Carly is a Research Scientist at CSIRO Food and Nutrition in Adelaide. She is a geneticist who uses molecular biology and bioinformatics to “study the unseen majority” commonly known as microbes. Her current research is focused on characterising the role of microbes in promoting human gut health. Another area of interest is the study of methane-producing microbes, which allowed her to spend time in the United States as a Fulbright Professional Scholar in Climate Change and Clean Energy in 2015. Carly is a passionate advocate for gender diversity in science and is seeking to encourage more female EMCRs to acts as mentors, with the aim of enabling younger women coming through the system to reach their full potential.
Nikola is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) in Newcastle, NSW. After being awarded a PhD in schizophrenia genomics in 2006 she received an NHMRC training (postdoctoral) Fellowship in 2009 and changed her research focus to DNA repair and cancer. In 2010, she was an invited Visiting Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, in the US. In 2015 she was awarded a Cancer Institute NSW Career Development Fellowship.
Nikola leads a team of researchers investigating DNA repair triggered by sunlight and chemotherapy in melanoma. She is also investigating the same process in ovarian cancers that are resistant to chemotherapy. Her overall goal is to rapidly develop new combination therapies and diagnostic tests for both melanoma and ovarian cancer.
Nikola is a proud Mum of three and an advocate for women in science and scientific communication. She regularly speaks at major community events and with cancer patient support/advocacy groups.
Adrian is a Senior Research Fellow at the Monash Clinical and Imaging Neuroscience, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University. His research examines the impact that neuroscience has on understanding and treatment of addiction and other compulsive behaviours. This includes the impact of neuroscience on: our notions of agency, identity and moral responsibility; the use of coercion and the capacity for voluntary control of addictive or compulsive behaviours; and the use of emerging technologies, such as deep brain stimulation and brain imaging, to treat addiction.
After completing his PhD at the Queensland Brain Institute (2009), Adrian was awarded an NHMRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010-2014). He is currently funded by an ARC Discovery Early Career Award (2014-2017). He received the Australasian Professional Society of Alcohol and Other Drugs “Early Career Award for Excellence in Research and Science” (2012), the Australian National Drug and Alcohol Award for Excellence in Research (2010) and The University of Queensland Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research Higher Degree Theses (2010). Adrian has published two books, including ‘Addiction Neuroethics: The Promises and Perils of Addiction Neuroscience’ (Cambridge University Press, 2012). He has over 80 publications, including reports for the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, and the Australian Ministerial Council on Drugs Strategy. He has been an advisor to the WHO and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the use of coercion in drug treatment and the ethical treatment of opioid dependence.
Dr Amber Beavis is a Senior Researcher in the Office of Australia’s Chief Scientist and a visiting fellow at The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS). Originally a taxonomist and arachnologist working within the museum sector, she has a background in evolutionary genetics and molecular systematics. Concurrently with her scientific research, Dr Beavis has developed a parallel career as a science communicator. Over the past two decades she has conducted extensive science outreach activities across regional and remote areas of Australia and the Pacific
Having obtained her PhD on Australian funnel web spiders from the Australian National University (2009), Dr Beavis undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, an Endeavour Research Fellowship in Samoa, and a Churchill Fellowship at iconic museums in the UK and USA. In 2012 she joined the Western Australian Museum as a research scientist, working to identify and describe new arachnid species. In 2015 Dr Beavis was named as one of the inaugural ABC Radio National-UNSW ‘Top 5 Under 40’ Scientists in Residence.
Dr Beavis joined the Office of Australia’s Chief Scientist in 2016, where she undertakes high-level science policy advice and science communication, together with having a strategic role in managing the Commonwealth Science Council and the Forum of Australian Chief Scientists.
Hamish is currently a Research Fellow in a joint position with the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires at the University of Wollongong and the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at Western Sydney University. He is presently investigating how effective prescribed burning is at reducing bushfire risk to a range of human and natural values across southern Australia.
Prior to entering academia Hamish worked at the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage for 9 years, conducting and coordinating research and working with decision makers on regional climate change impacts. In 2015 Hamish completed a PhD at UNSW on the impacts of climate change on bushfire risk. Hamish's previous qualifications include German, Spanish, marketing, accounting, biochemistry and neuroscience. His motto is 'If in doubt, change careers'.
Hamish is convinced that good things come from bringing science and society closer together. He runs Science at the Local, a regular pub science event in the Blue Mountains, that also includes a podcast. Hamish is a proud father of three and husband of one.
