Dr Nicola J. Smith is passionate about all things G protein-coupled receptor – the largest family of membrane proteins in the human genome. Nicola completed her undergraduate training in pharmacology and biochemistry at the University of Melbourne in 2002 (first class Honours) before commencing a PhD at the Baker Heart Research Institute under the tutelage of Profs Walter Thomas and Ross Hannan, where she studied the role of EGFR transactivation by the angiotensin II receptor in left ventricular hypertrophy (Uni Melb, 2003-7). In 2006, Nicola was awarded a joint NHMRC/NHF CJ Martin Overseas Fellowship to work in the laboratory of Prof Graeme Milligan, a world expert on G protein-coupled receptors (University of Glasgow, 2007-2011). In early 2011, Nicola returned to the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute to join the laboratory of Prof Robert Graham, a leader in the role of G protein-coupled receptors in cardiac physiology and pathophysiology, where she established a research program based upon orphan, or un-liganded, receptors (2011-2015). Nicola was appointed Group Leader in 2016 and was awarded a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship the following year. In mid-2019, Nicola accepted a senior lecturer appointment at UNSW Sydney School of Medical Sciences where she has established the Orphan Receptor Laboratory, as well as teaching into several pharmacology courses. In addition to her pharmacological studies, Nicola is a passionate science communicator and has worked as a radio science presenter, acted as Ambassador for IMB’s ‘When I Grow Up’ campaign and has spoken to many school and community groups about the joys of science and discovery. She is also very active within the pharmacology community and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Australasian Society for Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT), where she is also Scientific Advisory Committee Chair-Elect. In recognition of her contribution to research, teaching and community engagement, Nicola was promoted to Associate Professor at the beginning of 2022.

Please find attached an updated photo and bio below for the website: Dr Chantal Donovan is a respiratory pharmacologist and Head of the ImmunoPharmacology Research Group (IPRG) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. She completed her PhD in Pharmacology at The University of Melbourne in 2015 and postdoctoral training at Monash University and the University of Newcastle (Immunology & Microbiology). She was awarded an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (2017-2020) and NHMRC New Investigator grant (2018-2021) and was recruited to UTS as a faculty member in 2019. Her research specialises in drug discovery and pharmacological testing of novel treatments for lung diseases, using novel pre-clinical models of lung cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, combined with cutting-edge techniques to measure lung physiology, pharmacology and immunological mechanisms (e.g. precision cut lung slices, flow cytometry). She is currently on the Board of Directors of Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT) and convenes the ASCEPT Respiratory and Inflammation Special Interest Group.

Dr. Baoming Wang is a research fellow at the University of Technology Sydney and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, specialising in translational oncology and molecular diagnostics. After earning his PhD in Life Sciences from UTS in early 2021, he returned to China and spent three years in the biotechnology industry. He worked at Genetron Health Co., Ltd., a NASDAQ-listed precision oncology company, where he led the development of CE-certified RNA NGS panels (FusionCapture™ and FusionScan™) for detecting clinically actionable gene fusions. These panels have been applied in over 25,000 cancer patients and adopted by biopharma partners for clinical trial stratification and companion diagnostics. During his time in industry, he collaborated closely with clinicians from multiple hospitals and co-authored seven peer-reviewed clinical publications—six of which as co–first author. In late 2024, he returned to academia, integrating his industry experience into research on extracellular vesicles, environmental exposures, and lung cancer.