Ian investigates the impact drug use has on individuals and populations. Focusing on the social, health and political issues related to drug and alcohol use. He writes a regular column for The Independent – https://www.independent.co.uk/author/ian-hamilton-0, provides opinion pieces for the British Medical Journal as well as publishing academic papers. Prior to becoming an academic Ian worked as a mental health nurse working with people who had a severe mental health problem and used drugs or alcohol problematically. He also has experience of working with rough sleepers and people who are homeless.

Associate Professor Hannah is a senior academic educator of School of Health Sciences, and a researcher at Centre for Healthy Sustainable Development (CHSD). Hannah has a background in pharmacy practice, health service management, community health and primary health care. Her expertise covering mixed methods study, co-design, data correlation, systematic review and meta-analysis. Her research projects focus on inequities, inequality and accessibility among disadvantage population specially culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population; health service; prevention and self-care management; digital health innovation; and climate change. Her recent study has established evidence of the delay in seeking medical care for cardiac symptoms among ethnic groups globally and nationally which has assisted researchers and clinicians to be more aware and better understand ethnic differences in health behaviour and the need of cultural competence in healthcare system. Hannah has worked collaboratively with the Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU) in establishing data map correlating clinical data and population health areas (SA) which can be a useful tool for further investigation, and serve as a resource for education. Hannah currently working with multidisciplinary team involving researchers, industry partners and consumers on digital innovation projects to improve accessibility to health service and empower disadvantaged populations nationally and internationally.

My research focuses on human electrophysiological and imaging correlates of behavior, disease, and interventions for epilepsy, movement disorders and pain. Areas of Interest: Brain-Computer Interfaces; Disorders of the Nervous System; Motor Systems and Sensorimotor Integration; Neural Circuits. Our lab seeks to characterize electrophysiological and imaging correlates of behavior and disease in humans. Particularly, we take advantage of access to human data during interventions for epilepsy and movement disorders. We focus on electrophysiological recordings gathered during long-term monitoring for seizure localization, or during implantation of electrodes for Deep Brain Stimulation. Areas of interest include basic science research examining neural correlates of cognition and behavior, and mechanisms underlying deep brain stimulation for movement disorders; we are also focused on translational work in the development of closed-loop deep brain stimulation systems. We work closely with researchers using advanced MR imaging to examine similar patient populations, looking for imaging correlates for surgical outcomes. In short, we combine approaches from neurophysiology, radiology and engineering to approach both the description of neurobiological processes and intervene in neuropathology.

Nancy S. Jecker, PhD is a Professor of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for South Africa (2021-2022). Dr. Jecker holds Adjunct Professorships at the University of Washington School of Law, Department of Global Health, and Department of Philosophy. Dr. Jecker is a Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg Department of Philosophy and Honorary Visiting Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Centre for Bioethics. She was awarded the PhD in Philosophy from the University of Washington, after first earning masters’ degrees in Philosophy from both Stanford University and the University of Washington, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stanford University. Dr. Jecker’s research focuses on individual and societal aging, justice, human dignity, medical futility and global perspectives in philosophy and bioethics. Dr. Jecker has published over 200 articles and 4 books. Her most recent book is Ending Midlife Bias: New Values for Old Age (Oxford University Press, 2020). Dr. Jecker’s other books include Wrong Medicine: Doctors, Patients and Futile Treatment, 2nd Edition, with Lawrence Schneiderman (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011, E-Book by Amazon Digital Services, Inc., Japanese translation by Keiso Shobo Publishing Company, Chinese translation by Ho-Chi Book Publishing Company); Bioethics: An Introduction to the History, Methods, and Practice, 3rd edition, with Albert Jonsen and Robert Pearlman (Jones and Bartlett, 2011); and Aging and Ethics: Philosophical Problems in Gerontology (Humana Press, distributed internationally by J. Wiley and Sons and by Chapman and Hall, E-Book by Springer Publishers.

