Gold Coast Health & Knowledge Precinct
Transform with us
Meet some of our talent
Talent on offer in the
Gold Coast Health & Knowledge Precinct
People transforming lives
Leading and emerging talent
Prof Nigel McMillan
Professor McMillan is a virologist focusing on novel treatments for viruses and viral cancers. He discovered the receptor for the human papillomavirus, has developed novel RNA-based treatments for cancers caused by HPV, and designed nanoparticle delivery systems for gene silencing and editing. His lab is currently developing RNA therapies to treat COVID19.
Prof Carolyn Mountford
Professor Mountford is a Principal Research Leader at the Institute for Glycomics and a world leader in the development of magnetic resonance (MR) technology addressing unmet needs. In the neuro field she focuses on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), injury from blast and impact, and pain. Her cancer research focuses on ovarian and breast cancer.
Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM
Queensland’s Australian of the Year 2021, Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM is the state’s first quadriplegic medical doctor, lawyer, passionate disability advocate, and co-lead researcher on the world-leading BioSpine spinal cord injury project. Dr Palipana is an inspiration to all, having completed his medical degree following the car accident that left him paralysed.
Prof Paulo de Souza
Professor de Souza is Head of the School of Information and Communication Technology at Griffith University and a former CSIRO Chief Research Scientist. A recipient of several international awards for service to science, Professor de Souza contributed to the design and deployment of a sensor used by NASA onboard two Mars rovers.
Dr Hal Rice
As Director of Interventional Neurology at the Gold Coast University Hospital, Dr Rice is a globally leading Endovascular specialist.
"We perform internationally recognised, minimally invasive endovascular treatments of severe life threatening brain aneurysms, vascular malformations and strokes every week.”
Prof Mark von Itzstein AO
Professor von Itzstein is the Director and founder of the Institute for Glycomics and co-inventor of the world's first anti-flu drug Relenza.
“The Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct is establishing as a biomedical research hub and all the translational facilities are in place. I have no doubt we will be a world-leading research precinct.”
Prof Michael Good AO
Professor Good leads a groundbreaking team responsible for vaccine development of a malaria vaccine, PlasProtecT™, currently in full human clinical trials, and a nasal-delivery vaccine for Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) bacteria. He is a member of the National COVID-19 Health and Research Advisory Committee.
Prof Chamindie Punyadeera
Prof Punyadeera is an inventor and a leader in women in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM). She has had a hybrid research career working in industry and academia and is a globally acknowledged pioneer in salivary diagnostics.
Prof David Lloyd
B Professor David Lloyd David is an international research leader in biomechanical engineering being the world's 29th ranked biomechanist (top 0.017% Expertscape, Dec 2023),has received more than $41million in research funding with a focus on developing personalised medical technologies. He was was ranked 'The Australian' 2019 Field Leader in Biophysics,
Prof Julia Crilly OAM
Julia Crilly is a Professor of Emergency Care, a joint appointment between Griffith University and Gold Coast Health. Her research focuses on evaluating innovative service delivery models of care for vulnerable population groups as well as understanding and improving aspects of the ED workforce.
Dr Daniel Timms
Dr Daniel Timms is CEO of US-based medtech BiVACOR, which has set up its international operations in the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct. He has invented a world-first rotary total artificial heart and has spent almost two decades developing the novel technology.
Assoc Prof Lara Herrero
Dr Herrero is a scientifically and medically trained NHMRC Research Fellow with the Institute for Glycomics. Dr Herrero, a Young Tall Poppy Science award winner, discovered a potential new treatment strategy for viral arthritis which has resulted in a patent and royalty-bearing commercialisation license agreement with Paradigm Biopharma.
Prof Nam-Trung Nguyen
Director of the Queensland Micro and Nanotechnology Centre, Griffith University, Professor Nguyen is a world leader in micro and nanofluidics and was recognised as 'The Australian' 2020 Leader in Analytical Chemistry. “We have developed world-class capabilities in micro and nanotechnologies including lab-on-chip and point of care diagnostics."
Prof Kate Seib
As a microbiologist and Associate Director (Research) for the Institute for Glycomics, Prof Seib is devoted to understanding bacterial causes of infectious diseases and developing therapeutic targets, specifically combatting multi-drug resistant gonococcal infections, and is the recipient of numerous major National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants.
