Dr Loic Yengo is an Associate Professor at The University of Queensland (UQ) and Group Leader of the Statistical Genomics Laboratory within UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience. After completing a PhD in applied mathematics and statistics at the University of Lille (France) in 2014, he joined UQ in 2016 for postdoctoral training in Quantitative and Statistical Genetics. Loic started his own lab in 2020 to investigate the causes and consequences of genetic variation within and between human populations. His group develops and applies novel statistical methods to analyse large volumes of genomic data. Loic's research has contributed to improving understanding of the genetic and phenotypic consequences of non-random mating (inbreeding and assortative mating) in human populations and has led to identifying novel genetic variants associated with complex traits and diseases. Loic was named among the top 40 rising stars of research by The Australian newspaper in 2021 and received the UQ Foundation research excellence award the same year. Loic is the 2022 recipient of the Ruth Stephens Gani Medal of the Australian Academy of Science recognizing outstanding contributions to research in human genetics, and was named in Nature Medicine's 2022 Yearbook among 11 early-career researchers "to watch".

Fleur Garton is a researcher focused on improving outcomes for those with a neurological disease. She completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons I) in 2008 at the University of Sydney. Pursing an interest in the molecular basis of skeletal muscle function she completed her honours and PhD at the Institute of Neuroscience and Muscle research at the Children's Hospital Westmead. Fleur spent two-years as post-doctoral researcher at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne. She was responsible for modelling the effect of gene dosage using rAAV vectors while helping to contribute to studies on human performance and health. In 2016, Fleur moved to work with Professor Naomi Wray at the Program in Complex Trait Genomics team at the University of Queensland. She was awarded a Bill Gole MND Postdoctoral fellowship from MNDRA in 2016, an NHMRC Early Career Researcher Fellowship (2017-2022) and is now the Scott Sullivan MND Research Fellow (2022). Her research program aims to further understand the genetic mechanisms of motor neurone disease (MND/ALS) using novel genomics analyses. This includes investigations into the use of cell-free DNA and other 'omic data to improve diagnosis and treatment. Fleur currently has research projects running at the Royal Brisbane Womens Hospital and the Mater Hospital together with local and international collaborators. Any potential participants or collaborators are encouraged to contact her on email about these projects.

As part of the management executive of the Program in Complex Traits Genomics (PCTG) based at the Institute for Molecular Biosciences (IMB) Anjali is responsible for the day-to-day running of the PCTG, including the coordination of their research activities and strategies, research governance and supervison of their high-through put genomics laboratory. Anjali has over 15 years experience in managing complex, large-scale research programmes and specialises in facilitating and managing interdisciplinary collaborations and consortiums.

Prior to moving to UQ, Anjali was the Senior Project Manager for the Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory at the Queensland Institute for Medical research (QIMR) where she held an integral role in the management of large human research projects collecting biological samples for down stream genomics. Her significant contribution to these projects has been recognised by her inclusion in publications and commentaries.

Dr Kemper is a postdoctoral fellow in statistical genetics. She joined UQ in 2016 after obtaining a PhD and postdoctoral experience at the University of Melbourne (2006-2016). Her expertise and research interests span a range of topics in quantitative genetics, including genomic prediction, modelling the epidemiological consequences of genetic change in disease and population genetics. Current research areas include:

• genetic analysis of longitudinal traits
• estimation of non-additive genetic effects
• genomic prediction in admixed populations

My group's research uses large-scale genomic data to address knowledge gaps in disease and health, with a particular focus on cardiovascular disease.

Research programme

1. Using genomic data to improve understanding, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. My research aims to:

· Improve our understanding of heart failure biology. From 2016-2020 I was the lead analyst for the HERMES Consortium, co-leading one of the largest genetic studies of heart failure at the time of publication

· Improve our understanding sex-specific cardiovascular risk

· Improve our understanding cardiovascular comorbidity, particular in psychiatric disorders

· Improve cardiovascular risk assessment in the Australian South Asian population. See saghaus.org for further details.

2. Pharmacogenomics

· Using genomics to identify drug repurposing opportunities as well as identifying unknown adverse effects of medication

· Developing a genomics pipeline aimed at understanding the mechanism of action of new compounds to facilitate drug discovery.

3. Improving liver transplant outcomes

· Using genomics to understand the effect of normo-thermic perfusion (a new organ storage method) on liver function.

· Using genomics to improve prediction of short and long-term liver transplant outcomes

Career summary: I was awarded my PhD from University College London (UK) in cardiovascular genetics. I began my post-doctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Prof Peter Visscher at the Queensland Brain Institute in 2013. In 2018, I was awarded an NHMRC Early Career Researcher Fellowship to investigate the relationship between cardiovascular and brain-related disorders using large-scale genetic and genomic data, under the mentorship of Prof Naomi Wray. I currently hold a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship.

I am the recipient of:

2020 Genetic Society of Australasia Early Career Award

2020 Women in Technology Rising Star Science Award

2021/2022 Australian Superstar of STEM,

2022 UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award

2022 Queensland Young Tall Poppy Award

2023: Named in Australia's Top 25 Women in Science by Newscorp

2023 1 of 5 global finalists for the Nature Inspiring Women in Science (Scientific Achievement Award)

2023 Lifesciences QLD Rose-Anne Kelso Award

Dr Jian Zeng is a statistical geneticist and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at the University of Queensland (UQ). He received his PhD in animal breeding and genetics at Iowa State University and joined the Program in Complex Trait Genomics (PCTG) at UQ in 2016. His research focuses on the development and application of innovative statistical methods for estimating the genetic architecture and evolutionary signals in complex traits, identifying genetic variants, genes and other molecular intermediates associated with phenotype variation, and predicting trait phenotypes using genome sequence data. In 2019, he was awarded an NHMRC Investigator Emerging Leadership Grant to develop statistical methods and software tools for best predict an individual's disease risk using genomic and omics data. He was an invited speaker at the prestigious Gordon Research Conference in 2019.