Dr Paris Papagianis is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Respiratory Pharmacology Lab within the Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) at Monash University. Paris’ core research focus is on lung damage and disease after environmental (bushfire) or occupational (silica dust) exposures. Paris continues to draw links between lung injury and inflammation induced by chemicals in bushfire smoke or by occupational silica dust, both leading to lung fibrosis and silicosis. She was part of the first clinical studies investigating silicosis from engineered stone, which led to the world-first banning of engineered stone in Australia. Now, her team is developing portable screening tools to help identify high-risk workers in remote at-risk occupations such as mining. Paris’s ultimate research goals include providing tools to assist in prevention and earlier detection of silicosis, to better understand how climate change is impacting lung health and to educate consumers and workers about the dangers of inhaled smoke and dust.

Tracy Josephs is a NHMRC Investigator fellow and group leader at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), where she leads the Structural DynOmics of Membrane Proteins Laboratory within the Drug Discovery Biology theme. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Otago (New Zealand) and has since built an interdisciplinary research program focused on understanding protein structure and dynamics in physiologically relevant environments. Her work integrates membrane protein function, pharmacogenomics, and disease-relevant signalling mechanisms. Tracy is passionate about translating dynamic structural insights into precision and patient-informed drug discovery.

Prof. Jianfei Long is an Associate Researcher and MD in Clinical Pharmacy at Fudan University, serving as a Master’s supervisor. She is a clinical pharmacist at Huashan Hospital and a committee member of the Chinese Geriatrics Society. Prof. Long leads multiple projects funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, has published over ten first-author SCI papers (Impact Factor up to 26.8), and received awards including the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association Outstanding Case Award. His research focuses on gut microbiota in chronic disease and vestibular schwannoma organoid models for drug screening and mechanistic studies.

Weiying Zhou, Ph.D., is a full professor and director of Department of Phamacology at College of Pharmacy in Chongqing Medical University (CQMU). She is a vice chairman of the Chemotherapy Pharmacology Professional Committee of the Chinese Pharmacological Society. Her research interests focus on pharmacology of anti-cancer drugs and anti-metabolic disorder drugs. Her research is also on the basic biological aspects of breast cancer and prostate cancer, such as the mechanisms of invasion and metastasis and chemotherapy resistance. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles as the first/corresponding author in the scientific journals including Cancer Cell, British Journal of Pharmacology, Phytomedicine, Journal of Translational Medicine, Neoplasia, npj Breast Cancer, Biochemical Pharmacology, EUR J PHARMACO, and Journal of Drug Targeting.

Dr Lauren Phillips studied in biological sciences where she became fascinated with the world of genetics and how changes to our DNA can affect our body’s form and function. She gained diverse research experience whilst investigating novel genetic causes of limb girdle muscular dystrophy using whole exome and whole genome sequencing, before securing a PhD studentship to identify novel genetic causes of Congenital Heart Disease and Cardiomyopathies. Following the completion of her PhD, she joined the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford as a British Heart Foundation funded postdoctoral researcher investigating the mechanism of myoendothelial feedback within the microvasculature. Lauren currently holds a Fellowship by Examination at Magdalen College, Oxford investigating mechanisms of vasoconstriction and relaxation to identify potential therapeutic targets for diseases including hypertension, coronary heart disease and heart failure.

Yuxiang Ren is a PhD student at Monash University, working in the areas of mRNA therapeutics, nanomedicine, and pharmacokinetics. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Zhejiang University in 2020 and completed his Master’s training at ETH Zurich in 2023, where he developed a solid foundation in drug delivery systems and translational pharmaceutical research. His current research focuses on lipid nanoparticle (LNP)–based mRNA delivery, metabolic disease, and the in vivo pharmacokinetic and biodistribution profiling of nucleic acid therapeutics. He is particularly interested in how formulation parameters influence therapeutic performance and safety. Outside of research, he enjoys traveling, scuba diving, badminton, and photography.