Prof Huijun Zhao
Professor Huijun Zhao is Director of Centre for Catalysis and Clean Environment and Energy (CCEE). CCEE focuses on renewable green energy sources and innovative chemical, microbiological and nano-technological approaches to understand the effects of water and soil. Prof Zhao has been named among the world's most highly-cited researchers.
Prof Randy Bindra
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, hand surgeon Dr Bindra brought extensive US experience to join Gold Coast Health. A former Queensland Clinical Educator of the Year, he is active in education and research with the Griffith Centre for Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering (GCORE), leading a major project to develop artificial ligaments to treat sports injuries.
Prof James St John
Prof James St John, brings over 24-years in neuroscience research experience to lead a diverse team of 35 researchers at the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research, and leads the Spinal Injury Project to develop a novel regenerative medicine therapy including patented 3D nerve bridge to repair the damaged spinal cord.
Professor Suresh Mahalingham
Prof Mahalingham is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Principal Research Leader at the Menzies Health Institute Queensland where his work in viral immunology includes research into a live-attenuated COVID-19 vaccine and international collaboration on a COVID-19 laboratory research toolkit.
Prof Paul Scuffham, Director Menzies Health Institute Queensland
Prof Scuffham leads Griffith's strong program of allied health research, developing partnerships and leading research to improve health and health care. He has more than 20 years' experience as a researcher and advisor to healthcare organisations in Australia and the UK.
Kimberley Pearce, General Manager, Gold Coast Private Hospital
An expert in hospital management, including oversight of major capital projects, Kimberley has held a number of senior executive positions, including Chief Operating Officer at Gold Coast Health and a previous position as Chief Executive of the Sunshine Coast Ramsay Hospital.
Dr Shane George
Dr Shane George is a paediatric critical care physician working in paediatric emergency and intensive care at Gold Coast University Hospital. He is the clinical lead for children’s critical care research for Gold Coast Health, and is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Queensland and Griffith University.
Dr Brent Richards
As Medical Director of Innovation and Director of Critical Care Research at Gold Coast Health, Dr Richards has a passion to utilise data to improve patient care. He is a previous Chairman of the Queensland Intensive Care Network, co-founded not-for-profit IntelliHQ and the Young Women Leaders in AI program, and sits on the advisory board of data-driven tech company Datarwe.
Professor Don Staines and Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik
Professor Marshall Gradisnik and Professor Staines co-lead the National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases is a world-class facility researching Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, focusing on pathology, diagnosis and treatment.
Prof Elizabeth Kendall
Prof Kendall leads Griffith University's Disability and Rehabilitation research program at the Menzies Health Institute Qld and has dedicated her career to helping people who have experienced serious injuries, disabilities or chronic conditions.
Assoc Prof Mike Simmonds
Assoc Prof Simmonds from the Griffith Mechanobiology Lab leads biorheology research to make cardiac and vascular devices, including a world-first rotary artificial heart, more 'blood friendly'. A passionate science communicator, he has won Queensland Young Tall Poppy and Flying Scientist awards for STEM communication.
Dr Jeremy Wellwood
Dr Wellwood is Executive Director of Medical Services, Clinical Governance and Research at Gold Coast Health. He led the development of tertiary cancer services on the Gold Coast and has overseen an increased research profile and the development of the Gold Coast Health Research Strategy 2019-22.
Assoc Prof Lauren Ball
Dietician Assoc Prof Ball is a NHMRC Fellow and 2021 Young Tall Poppy winner and leads Griffith’s 'Healthy Primary Care' research team in the Menzies Health Institute Queensland. She is Associate Editor of the Australian Journal of Primary Health and Family Practice journal and is passionate about good nutrition in healthcare.
Richard Nash, CEO, Precise Light Surgical
Richard is an experienced medtech manager with more than a decade with global giant Medtronic. Precise Light Surgical has revolutionized a less invasive surgical resection solution that preserves critical anatomy, reduces surgical risks and improves patient outcomes while lowering the cost of care.
