Lachlan Fox is an Associate at Grattan Institute. In the Transport and Cities Program, he co-authored a report into how Australian governments can reduce transport infrastructure costs.

He has held management and teaching roles in science communication organisations, and retains a deep interest in the intersection between science and evidence-based policy in water and energy policy.

Lachie holds a Bachelor of Science Advanced (Honours) degree in chemistry and materials science from Monash University.

Peter Breadon is the Health and Aged Care Program Director at Grattan Institute. He has worked in a wide range of senior policy and operational roles in government, most recently as Deputy Secretary of Reform and Planning at the Victorian Department of Health.

He was previously Health Fellow at Grattan Institute, where he co-authored reports on hospital efficiency, pharmaceutical pricing, and health workforce.

Peter holds a Master of Public Policy from the London School of Economics and a Master of Public Administration from the Hertie School of Governance.

A/Prof Sarah Glastras is a Consultant Endocrinologist at the Northern Sydney Endocrine Centre and is appointed as a Staff Specialist at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney’s North Shore. She has completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in the area of diabetes and obesity with a particular focus on foetal programming; the effect of in utero exposure to metabolic abnormalities on the offspring’s risk of chronic disease.

She is involved in many clinical trials in diabetes and obesity management. She has received a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) postgraduate scholarship, NHMRC Early Career Fellowship, and numerous national and international grants and awards related to her research. She has a passion for researching and treating diabetes, obesity and preventing diabetes-related complications. She is abreast of new technologies available for patients with diabetes, especially type 1 diabetes.

She has a special interest in female endocrine health, pertaining to polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes in pregnancy and weight management. Her background in psychology prior to medical studies provides her with particular insight into the psychosocial issues related to management of chronic illness. She is passionate about evidence-based medicine, holistic care and self-empowerment.

Marie-Claire is a PhD candidate and Clinical Nurse consultant who studies under the supervision of Professor Dennis Lau at The University of Adelaide. She has previously held several specialist clinical nurse roles including in emergency nursing, nurse education and academia at Monash Health and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She now helps to lead a multi-disciplinary practice specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome in Adelaide, SA.
Marie-Claire has a keen interest in reducing time to diagnosis and in improving outcomes for those living with POTS and hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. She has been instrumental in the formation of The Australian POTS Foundation, which is committed to improving outcomes for those with POTS by raising funds for improved research, advocacy and support for those living with POTS.

Ralph is the Foundation Chair in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease within the School of Medical and Health Sciences.
Professor Ralph Martins, Foundation Chair in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease at Edith Cowan University, was appointed the Director of the Centre. Ralph Martins graduated from University of Western Australia with a PhD in 1986. In 1987 he won a scholarship to Heidelberg University to work with Konrad Beyreuther. His collaborative seminal research involved isolating and characterising beta-amyloid and its precursor, the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which are now recognized as central to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.
He was the first to propose and demonstrate that the Alzheimer brain was under oxidative stress, which is now widely recognized by the Alzheimer research community. In 1989 he joined Professor Masters at Melbourne University where he was the first to isolate and characterize the molecular components of the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. This led to an international patent and formation of a spin-off company, Alzhyme Pty Ltd. In 2001 he won a Media Fellowship with the ABC and was the first Media Fellow to have his work on the Science Show. In 2002 he won a Biotechnology Innovation Fund grant, which was matched by commercial funding. He established the Sir James McCusker Alzheimer’s Research Unit at Hollywood Hospital, whose research is directed at the cause(s), and development of diagnostics and treatments. He received the UWA “Excellence in Teaching Award – Post Graduate Research” for 2002 and in 2003 was appointed Senior Editor, for the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Editorial Board Member for Current Drug Targets CNS & Neurological Disease.
Edith Cowan University appointed him to the Inaugural Chair, Ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease in 2004. He has Adjunct Professorial positions and close ties with clinical academics with both the University of Western Australia and Thomas Jefferson University’s Farber Neurosciences Institute. He is instigator and director of the state government funded Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease Research and Care composed of researchers from 4 universities, 3 hospitals and 2 healthcare providers.

Dr. Kent E. Vrana is the Elliot S. Vesell Professor and Chair of Pharmacology at the Penn State College of Medicine. He received his B.S. with honors in Biochemistry from the University of Iowa, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry (Pharmacology minor) from Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. His post-doctoral fellowship training was in embryology and molecular biology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Baltimore, MD (on the Johns Hopkins University campus).

