Category Archives: Our Fellows Profile

Dr Alice Kane completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in 2016. She began her postdoctoral training at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia Canada, exploring the biology of frailty using mouse models. In 2018 she moved to Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, where she was supported by an NHMRC CJ Martin Biomedical Postdoctoral fellowship, and eventually a National Institutes of Aging K99/R00 award. Here she developed predictive algorithms of age and lifespan based on frailty measures in mice, characterised longitudinal frailty and health in both accelerated and delayed aging mouse models, and developed new approaches for measuring epigenetic markers of aging in mice and humans. She was recruited to be the Ling/Obrzut Assistant Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle in 2022 where she led a team exploring sex specific metabolic mechanisms of frailty and female reproductive aging. Dr Kane will be moving to the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney in 2025.

Research

As humans age they display significant variability in health status and functional ability. Frailty quantitively captures the heterogeneity of aging, and is a measure of biological, rather than chronological age. Those who are frail are at increased risk of falls, hospitalization and mortality. Furthermore, females are more frail than males, yet have a lower mortality risk, and the reasons for this sex-frailty paradox are unknown.

My research aims to identify and disentangle the influence of biological factors (such as hormones and sex chromosomes) and socio-behavioural factors (such as symptom reporting, care-giving) on sex differences in frailty risk and mechanisms. Specifically, we aim to (1) use large human cohort datasets to identify novel social, behavioural, and environmental factors that are differently associated with frailty in females and males; (2) use both mouse and human datasets to identify molecular features (eg. specific blood-based factors, or genetic factors) that are specifically associated with frailty in females or males; and (3) use novel genetically manipulated mouse models to test the separate contributions of sex chromosomes (ie. XX vs XY) and sex hormones (ie. oestrogen or testosterone) on the development of frailty in aging.

This research has the potential to identify novel biomarkers for early frailty detection in men and women, provide a foundation for the identification of sex-specific interventions, and fill critical gaps in sex-specific aging research, ultimately increasing function, quality of life and health for all older Australians.

Dr Donovan is a respiratory pharmacologist, Senior Lecturer, and Group Leader of the ImmunoPharmacology Research Group (IPRG) at the University of Technology Sydney, and Research Leader at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. She received her PhD (Pharmacology) from The University of Melbourne, and post-doctoral training at Monash University and The University of Newcastle (Immunology & Microbiology). She was then awarded an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship and NHMRC New Investigator grant, and was recruited to UTS in 2019, where she now leads her research team focused on novel approaches for targeting lung diseases. She is entrenched in the scientific community, including shaping future research through her internal and external board and policy positions. Recent recognitions of her research include the 2025 American Thoracic Society Ann Woolcock Memorial Award, 2025 British Pharmacological Society Rand Prize, and 2023 Australian Society of Medical Research Alan Skyring Memorial Award.

Research

Asthma is a chronic lung disease affecting 1 in 9 Australians, and results in more than 1 death every day (>400/year in Aus). For many patients, asthma remains a lifelong condition, profoundly impacting quality of life and placing significant psychological and financial strain on individuals and families. Although often perceived as a manageable or even minor illness, the reality is that many patients face unpredictable, life-threatening exacerbations and a daily reliance on inhaled, oral, or injectable medications. Asthma and related lung diseases therefore represent a substantial and enduring health burden, with no current cures and an urgent need for innovative approaches that move beyond symptom management.

Dr Donovan’s vision is to redefine the future of asthma by targeting an unexpected, yet influential site of intervention, the gastrointestinal tract. This research program builds upon strong evidence of the communication between the gut and lung. Through the support of the Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship, Dr Donovan’s research will investigate how specialised molecular targets within the gut can be harnessed to prevent the onset of asthma or provide more effective, long-term treatments. This represents a paradigm shift in lung research, opening new avenues for therapeutic discovery that extend far beyond the lungs themselves. With the Foundation’s support, Dr Donovan’s research will integrate cutting-edge technologies, including custom-designed in vitro and in vivo models, innovative drug delivery approaches, and advanced computational methods, to uncover how gastrointestinal targets can be leveraged to modulate the lung and asthma. These discoveries will lay the foundation for future clinical translation, with the long-term aim of delivering practical, accessible therapies that meaningfully improve patient outcomes. Ultimately, this research aims to reduce the heavy personal and societal burden of lung disease and move us closer to a future in which patients can breathe freely without lifelong dependence on current medications.