Dr Lee Yang
Dr Lee (Liqun) Yang is a spine and neurosurgeon specialising in keyhole and complex spine surgery, precision aneurysm and brain tumour surgery and all aspects of spine, brain and peripheral nerve surgeries. He uses the latest technology (including fully-equipped Kinevo 900 microscope – “see around corners”, robotic arms and digital hybrid visualization).
Dr Kelvin Ross
Dr Kelvin Ross is Chief Technology Officer and founder of Datarwe, a public-private partnership and Clinical Data-as-a-Service provider. He's an experienced tech entrepreneur and advisor through his company KJR consulting and is a Director of the Queensland AI Hub.
Dr Claudio Pizzolato
Hailing from Italy, Dr Claudio Pizzzolato is a biomechanical engineer who co-leads the BioSpine spinal cord injury project. He won Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics Publication of the Year award 2015, Young Investigator Award 2016, and Queensland Fresh Scientist Judges Award 2018.
Dr David Saxby
A leader with the Griffith Centre of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering (GCORE), Dr Saxby is involved in a number of research projects applying biomechanics for treatment and rehabilitation, including a project to develop artificial ligament for the treatment of sports injuries.
Dr Laetitia de Villiers
Dr de Villiers is a Staff Specialist Specialist in Endovascular Diagnosis and Treatment of Vascular and Neurovascular Disorders working alongside Dr Hal Rice at Gold Coast Health and is an Associate Professor at Griffith University Medical School and Bond University School of Medicine.
Dr Sam Canning
Dr Canning is Director of Industrial Design programs at Griffith University on the Gold Coast campus. Originally from the UK, Dr Canning applies his expertise in advanced manufacturing technologies to medical, art and design challenges, including anatomical simulation, implant and prosthesis design.
Prof Paul Burton
Prof Paul Burton heads the diverse Cities Research Institute, covering urban design, policy, coastal management, transport planning and more, based at Griffith's Gold Coast campus. Originally from the UK, he came to Australia as Chair in Urban Planning and Management, working closely with the City of Gold Coast.
Prof Wendy Chaboyer
Wendy is the Director of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Wound Care and an experienced nurse researcher who has been inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame and is a lifetime honorary fellow of the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses.
Vanessa Rebgetz, Principal Queensland Academies Health Science campus (QAHS)
From a career in law and business, Vanessa was drawn to education and became Principal of QAHS in 2019. One of only three selective senior secondary state academies, QAHS is the only school in the Precinct and offers the rigorous International Baccalaureate program.
Prof Laurent Frossard
Prof Laurent Frossard is a bionic limbs scientist passionate about developing ground-breaking prosthetic solutions for people suffering from limb loss. Dr Frossard has over 25 years of experience in academia and private industries in Australia, Canada and Europe working with more than 100 organizations.
Ariana Margetts, General Manager Cohort Innovation Space
Ariana oversees facilities, community management, communications, marketing and events for spaces under the CoSpaces umbrella, including Cohort. She sits on the Executive Board of Southport Chamber of Commerce and is Co-Director for Startup Grind Gold Coast.
Dr Gustavo De Cerqueira, CEO, Cluster Biotech
Dr De Cerqeuira founded Cluster Biotech to innovate in the business of probiotics technologies. He has 15 years of research and development experience, including as a lecturer in Immunology and Microbiology, and working as a postdoctoral and visiting scientist in Australia and overseas.
Assoc Prof David Trembath
An Assoc Prof in Speech Pathology, Advanced QLD Fellow, and Deputy Research Director at The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Queensland with a passion for autism research, he is overseeing research collaboration with the Sanctuary Early Learning Centre - a 'living lab' for early childhood education within the Precinct's Proxima development.
Prof Johnson Mak
Professor Mak is a highly-experienced Research Leader in Infectious Diseases at the Institute for Glycomics, with a long-term research focus on HIV and a career across Canada and Australia. He has also applied his virology expertise and lessons learnt in HIV biology to COVID-19.
Dr Laura Diamond
Dr Diamond is an Early Career Researcher and Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences and Social Work, and Menzies Health Institute Queensland (Griffith Centre of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering (GCORE). Laura was awarded a 2021 Young Tall Poppy Science Award.