Dr. Vrana joined the Department of Biochemistry at the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center as an assistant professor and then moved to the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine where he rose through the ranks to full professor. In 2004, Dr. Vrana assumed the position of Professor and Chair of Pharmacology at the Penn State University College of Medicine.

Dr. Vrana is a member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals (Associate Editor for Pharmacology (Karger Press), the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (an ASPET journal) and Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids (Karger Press)). He has served as chair (30 times) and/or a member of over 110 scientific review panel meetings for the federal government and non-profit organizations. He has co-authored more than 190 scientific articles, book chapters, and monographs (including two textbooks). In 2009, he was named an honorary professor of the School of Medicine of the Peruvian University of Applied Science in Lima, Peru, and was inducted into the Society of Distinguished Educators at the Penn State College of Medicine. In 2015, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS). He currently serves the immediate past president of the Association of Medical School Pharmacology Chairs (AMSPC).

Feusner’s research program seeks to understand perceptual and emotional processing phenotypes across conditions involving body image and obsessions/compulsions, including body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), eating disorders, and OCD. He also studies gender identity, own body perception, and the effects of hormone treatments in individuals with gender dysphoria. He published the first functional neuroimaging studies in BDD and the first studies to directly compare the neurobiology of BDD to anorexia nervosa. He has also investigated neurometabolites and brain connectivity in OCD, including predictors of acute and long-term treatment response to cognitive-behavioral therapy. Feusner’s neuroscience research utilizes functional (fMRI and EEG), structural neuroimaging (sMRI and DTI), and psychophysical testing to understand the brain. He has also created novel digital applications to assess and quantify perceptual distortions of appearance, and affective and interoceptive experiences, to be used across mobile and other platforms for research and clinical purposes.

Dr. Fugen Neziroglu is a board certified behavior and cognitive psychologist, and leading researcher on anxiety disorders. She is the co-founder and executive director of the Bio Behavioral Institute in Great Neck NY, a clinic specializing in anxiety and obsessive compulsive related disorders. Dr. Neziroglu is Adjunct Full Professor at Hofstra University, Department of Psychology and at The Hofstra School of Medicine. Dr. Neziroglu has presented and published over 175 papers in scientific journals, including the American Journal of Psychiatry, Behavior Research and Therapy, and the Journal of Anxiety Disorders. Additionally, she is the author and co-author of fifteen books on obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders, including, most recently Treatment of Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Advances in Psychotherapy, Overcoming Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Children of Hoarders, Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding. Her books have been translated into several different languages, including German, Italian, Spanish and even Korean. Dr. Neziroglu has appeared numerous times on the TLC television series Hoarders, CNN, the Today Show, Good Morning America etc. She received her Ph.D. in clinical, school-community psychology from Hofstra University and completed her post-graduate work in behavior and cognitive therapy at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is Board Certified in Cognitive and Behavior Therapy from the American Board of Behavioral Psychology (ABBP) and in Clinical Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). She is a Fellow of ABBP’s Academy. Dr. Neziroglu is also a member of many national and international societies and is on the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (IOCDF), Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and President of OCDNY. In 2016 she received the lifetime achievement award from the IOCDF for her extensive contribution to the field of OCD.

Eva is a communication faculty member at Colorado State University Global. She received her PhD from Colorado State University in 2016. She has presented her research at the National Communication Association conventions. Eva has also recovered from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and written a book based on her dissertation research, titled The BDD Family: Coping with Body Dysmorphic Disorder in a Peer Support Group.

Eva is a member of the International OCD Foundation BDD Special Interest Group and has authored multiple articles about coping with and recovery from BDD. She is a professional communication consultant and founder of Fear to Courage, LLC. Eva empowers her clients to overcome their communication challenges to achieve business, career, and personal success.

Shaun Thein is a Specialist Registrar in Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Research Fellow in the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, currently completing a PhD in Neutrophil Function in COVID-19.

Shaun is currently completing clinical training in Respiratory Medicine in the West Midlands. He is finishing a PhD investigating the effect of COVID-19 on neutrophil function.

In addition to research, Shaun also has an interest in teaching, and is aiming to complete a Masters in Medical Education. He currently teaches regularly at Christ Church, Oxford as well as ward based teaching for clinical medical students at the University of Birmingham.

I am an Associate Professor in Respiratory Science, within the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham. My research focuses in respiratory inflammation mainly in the chronic setting (COPD, IPF) and particularly in smoking related disease. Recently my work has examined the impact of e-cigarettes on the innate immune response within the lung to determine how this differs from the effects of smoking and further, what the acute effects can help us determine about the long term consequences of vaping.