Mariah is a final-year PhD candidate at UNSW Sydney, supervised by A/Prof Nicola Smith. Her research focuses on the molecular pharmacology of BB3, an understudied G protein-coupled receptor with untapped therapeutic potential in lung cancer. She currently serves as Chair of the ASCEPT Student Committee, where she helps organise career workshops and networking events for students at the annual ASCEPT conferences.

I am a final-year PhD candidate at the UNSW Single Molecule Science initiative, where I use advanced microscopy and imaging approaches to investigate complex biological systems. I completed a Bachelor of Advanced Science in 2022 with majors in pharmacology and physiology, before commencing my PhD in 2023 in the Cytoskeleton and Motors Laboratory led by Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan. My research focuses on the molecular pharmacology of G protein-coupled receptors, particularly their endocytic regulation and intracellular signalling. Current work in my PhD examines how psychedelic compounds interact with serotonin receptors at the cellular level to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying their antidepressant effects. Through this research, I hope to contribute to the development of next-generation neuropsychiatric therapeutics and broader advances in receptor pharmacology. I also have a strong interest in fluorescence microscopy and the application of advanced imaging technologies to study dynamic cellular processes.

Dominika is a PhD candidate at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her PhD research focuses on the development of novel mechanisms-based mathematical models that can describe and predict full time-courses of bacterial growth and resistance emergence to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria that can cause life-threatening infections. She’s passionate about investigating ways to treat resistant bacterial “superbugs” by optimising dosing regimens of currently available antibiotics in the fight against antimicrobial resistance

Nicki Kyriacou is a PhD candidate within the Sydney Pharmacy School at The University of Sydney, Australia. In 2020, she obtained her Bachelor of Advanced Science (Honours) degree (Chemistry, Physiology) at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Following this, Nicki worked for GSK where she supported the Ethnopharmacology Team in the Clinical Pharmacology Modelling & Simulation group in profiling ethnic sensitivity for GSK R&D. Nicki’s PhD project investigates the interrelationship between ethnicity/geographic ancestry and the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of tyrosine kinase inhibitors used in oncology.

Tim is a PhD student at the Florey Institute studying molecular pharmacology. They are curious about GPCRs, specifically the sub-group of leucine-rich repeat GPCRs.

Supitchaya is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Pharmacology at Monash University as part of the IRAP Pharmacology Group and Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Pharmacology Group. Her area of research focuses on identifying novel therapeutic targets to treat Pulmonary Hypertension (PH). After graduating with First-Class Honours at Monash, she worked as a research assistant at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, testing compounds in preclinical mouse models of pancreatic cancer. Now, she continues her work in PH, investigating IRAP as a novel therapeutic target. This involves testing IRAP inhibitors and performing right heart catheterisation in mouse models of PH, and utilising immunohistochemistry to explore pathological changes within the lungs. She hopes to contribute to cardiovascular therapeutic testing and discover novel treatments to improve patient outcomes.