Critical Care Medicine focuses on supporting patients, often with one or multiple organ failures. Based at the largest Australian cardiac hospital, our research investigates better ways to support patients with heart and/or lung failure. We explore technological, pharmacological and engineering advances that could help our patients to live longer and better. Our group is world-renowned for clinically relevant large animal models, including heart failure, respiratory failure (ARDS), heart transplantation, sepsis, cardiogenic shock, and more. All our studies use hospital-grade equipment and follow the same clinical guideline to maximise translation. We actively take on honours, MPhil and PhD students from multi-disciplinary backgrounds (science, engineering, medicine, allied health), with a successful track record in supporting our students to secure their own grants and funding. Students are expected to contribute to other studies of the group. For more information about the group, please visit ccrg.org.au, and email if you are interested to join us.

Research interests in Artificial Heart and Lung therapies.

Charted Engineering (Biomedical) with Engineers Australia and BPEQ. Industry experience in nonclinical device testing and regulatory submissions of total artificial heart.

Engineering Lead at Innovative Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology Laboratory (ICETLab), Critical Care Research Group, The Prince Charles Hospital

I am a Research Fellow at The University of Queensland, working within the Cardiovascular and Critical Care Research Group (CCRG). My work focuses on mitochondrial function and dysfunction in clinically relevant settings, with an emphasis on improving organ preservation, transplantation outcomes, and critical-care interventions. This includes mitochondrial transplantation, ischaemia–reperfusion injury, and the development of bioenergetic markers of organ viability using high-resolution respirometry and translational physiology approaches.

Alongside, I hold a Research Fellow position in the Applied Surgery and Metabolism Laboratory (ASML) at the University of Auckland, where my research focuses on comparative mitochondrial physiology. I investigate how animals, including sharks, fishes and insects, maintain mitochondrial performance under extreme conditions such as hypoxia, thermal stress, and acidosis. These natural adaptations serve as bio-inspiration for emerging biomedical applications.

I also collaborate with the Cawthron Institute, where I assess mitochondrial health and stress resilience in aquaculture species, contributing to the development of tools for improving organismal performance under environmental change. This work supports the advancement of sustainable aquaculture and climate-resilience strategies.

Across these institutions, my goal is to integrate comparative biology, translational physiology, and bioenergetics to generate clinically and environmentally meaningful insights—linking evolutionary adaptations with innovation in human health and ecological resilience.

Laura Genovesi is a Cure Brain Cancer Foundation Research Fellow within the Paediatric Brain Cancer Laboratory headed by Professor Brandon Wainwright.

Dr Genovesi is a cancer biologist specialising in in vivo pre-clinical models to dissect the mechanisms underpinning growth of medulloblastoma, a paediatric brain tumour. They were awarded their PhD in 2012 (University of Western Australia), where they studied the role of microRNAs in the transformation of human neural stem cells to Medulloblastoma. They relocated to the University of Queensland to commence her post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Prof. Brandon Wainwright. Dr Genovesi's post-doctoral research focuses on discovering and targeting the genetic networks that drive medulloblastoma. Their work has contributed to defining regulatory networks underlying the growth of medulloblastoma and the therapeutic application of CDK4/6 inhibitors in the treatment of medulloblastoma. Most recently, her work has characterised the status of the blood brain barrier in some of the most widely used patient derived orthotopic xenograft models of medulloblastoma. Dr Laura Genovesi's research is now focused on understanding the intrinsic and adaptive plasticity of tumour cells and acellular components of the brain tumour microenvironment (TME) that drive tumour progression and determine response to therapy. Their research integrates integrates diverse preclinical model systems including patient-derived in vivo models and dynamic ex vivo 3D hydrogel models with innovative spatial transcriptomics/ imaging and advanced computational cancer biology aiming to ultimately to improve the lives of children diagnosed with brain tumours.