Meet Our Team
 | Research Fellow, Department of Infectious Disease. Dr Paula Cevaal is a Research Fellow in the lab of Professor Sharon Lewin at the Doherty Institute, working at the interface of mRNA technology, nanomedicine and infectious diseases. Paula has extensive experience developing non-viral vectors to efficiently deliver therapeutics to T cells in vitro and in vivo, and is a co-inventor on two international patent applications related to this work. She currently works closely with the University’s Business Development and K&TT teams to explore opportunities to commercialise her research and translate it into real-world impact. |
| Senior Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry and Anatomy and Physiology. Dr Maria Di Biase is an emerging leader in biological psychiatry who advances multimodal neuroimaging—spanning quantitative MRI and connectivity mapping—to define mechanistic, clinically useful brain biomarkers. Maria couples in-vivo imaging readouts with patient-derived stem-cell models, creating bidirectional assays that link cellular phenotypes to circuit-level signatures. Her innovation focus is on turning these imaging biomarkers into scalable, industry-ready tools for patient stratification and treatment monitoring in severe mental illness. |
 | Associate Professor Anita D’Aprano Principal Research Fellow, Department of Paediatrics. Associate Professor Anita D'Aprano is a consultant paediatrician and Principal Research Fellow in Indigenous Child Health at the University of Melbourne, known for co-developing ASQ TRAK, the first culturally adapted developmental screening tool for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Anita leads innovation in translational research, scaling ASQ TRAK nationally and supporting its integration into health, education and early childhood systems with a strengths-based, community-engaged model. |
 | Head of Department, Department of Medicine. Director, Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI). Director, Centre for Research and Education in Diabetes and Obesity (CREDO). Head, Diabetes Research at Austin Health. Sir Edward Weary Dunlop Professorial Fellow in Metabolic Medicine and Dame Kate Campbell Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Professor Elif Ekinci is a renowned clinician-scientist in diabetes and metabolic health, dedicated to pioneering innovative approaches to chronic disease care. Elif is Head of the Department of Medicine at the Melbourne Medical School and Director of the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI), championing cross-sector collaboration and translational research to improve health outcomes. |
 | Principal Investigator Ophthalmic Neuroscience Unit, CERA. Honorary, Department of Surgery. Dr Xavier Hadoux is Head of the Ophthalmic Neuroscience Unit at the Centre for Eye Research Australia, where he leads research at the intersection of retinal imaging, artificial intelligence, and neurodegenerative disease. Xavier holds a PhD in Computer Science from Montpellier University, with a background in engineering and image processing from leading French institutions. Dr Hadoux is the lead author of the first study to describe a non-invasive retinal biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease using hyperspectral imaging, published in Nature Communications. He is now spearheading the development of a novel platform technology that combines a non-mydriatic retinal hyperspectral camera with AI-based image analysis to improve early detection of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. With deep expertise in image analysis, machine learning, and multi-modal data integration, he brings a strong translational focus to research commercialisation in ophthalmology and beyond. |
 | Head, Department of Clinical Pathology. Deputy Head, Clinical School. Research Group Leader, Collaborative Centre for Genomic Cancer Medicine. Professor Fred Hollande's research group develops innovative and clinically relevant disease models, and combines phenotypic and genomic analyses to advance knowledge and foster the development of precision oncology strategies in cancers of poor prognosis. Working at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, 1996-2012) and at the University of Melbourne, Fred and his team have made significant discoveries about mechanisms that underlie the genetic and non-genetic heterogeneity within colorectal and pancreatic tumours. In 2007, he co-founded a start-up company to translate some of his research findings into clinical applications. He worked as the joint CSO of the company for 4 years, until its acquisition by a pharmaceutical company in 2011. |
 | Professor Tu'uhevaha Kaitu'u-Lino Deputy Head of Department of Obstetrics Gynaecology and Newborn Health. Co-Group Head, Translational Obstetrics Group. Professor Tu’uhevaha Kaitu’u-Lino is a translational scientist in the field of obstetrics. She is currently working to validate and commercialise a blood test to prevent stillbirth, as well as collaborating with materials engineers to develop a point-of-care version of the test. |
 | Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Medicine (RMH). Dr Kevin Lee is an emerging innovator in translational immunology, whose research is driving the development of novel therapies and advancing precision medicine for chronic arthritis diseases, including osteoarthritis. Strategic collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies pave a pathway for translating Dr Lee's laboratory discoveries into enterprise-ready solutions, leading to real-world impact. |
 | Associate Professor Forbes McGain OAM Associate Dean, Sustainable Healthcare, Department of Critical Care. Anaesthetist and Intensive Care Physician. Footscray ICU Director, Western Health, Melbourne. In early 2020, as the COVID-19 Pandemic arose, Associate Professor Forbes McGain OAM collaborated with Jason Monty and the University of Melbourne Mechanical Engineering team, alongside Western Health clinicians, to create a device that would keep healthcare workers safe as they treated patients with COVID-19. Thus was born the McMonty Hood, designed and built in Melbourne! |
 | Head of Vascular Bionics Laboratory, Department of Medicine. Professor Nicholas Opie is a world expert in neural interfaces and the founding CTO of Synchron, a company developing brain-computer interfaces to restore function in patients with paralysis. He has translated multiple medical devices from concept to clinic including the Stentrode, named one of Time Magazine’s Top 100 Inventions of 2021, and has raised over AUD $ 217 million in funding and grants to advance medical innovation. |
| Senior Research Fellow and Clinical Psychologist, Department of Rural Health. Dr Tegan Podubinski is a clinical psychologist and rural health academic whose research uses innovative technologies, including virtual reality and computer-based simulations, to prepare health professionals for, and attract them to, rural practice. Her projects are advancing evidence-based and scalable approaches to building a sustainable rural health workforce. |
 | MD2 & MD3 Coordinator, Department of Medical Education. State Integration lead, Victorian Virtual Specialist Consults, Northern Health. Dr Morgan Rayner coordinates the second and third year of the Doctor of Medicine and is the state integration lead for the Victorian Virtual Specialist Consults. He is working with domestic and international partners to develop a virtual placement model for healthcare students, training them in digital health competencies and increasing equity in placement opportunities. |
 | Honorary, Department of Infectious Disease. Dr George Taiaroa’s research centres on the diagnosis and characterisation of infectious diseases, with a strong emphasis on global health. George has played a leading role in developing patented methods and has contributed to the development of regulatory-approved diagnostic tests manufactured in Australia. |
 | Associate Professor Richard Tothill Head, Rare Disease Oncogenomics Laboratory. Principal Research Scientist, Department of Clinical Pathology. Associate Professor Richard Tothill is a cancer genomics research scientist within the Department of Clinical Pathology and Collaborative Centre for Genomic Cancer Medicine. Richard is currently the Head of the Rare Disease Oncogenomics Laboratory, and his research involves the use of cutting-edge genomic techniques to construct detailed molecular portraits of rare cancers. In addition to his foundational research, he also develops diagnostic tests and has led the translation of genomic testing into clinical practice. |
 | Senior Research Fellow , Department of Medicine (Austin Health) and ACADI. Dr Barbara White is the Head and Research Lead of the Islet Biology and Metabolism Group (Department of Medicine - Austin Health) and Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI), with an honorary Senior Fellow appointment at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. With over 20 years of experience in obesity and type 2 diabetes research, she is passionate about developing innovative therapeutic approaches for diabetes and obesity. Barbara's work spans from fundamental discovery science to translational studies, with a keen interest in fostering academia-industry partnerships to bridge laboratory findings with clinical applications. |