Dr Rhiannon Werder is a Group Leader at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, where she heads the Lung Disease Group. She completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in 2017 and undertook postdoctoral training at Boston University, supported by an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (2018–2022). She then returned to Australia to establish her own research program, integrating stem cell biology and immunology to find new therapies for respiratory conditions.

Dr Werder has received prestigious awards including the Metcalf Prize from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia and leads several MRFF-funded projects aimed at discovering novel therapeutic pathways. She is also an Associate Investigator in the global stem cell consortium, the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW).

Research

Respiratory viruses are a major cause of illness worldwide and cause disease progression in people with chronic lung conditions. Most lack effective vaccines or antivirals, and existing treatments often lose efficacy due to viral mutations. Host-directed therapies offer a promising alternative, but remain scarce.

Dr Rhiannon Werder’s research aims to address this gap by using human “mini lung” models, lab-grown lung tissue derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells that incorporate key cell types, to study viral pathogenesis in a physiologically relevant system. Her team will investigate how these models respond to acute respiratory virus infections, how pre-existing chronic lung disease alters these responses, and then use genetic screens to identify new host-directed therapeutic targets.

With the support of the Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship, this work will provide a mechanistic understanding of virus-host interactions in the lung and uncover novel therapeutic pathways to combat respiratory infections, particularly in people with chronic lung conditions.

Dr Jiao Jiao Li FRSN FRSB is a biomedical engineer and Senior Lecturer at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Faculty of Engineering and IT. Her research in regenerative medicine focuses on developing combinational approaches including stem cells and bioactive materials to treat chronic diseases, particularly bone and joint disorders. Dr Li received her PhD from the University of Sydney, where she was trained in tissue engineering and biomaterial scaffolds for regenerating bone and cartilage tissues. She then moved to the Kolling Institute on a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship, where she investigated regenerative approaches for treating osteoarthritis, including the use of stem cells and their derived products. In 2020, Dr Li started a research program and a team at UTS which uses multidisciplinary strategies to pioneer therapies for joint diseases. Recent national recognitions of her work include the Eureka Prize for Emerging Leader in Science, Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research, Premier’s Prize for NSW Early Career Researcher of the Year, and NSW Young Tall Poppy of the Year.

Research

Joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis, are the leading cause of disability and unhealthy aging, affecting 600 million people globally. In Australia, these diseases account for 13% of the total disease burden amounting to $14 billion in direct healthcare costs. Current treatments focus on pain relief rather than a cure, driving an urgent need for innovative therapies that can offer long-term solutions. Joint diseases and their treatments, despite their huge impact on quality of life and the economy, still pose a severe unmet need and remain an under-investigated realm of research.

With her vision of developing new solutions to help people age healthily without pain, the Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship will fund Dr Li’s research in regenerative medicine that combines therapeutic discovery, delivery, and testing for joint diseases into a single pipeline. Drawing from the knowledge and techniques in stem cell biology, materials science, nanotechnology, biofabrication and AI, this program seeks to develop translation-ready products that can transform our understanding and treatment of joint diseases. With the Foundation’s support, Dr Li’s research will harness stem cells as ‘bio-factories’ to produce a suite of bio-therapeutics with the ability to provide customisable anti-inflammatory and pro-healing functions in joint diseases. Concurrently, new hydrogel materials will be developed to controllably deliver these therapeutics into patients, and new models of human mini-joints will be created to help better understand disease mechanisms and to test the treatment effects of new therapeutics. This combinational strategy seeks to provide new solutions for people suffering from joint diseases, improve their quality of life, and reduce the staggering socioeconomic impacts of associated disability and healthcare costs.

