Celebrating the Future Leaders of Mater Research at 2024 Symposium

The outstanding achievements of our Higher Degree Research Students and Early Career Researchers were celebrated last week at the 2024 Future Leaders Symposium, held at the Translational Research Institute (TRI), where Mater Research is a partner organisation and has its biomedical laboratory base. 

The annual symposium provided an invaluable opportunity for Mater researchers, students and clinicians to learn more about the important work being undertaken by the next generation of researchers. We extend our thanks to the special guests who attended, including Mater Foundation donors whose support makes our research possible, and the group of Year 12 students from All Hallows’ School, who we hope were inspired to pursue careers in STEM.  

Following an Acknowledgement of Country delivered by proud Gooreng Gooreng and South Sea Islander woman Davina Smith from Mater Research’s Indigenous Health Research Group, the prestigious Dr John Prins Oration was delivered by Associate Professor Jake Begun. A/Prof Begun provided an overview of his research team’s integration of clinical and translational research, including insights into the benefits of the  STOPiT trial for chronic pouchitis patient, Raya Brunello. 

Dr Sheridan Guyatt, Dr Kayden Kwah, Dr Irina Buckle and Dr Jasmine Antoine presented about perinatal education programs, targeted therapy for Epithelial Cancers, the fight against Type 1 Diabetes and newborn intubation.  

Mater Research would like to thank Mater Foundation, whose generous support enabled all the awards presented at the symposium. Congratulations to all award winners and finalists:

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Early Career Researcher Seeding Grant (Clinical) Winner: Ms Bronagh McAlinden

• Bronagh McAlinden is an advanced practice physiotherapist with 17 years of clinical experience across neonatal and paediatric intensive care units at Mater Hospital Brisbane. She was awarded a master's degree in 2019 from the Australian Catholic University based on her research of respiratory physiotherapy in ventilated infants and has published and presented these results internationally.  
  
  Bronagh continues to pursue her passion for clinical research by investigating new and improved ways to measure and deliver respiratory physiotherapy in preterm infants. Her current research project is entitled “Measuring chest physiotherapy in premature babies using Lung Ultrasound” and is the first project of its kind.  

Finalist: Dr Hamid Karimi-Rouzbahani 

• Dr Hamid Karimi-Rouzbahani has completed two postdoctoral fellowships, including one at the University of Cambridge. His work lies at the intersection of Clinical and Computational Neuroscience, combining methods such as neural signal processing and machine learning.  
  
  Dr Karimi-Rouzbahani is currently a researcher and biomedical engineer at Mater Research, dedicated to pioneering breakthrough solutions for drug-resistant epilepsy. His current research project is titled “Towards a machine-learning based tool for localising epilepsy in the brain”.  
  
  His successful application of engineering techniques to neuroscience has earned him several international awards, including a Newton International Fellowship from the UK Royal Society, placing him among 40  annual recipients globally.  

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Early Career Researcher Seeding Grant (Biomedical) Winner: Dr Charles Bell

• Dr Charles Bell completed his undergraduate degree at The University of Queensland, majoring in genetics and evolutionary biology. He began his research career at Mater Research, undertaking his honours degree in the laboratory of Professor Andrew Perkins, where he was awarded The University of Queensland University Medal. Dr Bell then moved to Melbourne to complete his PhD with the world-renowned researcher, Professor Mark Dawson.
  
  Over his seven years in the Dawson lab, Dr Bell drove two major projects. The first, his PhD project, was published in Nature Communications in 2019, and the second, which was completed at Mater Research, was published in the highly prestigious journal, Nature Genetics.  
  
  He has recently returned to Mater Research and is working on a research project entitled “Conducting the orchestra – understanding how transcription factors control development and disease”. Dr Bell hopes to establish his own research group in the coming years. 

Finalists: Dr Raphael Ricci and Dr Stephanie Workman

• Dr Rapheal Ricci is an early career neuroscientist investigating the capacity of glial cells and myelin to shape neural circuits. He completed his PhD in Neurosciences at the University of Tasmania in 2021 and did postdoctoral training at the Queensland Brain Institute. His research aims to understand how brain function is regulated during development and in healthy ageing, and the pathological signals that enable neurological disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia. His recent project is investigating how COVID-19 impacts the Multiple Sclerosis brain.  
  
  
• Dr Stephanie Workman completed her PhD in 2022 at the University of Otago, New Zealand as the first in her family to attend university. Shortly after, she began her career as a postdoctoral researcher at Mater Research. Dr Workman’s research builds on her passion for understanding the complexities of the female reproductive system where she uses genetic approaches to investigate how the ovary supports the growth of eggs. Dr Workman hopes that through understanding how our genetic code controls reproduction we can use this knowledge to help women suffering with infertility and other reproductive disorders by measuring jumping genes in the egg. 

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Dr David Serisier Student Training Award Winner: Shivam Vora 

• Shivam is a final year PhD student in the Smiling for Smiddy Cancer Cell Cycle Group at Mater Research. Shivam completed his Master's in Biotechnology at The University of Queensland in 2020 and graduated with a Dean's Commendation for Academic Excellence.  Shivam then began his PhD at Mater Research under the supervision of Professor Brian Gabrielli in 2021, with a focus on polyploidy induced by the inhibition of Aurora Kinase B and the genetic background that determines the outcomes of this inhibition. 

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Mater Research International Travel Awards: Kaitlin Flynn, Sreeparna Bhaumik and Tania Marsden 

Mater Research International Travel Awards enabled Kaitlin, Sreeparna and Tania to present their research findings at national and international conferences.

• Kaitlyn is a PhD student in the Musculoskeletal Genomics Group at Mater Research. She applies statistical genetics methods to identify new drug targets to treat osteoporosis and prevent fractures. This $3,000 award enabled Kaitlyn to attend the 2024 European Calcified Tissue Society Meeting in Marseille, France, and also visit two labs at The University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
• Sreeparna is a third-year PhD student in the Pregnancy and Development Lab at Mater Research. Her research focuses on how stress, anxiety, and depression affect pregnancy by studying the body's stress receptors. Her work aims to shed light on how these emotional and physiological factors can influence pregnancy outcomes. This $3,000 award enabled Sreeparna to present her research findings at the International Federation of Placenta Associations conference in Montreal, Canada.
• Tania is a PhD student with the Stillbirth Centre Research Excellence.  Her study is looking to improve the approach to stillbirth investigations by examining the utility and quality of the investigations. Tania is a Principal Scientist in Anatomical Pathology with 24 years of experience. This $3,000 award enabled Tania to present her research findings at the 2024 Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand congress in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Thank you to Dr Soi Law, Professor Brian Gabrielli and Associate Professor Paul Dawson for organising the symposium, Mater Research Engagement Team and Rhonda Ploeger for supporting event planning and Session Chairs Dr Yuanhao Yang, Dr Hayley Kimball and Dr Raphael Ricci.