Associate Professor Drew Evans is a passionate advocate for high-tech manufacturing in Australia. After completing his PhD at the Australian National University, he worked for a private R&D company on new digital print technology before returning to academia. His team at the University of South Australia’s Future Industries Institute researches thin film materials science and translates it into commercial reality with industry partners—such as the world’s first plastic automotive mirror, of which more than three million have been exported to the US. Associate Professor Evans holds a Future Fellowship from the Australian Research Council to research plastic that conducts electricity. In parallel with this are commercial projects to integrate these polymers into new agriculture and biomedical devices. He has published many scientific papers, holds several patents, and is partnered with industry exploring scale-up manufacturing in commercial products. He is a member of the SA Science Council, and was awarded the SA Tall Poppy of the Year award in 2013 and the BioSA Young Achiever Award in 2016.
Hailing from Northern Ireland, Róisín is a postdoctoral researcher at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery at Griffith University. Prior to this appointment, she was at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland. Róisín read Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge before training at the University of Oxford in protein crystallography receiving a DPhil in 2010 for structural investigations of how immune proteins malfunction in autoimmune disease. Her research interests are in structural biology, particularly protein crystallography as applied to drug discovery. She investigates and targets the virulence proteins that bacteria use to cause disease as part of a larger goal to develop new antimicrobials drugs for life-threatening infections. Her primary research interest is the search for new treatments for melioidosis, a tropical bacterial disease in northern Australia and south east Asia caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. She also has a keen interest in One Health approaches to tacking antimicrobial resistance. Róisín’s particular areas of policy interest are gender equity, and skill development and career structure support for junior researchers.
Liz is a Westpac Research Fellow and senior lecturer in the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney. She studied at the University of Sydney and Durham University, UK, and undertook postdoctoral research at as a Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California (Berkeley). Liz returned to the University of Sydney in 2012, taking up a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council. Her research is focussed on the development of small molecule fluorescent and magnetic resonance probes for the study of biological systems. Liz’s prizes for research and teaching include a NSW Young Tall Poppy Award (2015), OLT National Teaching Award (2015) and NSW Early Career Researcher of the Year (2016). She was the Royal Australian Chemical Institute NSW Nyholm Youth Lecturer in 2014-2015, giving outreach talks in high schools throughout the state.
Irene is a Senior Research Fellow at the Physics Department in Curtin University. Originally from Spain, Irene completed her PhD from University of Sussex (UK) in 2007. After a post-doc at the Institute of Materials of Nantes (France), she moved to Curtin University for her second post-doc in 2009. The year after, she obtained an ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010-2014). Her first daughter and her current ARC Future Fellowship award arrived almost at the same time in 2014. Her research career has been mainly dedicated to the atomistic modelling of carbon materials. In collaboration with experimental chemists, physicists and engineers, she has investigated graphite, diamond, amorphous carbons and a range of carbon nanomaterials. She has won multiple prizes for her scientific outreach projects and particularly enjoys creating scientific artistic images.
Jackson (BPharm, MPharmSc, PhD) is a pharmacist and an early career academic scientist at the University of Canberra (UC, position: Senior Lecturer/ Assistant Professor). Jackson completed his PhD in Pharmaceutics at the University of Tasmania in 2010. He then commenced a teaching-focused position in the Northern Territory at Charles Darwin University developing a new pharmacy curriculum (2009–2012) before joining UC in 2013. Jackson convenes the BPharm Hons program at UC and has served in various roles in the University Committees (e.g. Academic Council, Faculty Board, Outside Studies Program Committee [University of Canberra], and Human Ethics Committee [Charles Darwin University]) and professional societies (e.g. Australasian Research Management Society, The Australian Society for Medical Research). Jackson also serves as an editor for Medicine® (Wolters Kluwer), and a reviewer for numerous scholarly journal and funding bodies (e.g. the British Skin Foundation). Jackson is a consultant for pharmaceutical manufacturers and biotech companies, and in 2017 has been appointed as a specialist advisor to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
Jackson has substantial experience in drug discovery research, leading multiple clinical trials to successful completion. He also has a specific clinical and research interest in indigenous child health, especially skin infections in Australian Indigenous children. Other research interests include innovations in teaching, discovery of bio-actives from natural resources, quality use of medicines, complementary and alternative medicine, epidermal parasitic infectious skin disease in humans, and infectious and zoonotic disease in livestock. Jackson’s work at UC and elsewhere resulted in patents and attracted funding from industry and government (including Category A funding) and also resulted in product commercialisation and biotech start-ups.
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