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Dr Gang Liu is the Lead of Tissue Repair and Cancer Group in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Faculty of Science. Dr Liu completed his PhD in 2016 at the University of Newcastle (UoN) in Australia, where he focused on airway remodeling and fibrosis in lung diseases. He then held a postdoctoral fellowship at UoN (2016-17), where he investigated the link between inflammation and fibrosis in lung diseases. In his second postdoctoral position (2017-2019), he joined the Hunter Medical Research Institute to expand his research to gut-lung crosstalk.

In 2019, Dr Liu was appointed as the leader of Fibrosis Node in the Centre for Inflammation at Centenary Institute and University of Technology Sydney (UTS). In 2022, he was awarded the Hope Fellowship (Scientific) from Centre for Research Excellence in Pulmonary Fibrosis and the Lung Foundation Australia to study the impact of fibrosis in lung diseases. In 2024, Dr Liu established his independent research group at UTS. His current research focuses on understanding the development of fibrosis in the lung and its links to other diseases, such as cancer.

Research

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease marked by irreversible scarring (fibrosis) in the lungs. Without a known cause, IPF has a poor prognosis, with most patients surviving only 2–5 years after diagnosis. In Australia, IPF leads to approximately 1,000 deaths annually. Currently, only two drugs are approved for IPF treatment. However, these medications have limited effect on improving symptoms and cannot reverse already developed fibrosis. This highlights the urgent need for new and more effective therapies.

Dr Liu’s personal experience with IPF, having lost a close relative to the disease during his PhD, drives his dedication to discovering better treatments for IPF. His research will use advanced artificial intelligence and cutting-edge molecular research techniques to understand the mechanisms that trigger lung fibrosis and to identify innovative therapeutic targets that could suppress existing fibrosis in IPF. Dr Liu has shown promising insights into the roles of extracellular matrix proteins (a group of key structural proteins in lungs) and mast cell proteases (a group of enzymes) in stablising lung tissue structure in fibrotic diseases, which suggests their potential role in regulating lung fibrosis.

Supported by the Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship, Dr. Liu is working to uncover factors that cause lung fibrosis, enhance diagnostic methods for IPF, and identify new therapeutic targets. This research has the potential to pave the way for urgently needed therapies for IPF, which would ultimately reduce healthcare costs and improve outcomes for IPF patients.

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Dr Maria Di Biase co-directs the Stem Cell Disease Modelling Laboratory and Systems Laboratory at the University of Melbourne.

After completing postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School (2018–2020), Dr. Di Biase returned to Australia to establish her own research program, focusing on uncovering developmental brain mechanisms underlying severe psychiatric illnesses. Dr. Di Biase is committed to advancing our understanding of mental health disorders and contributing to the development of more effective treatments.

Despite her relatively short career, Dr. Di Biase has published over 50 papers and received several prestigious fellowships and awards in recognition of her research contributions. These include an NHMRC Investigator Grant, a Strategic Grant for Outstanding Women from The University of Melbourne, and The Early Career Research Award from the Schizophrenia International Research Society.

Research

Schizophrenia—a severe and complex mental health disorder—has long been studied using animal models and post-mortem brain tissue. While these approaches have provided valuable insights, they fall short of capturing the complexity of the living human brain and the dynamic biological processes that drive the disorder.

With the support of the Al and Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship, Dr. Di Biase will pioneer the use of brain organoids—miniature, lab-grown human brains derived from stem cells—to study schizophrenia. These innovative models offer a unique opportunity to investigate the early developmental brain changes that contribute to the disorder. By combining these cellular models with neuroimaging, genetic, and clinical data from individuals recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, this research aims to revolutionise our understanding of the disorder and pave the way for more effective treatments.

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Dr Shayanti Mukherjee is the Head of the Translational Tissue Engineering Lab at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and is pioneering the application of cutting-edge technology to advance women’s health. She has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the National University of Singapore and has earned prestigious accolades, including the Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM2D award for her research excellence in the application of engineering for human health advancement. An Emerging Leader in Hudson’s Women’s Health theme, she is committed to enhancing maternal urogynaecological health through engineering innovations. Currently, her research merges multiple disciplines to understand how chronic pelvic floor disorders manifest after childbirth injury and develop novel therapies for their treatment. To this end, Dr Mukherjee has designed novel tissue-engineered surgical constructs using electrospinning, 3D printing and bioink formulations. She has a keen interest in the immunobiology of biomaterials and developing new preclinical models to investigate host foreign body response to surgical implants. Her recent MTP Connect REDI fellowship with Moderna adds to her industry expertise, enhancing translational research and fostering impactful collaborations between academia and industry to advance medical solutions.

