Dr Nomvuyo Mothobi is a Clinical Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases Physician with diverse expertise who joined ACPCC in 2023. She graduated from the University of Sydney and dual trained in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at St Vincent’s and Royal Prince Alfred Hospitals in Sydney. She worked as a Staff Specialist in Sydney, and having moved to Victoria in 2021, she currently holds clinical, pathology and public health appointments in the Victorian public hospital, private pathology and not-for-profit sectors. She has also worked overseas in Zimbabwe where she gained extensive experience in HIV, TB and other opportunistic infections as well as clinical and operational research. Dr Mothobi’s areas of special interest include HIV, infections in immunocompromised hosts, molecular diagnostic methods and global health.

I am a physiotherapist and lecturer at the Graduate School of Health, Discipline of Physiotherapy at UTS. I have diverse experiences in academic and non-academic realms, and feel that both are important for a complete view of the world and a more holistic view of teaching and research. I have worked and lived in numerous countries including India, Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia and Denmark.

Joshua W. Pate, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy. His research focus is on a child’s concept of pain; Josh is fascinated by how re-conceptualizing pain according to contemporary science may change the way pain is treated. As part of his PhD he developed the Concept of Pain Inventory (COPI) and he is now working on developing and testing educational resources. Josh worked with TED-Ed to make two online animations with millions of views, he co-founded a pain science interview platform (‘One Thing’), and he authored the Zoe and Zak’s Pain Hacks series of children’s books each targeting a learning outcome for pain science education. Josh is on the Scientific Program Committee for the Australian Pain Society and he has been an invited speaker at several international scientific conferences. He dreams of generational conceptual and behaviour change regarding the complexity of pain.

Anthony is a clinical researcher and Senior Lecturer in physiotherapy with expertise in the assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. He is currently the musculoskeletal lead in the physiotherapy department at UTS. Anthony transitioned to academia after enjoying a career working in various roles in musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapy. Anthony’s research benefits from his strong clinical background, with almost 15 years of experience as a practising physiotherapist. His clinical expertise is recognised in the profession having been awarded the title of APA Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist. He has been involved in teaching physiotherapy in various capacities since 2014 at several leading universities across Australia. He graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science (physiotherapy) from the University of Sydney and a Clinical Master of physiotherapy, in the field of sports, from the University of Queensland. Anthony completed his PhD through La Trobe University which focused on the assessment, management and prevention of musculoskeletal injuries.

Dr John (Eddie) La Marca completed his PhD at La Trobe University, where he studied genes that control stem cell behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster. He then completed post-doctoral work at La Trobe University, researching the genes that regulate tumourigenesis, also using Drosophila melanogaster. He then moved to The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute, where his post-doctoral research explores blood cell and blood cancer development.

Sarah Diepstraten completed her PhD at La Trobe University in molecular genetics and developmental biology. She is now a post-doctoral scientist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Her research focuses on understanding how blood cancers become resistant to therapy and how this can be overcome. She develops genetic engineering approaches (CRISPR) to find genes involved in drug resistance. She has also taught in undergraduate science courses at La Trobe University and Melbourne University, and is passionate about science education.

Dennis Savaiano is Director of the Connections IN Health/Indiana Department of Health Coalition Development Program. He is also Associate Director for the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute Community Health Partnerships. Savaiano has worked to increase its Community Advisory Council membership and build community-engaged research approaches . He has published on school community interventions focused on improving the diets of young women, health coalition assessment, food policy, and has led/developed many of the successful Purdue Extension efforts focused around health as dean of Purdue’s School of Consumer and Family Sciences for 15 years. Professor Savaiano has also studied lactose digestion for the past four decades. His research group has studied factors which influence lactose digestion and tolerance including lactose load, gastric and intestinal transit, digestive aids, colon fermentation, fermented dairy foods and lactic acid bacteria.

Professor Ian Hickie – The Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney is a global leader in mental health research and digital innovations in care. Professor Ian Hickie is the Co-Director of Health and Policy. He was an inaugural NHMRC Australian Fellow (2007-2012), then Senior Principal Research Fellow (2013-2017 and 2018-22), and now is supported at the highest level of personal Investigator Grants (2023-7). He was an inaugural Commissioner on Australia’s National Mental Health Commission (2012-18) overseeing enhanced accountability for mental health reform and suicide prevention. He is an internationally renowned researcher in clinical psychiatry, with particular reference to digital innovation, youth mental health care and adolescent-onset mood disorders, notably depression and bipolar disorder.

I’m a National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Research Fellow at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre. I lead a program of research funded by the NHMRC and Wellcome Trust that combines biologic, clinical, wearable, and subjective measures to shed light on the causes of mental disorders in young people (particularly depression and bipolar disorder), and to better understand the factors that shape people’s clinical trajectories (particularly during early phases). My major interest is in the potential role that dysregulation of the brain and body’s circadian clocks might play in the emergence of depressive and bipolar disorders. The objective of this work is to integrate measures of brain, body, and environment to understand what the circadian system can teach us about mood disorders, and to potentially uncover new targets for treatments.

Internationally renowned respiratory expert, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester, UK.
He is also a European Respiratory Society (ERS) Gold medal winner for his outstanding contribution to COPD. His research interest is the development of new drugs for asthma and COPD.
He has acted as principal investigator in over 400 clinical trials and has over 400 publications. He is a member of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease Science Committee and was previously the chair of the ERS airway pharmacology group.
He is currently an editor of the European Respiratory Journal and European Respiratory Review. He is a fellow of the European Respiratory Society and of the British Pharmacology Society.

Dr Scott Wilson is Research Director of the Eureka Award winning Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP), Plastics Policy Advisor at the Earthwatch Institute Australia and a Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University. Dr Wilson is a trained ecotoxicologist with over 25 years experience in assessing human impacts to the natural environment. For the last 15 years he has researched the impacts of plastics and marine debris in aquatic environments both in Australia and internationally. His current focus is on understanding sources and effects of plastics in the environment, while partnering with stakeholders and the community in the nationwide AUSMAP programme to help reduce these inputs. By working together on this issue, Dr Wilson feels we can all make a difference!