patients to live longer and better. Our group is world-renowned for clinically relevant large animal models, including heart failure, respiratory failure (ARDS), heart transplantation, sepsis, cardiogenic shock, and more. All our studies use hospital-grade equipment and follow the same clinical guideline to maximise translation. We actively take on honours, MPhil and PhD students from multi-disciplinary backgrounds (science, engineering, medicine, allied health), with a successful track record in supporting our students to secure their own grants and funding. Students are expected to contribute to other studies of the group. For more information about the group, please visit ccrg.org.au, and email if you are interested to join us.