Research

Dr. Mukherjee focuses on pelvic organ prolapse (POP), a highly debilitating condition affecting over 50% of elderly women who have previously given birth. POP has a devastating impact on women’s physical, sexual, and mental health due to the herniation of pelvic organs such as the bladder, bowel, and uterus into the vagina. It also increases dependence on care due to urinary and fecal dysfunction and requires frequent hospitalization that profoundly impair the quality of life of the elderly. At present, there is no cure or even optimal therapy for the treatment of POP and involves high expenditure. Until recently, synthetic meshes were often used transvaginally to treat POP. However, owing to severe complications requiring additional morbid removal surgeries, their use has now been banned. Most women suffer in silence despite the poor quality of life to avoid shame and surgery side effects. With the rise in the aging population, POP represents a significant unmet women’s health need.

Dr. Mukherjee’s research endeavours tackle this significant unmet with an innovative program. Her research will merge advanced engineering principles, such as 3D bioprinting with stem cell biology and immunology to develop novel treatment solutions and offer insights into timely detection for better clinical management of POP. This pioneering study is expected to lead to a breakthrough, offering highly effective and personalised treatments informed by promising pre-clinical findings. With the foundation’s support, Dr Mukherjee’s interdisciplinary research is poised to bring about a substantial shift in the current paradigm by advancing pathogenesis indicators and validating nanotechnology-based therapeutic strategies for optimal vaginal repair. In the long term, the project outcomes will improve women’s quality of life, reduce healthcare expenditure and promote increased independence and well-being in the golden years.

Dr. Sophia Davidson is the Research Group Head for Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. She studies the interplay between genetics, inflammation, and neurodevelopment. Dr Davidson started her research career at the University of Newcastle in Australia, where she looked at how the body’s inflammatory response works during respiratory infections. After that, she moved to the United Kingdom to do her PhD at the Francis Crick Research Institute in London. Her research focused on how genetics can influence the body’s inflammatory response to the Influenza A virus. Surprisingly, she found that certain aspects of the inflammatory response can make the disease worse. This discovery has since influenced clinical trials for both Influenza A virus and COVID-19.

Fascinated by the relationship between our genetics and inflammation, Dr Davidson joined the lab of Professor Seth Masters in 2016 (WEHI) to work on inflammatory diseases caused by genetic mutations. This research has led her into the field of neurodevelopment where she uses genetic editing, induced pluripotent stem cells, and super resolution imaging to investigate inflammatory pathways activated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Research

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism and intellectual disability affect over 7% of Australian children. Characterized by deficits in communication, motor skills and behavioural flexibility, they often result in a lifetime of dependence on family and the healthcare system. While over 40% of NDDs can be linked to genetic causes, identifying these genetic factors rarely leads to better treatment options. This is partly due to the limited treatment choices for NDD patients, and also because we don’t fully understand how many genetic mutations result in NDD.

Dr. Sophia Davidson’s research suggests that inflammation might be a common factor in many mutations associated with NDDs. It’s well-established that inflammation can disrupt brain development. The Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship will fund research into how inflammation is triggered by these NDD-linked genetic mutations. This research will include using induced pluripotent stem cells to simulate NDDs and exploring whether existing anti-inflammatory drugs could be repurposed to treat NDDs.

This research will shed light on previously unknown pathways which regulate inflammation during brain development. With the ultimate goal of making previously intractable NDDs treatable, thereby leading to significantly improved developmental outcomes and quality of life for NDD children and their families.

Associate Professor (A/Prof) Tamsyn Van Rheenen is Head of the Mood-Psychosis Spectrum Group at the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia.

