Sciences

Lena is a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland. She has a diversified skill set and portfolio comprising fifteen years of laboratory research. Using her expertise in genetics, Lena has contributed to finding cures for a paediatric brain tumour, improving our understanding of how the autistic brain processes sensory experiences, and now, creating sustainable food and agriculture.

Lena is deeply passionate about science communication. She has authored nine peer-reviewed documents including research articles and reviews, a book chapter series, and blog post for Nature Careers. The Brisbane Times and ABC Radio have interviewed Lena about her research. She has been on seven committees, working groups, or boards, including the WiT Marketing and Communications Working Group in 2020 and the WiT Sciences Committee since 2021.

Karishma is an agricultural biotechnologist specialising in applications of nanotechnology to improve animal health. Her PhD with Prof Neena Mitter was a part of a multi-disciplinary research project facilitated by the Queensland Government Research Partnerships at QAAFI in partnership with AIBN, School of Global Animal health, Washington State University (WSU) and industry partner Zoetis. This research, for the first time, established silica nanomaterials as carriers and self-adjuvants for vaccine delivery against Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus.

As an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow at QAAFI she is leading the research on developing next generation nanopesticides with improved safety and performance. She is exploiting nanotechnology along with molecular tools to develop innovative sustainable solutions for real-world problems like sheep blowfly/lice and fire-ants.

Dr Kinnari possesses PhD in material science from University of South Australia, with expertise in providing consulting and problem solving to different clients ranging from PhD students, postdocs and industry. Presently, I have dual role at the University of Queensland, Senior Professional officer at AIBN, ANFF-Q and Research fellow at QAAFI. My role involves varied responsibilities; training & supervision of PhD students, designing & implementing various experiments and providing ‘tailor-made’ solutions for a range of different types of samples from food to minerals particularly for characterising complex structure and surface properties using RAMAN, FTIR and AFM.

She currently plays a role of nexus between food industry and material science, which allows her to identify gaps within food product development and provides a platform to apply material science analytical techniques to generate unique information in the field of food microstructure and properties. She is also an active member of polymer division of RACI & Women in Technology.

Brit is a Research Development Manager at Griffith University where she helps Griffith researchers develop large-scale research grant funding opportunities and strategically important partnerships to increase the University’s research income, reputation and impact. Such partnerships span industry, government agencies, universities, philanthropic foundations and other organisations. Brit received her PhD in medical microbiology from the ETH Zurich in Switzerland and has more than 12 years professional experience in research, research management and coordination.

Brit developed and implemented public outreach initiatives to promote research activities and strengths, she was an UQ Science Ambassador and co-hosts a science show on community radio. In her spare time she enjoys ’making bubbles’ (scuba diving) to explore the amazing underwater world in Australia.

Maria is a senior research assistant that manages a multi-disciplinary biology research laboratory at Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University. Whilst she has extensive experience in neurodegenerative disorders and cancer research, her focus lies in laboratory and occupational workplace health and safety, where she has managed PC2, PC3 and BC2 facilities. Other strong skillsets also include managing and providing simple to comprehensive application training on various high end microscopes and laboratory equipment. Her motivation and ultimate reward is being able to facilitate HDR students and staff colleagues to achieve the best results in their projects. Maria’s enthusiasm for science and research is also demonstrated in the science outreach events she had helped organise and played pivotal roles in.