Dr Kerry Hancock is a General Practitioner and has over 35 years’ experience in clinical practice. Dr Hancock established her own general practice, Chandlers Hill Surgery in 1985 in the outer southern suburbs of Adelaide.
For the last 25 years Dr Kerry Hancock has had a special interest in general practice based respiratory medicine and maintains strong affiliations with professional and consumer organisations such as RACGP, the International Primary Care Respiratory Group, Lung Foundation Australia, Asthma Australia, National Asthma Council of Australia, and Cancer Australia.

A/Prof Alex Polyakov is a Consultant in Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology practicing in Melbourne.
Dr Polyakov has broad experience in many aspects of obstetrics and gynaecology as well as gynaecological conditions that may require surgery and experience in advanced laparoscopic techniques.

Jessica Kaufman is a research fellow in the Vaccine Uptake Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and an Honorary Fellow of La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne. Her areas of expertise include vaccination-related communication and social science. Her current research includes exploring the experiences of children tested for COVID-19 and developing interventions to improve uptake of routine and COVID-19 vaccines among key risk groups. Jessica is an editor and author with the Cochrane Consumers and Communication review group, which publishes systematic reviews on health communication and participation interventions.

Associate Professor Katie Attwell is a political science and public policy scholar at the University of Western Australia, where she leads the interdisciplinary VaxPolLab. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at Telethon Kids Institute. A/Prof Attwell currently holds a four-year research fellowship funded by the Medical Research Future Fund of Australia (MRFF) and the University of Western Australia. She has supported Australian state and federal governments with vaccine communications, developing interventions for vaccine confidence, and policies for routine and COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as leading research collaborations on vaccination policymaking in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. She focuses on ways to share her vaccination social science and vaccination policy expertise with global policymakers, to support the growth of vaccination social science, to build the capacity of vaccination social science researchers, and to assist countries in responding to challenges to their immunisation programs or the rollout of new vaccines.

Dr Sharayah Carter is a lecturer specialising in Nutrition and Dietetics at RMIT University. With over 10 years of experience as an Accredited Practising Dietitian, she has a strong background in teaching, clinical practice, and private practice. Sharayah earned her PhD focusing on intermittent fasting for Type 2 Diabetes treatment. Her primary goal is to explore the link between dietary patterns and chronic disease risk, empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their health.

My research and teaching interests lie in understanding the individual differences in how our bodies respond to the food we consume. I use these differences to design more personalised and precise nutrition interventions.

My teaching and research has focused on mind-body questions. I practice psychiatry in a variety of primary care settings, and I specialize in psychosomatic medicine. I’ve spent the past 30 years training physicians to be both family doctors and psychiatrists. My first book Treating the Aching Heart (2007), presents a guide to the circular relationships among depression, stress, and heart disease. My second book, Toxic Stress (2024), explores how some kinds of stress are killing us early and what we can do about it. Over the last ten years I have posted blogs on two themes: Pearls from our Stress Response System, and the Art and Science of Making Contact.

Yvonne Nolan is Professor in Neuroscience, a Science Foundation Ireland Investigator and an Investigator in APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork (UCC). She leads a research team investigating the impact of inflammation and lifestyle influences such as exercise, stress and diet on brain plasticity, gut health, mental health and memory throughout the lifespan, especially during adolescence and middle age. She is a cell, animal model and translational neuroscientist. She has secured research funding as Lead PI from Science Foundation Ireland, Reta Lila Weston Trust, Marigot Ltd, Irish Research Council and Vasogen Inc., Canada. She was consortium lead on a European Centres of Excellence in Neurodegeneration (COEN) project. She has extensive experience of graduate education, supervision, and mentoring, having supervised >40 Early Career Scientists. Yvonne is Vice Head of Graduate Studies in Medicine and Health at UCC, where she has strategic oversight of education for doctoral degrees in the health sciences. Yvonne graduated from NUI, Galway with a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Neuropharmacology. She was a visiting fellow at McGill University Montreal, Canada and held postdoctoral positions in Trinity College, Dublin before joining UCC as academic staff.