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Dr Jonathan Davies is a chronic pain researcher working to improve how pain is understood, assessed and treated. His research focuses on pain phenotyping, precision pain care, and the psychological, physiological and contextual factors that shape pain and treatment response.

At UQ’s Centre for Innovation in Pain and Health Research, he contributes to DISCERN, an NHMRC Synergy-funded multidisciplinary research program developing and validating new approaches to pain assessment. A major focus of his work is DECIPHER PAIN, a standardised, multimodal tool designed to characterise the relative contributions of nociceptive, neuropathic and nociplastic pain and support more personalised care.

His research integrates clinical assessment, quantitative sensory testing, experimental pain methods, psychophysiology, digital health and population data. He is particularly interested in how physiological signals, behaviour, language, psychosocial context and real-world health data can be combined to better understand individual differences in pain and treatment outcomes.

His broader expertise includes placebo and nocebo effects, mindfulness, mental health, quality of life, health outcome measurement and population health. His work aims to support more precise, scalable and patient-centred approaches to pain research and care.

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.

I am a neuroscientist investigating how cellular signalling and neuron–glia interactions shape brain development, neural circuit function and myelination across the lifespan, and how disruption of these processes contributes to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. My research focuses on neural progenitor cells, oligodendrocyte biology, myelination and neural circuit function, with the broader goal of understanding disease mechanisms and identifying therapeutic targets that can improve the treatment of neurological disorders.

I completed my PhD at the University of Tasmania, investigating ion channel signalling in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and its role in cell survival, neural circuit function and myelination. I subsequently undertook postdoctoral research at The University of Queensland, including at the Queensland Brain Institute, where I investigated neural progenitor function, neuronal migration and cortical development in models of neurodevelopmental disorders. At Mater Research–UQ, my research has focused on oligodendrocyte dysfunction, myelination and cellular signalling in neurological disease, including multiple sclerosis-like pathology.

Across these research programs, I have developed expertise in developmental and cellular neuroscience, neural progenitor biology, neuron–glia interactions, oligodendrocyte biology, myelination and neural circuit function, using molecular and cellular approaches, advanced microscopy, electrophysiology, animal models and behavioural neuroscience. My broader research direction is to understand how dysfunction across different neural cell populations contributes to disease progression and how this knowledge can be translated into new approaches to prevent, treat or modify neurological disease.

Alongside my research, I contribute to tertiary teaching, student supervision and scientific communication across neuroscience, psychology and biomedical sciences. I am particularly interested in research-informed education and in developing the next generation of scientists by sharing scientific knowledge, technical expertise and practical research skills.