A/Prof Van Rheenen completed her PhD at Swinburne University in 2014. She then moved to the University of Melbourne in 2015 to take up a prestigious NHMRC Early Career Fellowship and further develop her research program, which aims to characterize cognitive impairments in severe psychiatric disorders and understand the mechanisms behind them.

Despite several career interruptions, A/Prof Van Rheenen has published over 100 papers and received a number of prestigious international, national and local awards in recognition of her research excellence. These awards include a Gerald Klerman Young Investigator Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, a Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science, and a Paul Bourke Medal from the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Research

Current first-line treatments for bipolar disorder targets its mood and psychotic symptoms, but do not address the cognitive problems that substantially impact the ability to manage daily activities and function in educational, employment, and social settings. A/Prof Van Rheenen’s research program will contribute new knowledge to facilitate the development of intervention strategies targeted explicitly at this symptom dimension.

With the support of the Al and Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship, A/Prof Van Rheenen will map key risk and protective factors to cognitive traits from a trajectory-based perspective that accounts for different developmental windows in the life course of bipolar disorder for the first time. The major advances to be delivered by this research are 1) identification of new clinical, psychological, and neurobiological mechanisms and modifiers of cognitive symptoms in bipolar disorder, and 2) insights into their nature and timing that can be translated into treatment strategies informed by what should be targeted and when.

Miguel Renteria leads the Computational Neurogenomics Laboratory within the Mental Health and Neuroscience Program at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. He obtained his PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Queensland in 2014. He carried out postdoctoral research at the APDA Center for Advanced Research in Parkinson’s disease, Department of Neurology, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. Upon his return to Australia, he established the Australian Parkinson’s Genetics Study at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, with support from the Shake It Up Australia and Michael J. Fox Foundations. His research leverages advanced analytics methods and clinical, genetic, and neuroimaging data from large global datasets to investigate the aetiology of complex neurodegenerative diseases. Among other accolades, Dr Renteria has been a recipient of the Enrico Greppi International Migraine Research Award (2021), the holder of an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (2016-2020), a Chevening scholar (2015-2016), and an honorary member of Mexico’s National System of Investigators (since 2013). He is also an honorary Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute (since 2020).

Research

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative condition that affects >150,000 Australians and around 10 million people worldwide. It is the second most common neurological disorder in Australia and the fastest growing, with approximately 32 new cases every day. Although it has historically been defined as a movement disorder, due to its cardinal motor symptoms (i.e., rigidity, bradykinesia and resting tremor), individuals living with PD also present several non-motor symptoms, including cognitive impairment (e.g., executive dysfunction and attentional deficits), psychotic symptoms (e.g., visual hallucinations), mood disorders (i.e., depression, apathy, anxiety), autonomic dysfunction (e.g., orthostatic hypotension, urogenital incontinence, and constipation), loss of the sense of smell, chronic pain, and sleep disorders. The combination of motor and non-motor symptoms, and other comorbid conditions, impairs patients’ quality of life and increases stress for carers. Notably, the onset, intensity, and progression of the different clinical features of the disease and its comorbidities vary significantly from patient to patient, and the underlying mechanisms of such variation remain largely unknown.

The Australian Parkinson’s Genetics Study (APGS) is a nationwide study which aims to recruit and follow up a cohort of 10,000 people with PD from all over Australia to investigate how genetic and environmental factors influence the onset, symptoms, comorbidities, and progression of PD. APGS participants answer questions on medical history, family history, occupational and lifetime environmental exposures, prodromal and PD-related symptoms, physical and mental comorbidities, lifestyle factors, chronic pain, impulsivity, compulsivity, autonomic functions, sleep, physical activity, quality of life, care needs, among other aspects. In addition, their saliva samples are processed to extract and genotype their DNA using an Illumina whole-genome platform enriched for variants around genes implicated in PD and other neuropsychiatric conditions.

Dr Renteria and his team will apply methods from epidemiology, statistical genetics, and machine learning to analyse the APGS data and uncover genes and molecular pathways and mechanisms implicated in the disease that will enable them to identify the genetic drivers of PD risk, heterogeneity, and progression and to discover novel molecular targets to prevent, stop, modify or slow down disease progression.