Assoc Prof Jenny Ekberg
Assoc Professor of Neurophysiology at Menzies Health Institute Queensland and Deputy Head (Research) of the School of Pharmacy and Medical Science. Leading regenerative medicine research at the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research alongside Prof James St John.
Dr Arman Sabet
Dr Sabet has been Director of Neurology at Gold Coast University Hospital for 15 years and is active in clinical trials in the areas of stroke treatments and neurological diseases, including a trial of medicinal cannabis for early-stage motor neurone disease.
Prof Stefanie Feih
With a PhD from the University of Cambridge and qualifications from the US and Germany, Prof Feih is a materials science expert who has led large industrial research projects in aircraft repair, design for additive manufacturing and polymer composite materials, and led the Polymer Processing Group at the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech).
Prof Victoria Brazil
Dr Brazil is an emergency physician and medical educator. She is Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of Simulation at Gold Coast Health, and at Bond University's medical program.
Prof Wendy Moyle
Director of Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MIHQ) Healthcare Practice and Survivorship Program, Prof Moyle specialises in the use of social robots to assist in dementia care. She has been named in the Top 50 Women in the World in Robotics.
Dr Jamie Ranse
ARC DECRA Fellow Dr Ranse was one of three nurses to receive the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma), Emerging Nurse Researcher for 2021 award and has led the development of Queensland’s Industry Framework for Safe Events.
Dr Ross Sharpe
Adjunct Associate Professor Ross Sharpe is a leading Interventional Cardiologist and Endovascular Surgeon operating within the precinct. Dr Sharpe established the PFO Research Foundation to increase public and physician awareness of the medical condition called patent foramen ovale (PFO) or “hole in the heart”.
Emeritus Prof Geoff Tansley
Emer Prof Geoff Tansley is former Head of School of Engineering at Griffith University and a highly-experienced researcher in industry and academia over two decades in medical devices, with a focus on cardiac and vascular devices.
Dr Chris Davis
Dr Chris Davis leads the commercialization and business development of the Institute for Glycomics and is Chair of the Ausbiotech Queensland Committee and Deputy Chair of Regional Development Australia (RDA) Gold Coast.
Prof Evelin Tiralongo
Prof Tiralongo heads up Griffith University's Clinical Trial Unit (CTU), a core research infastructure facility for the university, and has 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical research in Australia and Germany. Her specific research expertise lies in the field of complementary medicines.
Assoc Prof Chris Carty
Assoc Prof Carty is a Principal Research Fellow in the Griffith School of Allied Health and an exercise physiologist and clinical biomechanist focused on clinical management of human movement disorders, including leading research translation of novel in-silico orthopaedic surgeries and implants for paediatric patients.
Emerging talent
Dr Ali Zaid
Dr Zaid is a virology researcher with the Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MIHQ) and a Young Tall Poppy Science award winner (2016). He focuses on immune responses that follow infection with mosquito-borne viruses.
Dr Martina Barzan
Dr Martina Barzan is a biomedical engineer and research fellow working in Disability and Rehabilitation Research with the Griffith Centre for Biomedical Engineering and Rehabiliation (GCORE), focusing on novel in-silico orthopaedic surgeries and implants for paediatric patients that are cutting surgery times and improving patient outcomes.
Dr Antony McNamee
Dr McNamee is a post-doctoral fellow working on biorheology research in the Griffith Mechanobiology laboratory, helping to develop blood-friendly cardiac and vascular devices. He won the Queensland Fresh Scientist Judges Award 2019 for research into improving life support by 'destressing' blood cells.
Dr Stephanie Chaousis
Dr Chaousis is the Partnerships Manager for data-driven technology company Datarwe and has a science research background with a PhD in ecotoxicology.
Dr Nick West
Dr West focuses on spatical genomics as a leading-edge research approach enabling drug discovery, and research into the interaction of the microbiome and the immune system with the Menzies Health Institute Queensland (MIHQ).
Dr Mo Chen
Dr Mo Chen developed a novel 3D cell culturing system (the naked liquid marble 3D cell culture system, NLM) and two patent applications used in the creation of nerve bridges. His technology was key to his research team in the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research winning the prestigious NHRMC Marshall and Warren Innovation Award.
