2023 Alumni

Professor Daniel P. Aldrich Distinguished Chair

An award-winning author, Daniel has published five books, more than eighty peer-reviewed articles, and written op-eds for The New York Times, CNN and Asahi Shinbun, along with appearing on popular media outlets such as CNBC, MSNBC, NPR and the Huffington Post. He has spent more than five years carrying out fieldwork in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and his research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Program and the Abe Foundation.

Daniel will use his Fulbright Distinguished Chair Scholarship to study how geographic and virtual social networks filter the information that we receive and how we act on that information.

Professor Robin Elizabeth Bell Distinguished Chair

Robin, a Lamont Research Professor at Columbia University, studies how Antarctic ice is changing, and works with coastal communities developing scientifically informed responses to changing sea levels. She has led seven major Antarctic expeditions discovering an active volcano, large lakes and backwards-flowing rivers in a hidden mountain range beneath the ice.-

Through her Fulbright Distinguished Chair Scholarship at CSIRO, Robin will advance an international plan to study ice sheet change and investigate improved support for coastal communities undergoing rapid environmental change. A champion of women in science, she will use evidence-based approaches to advance the diversity of the academic and research workforces.

Distinguished Professor Robert Camley Distinguished Chair

Bob is the Director of the BioFrontiers Center and a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS). An awardwinning teacher and researcher, his investigations have ranged from topics such as developing a theory for the Nobel Prize-winning Giant Magnetoresistance effect (with Jozef Barnas) to helping create a fastswitching liquid crystal filter for studying biological processes in live cells.

For his Fulbright Distinguished Chair award, Bob will be at The University of Newcastle working with Dr. Karen Livesey on approaches to killing cancerous tumors using magnetic nanoparticles. In his spare time he is a keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for the UCCS Physics Rock and Roll band.

Professor Andrew N. Cleland Distinguished Chair

Andrew pursues the experimental development of superconducting “qubits”, the leading candidates for building a quantum computer, and key elements for quantum sensing. In addition to focusing on the development of quantum circuits with the highest coherence and longest-lived entangled states, he has pursued the development of quantum acoustics, manipulating sound waves in the quantum limit.

Having demonstrated the first operation of a mechanical system in its quantum ground state, Andrew will use his time as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair to pursue the integration of superconducting qubits with other solid-state qubit families, linked by phonons, the quanta of sound.

Professor D. Vaughan Griffiths, PhD, PE, FICE, Dist.M.ASCE Distinguished Chair

Vaughan is a Professor at the Colorado School of Mines and a Civil Engineer, whose interests lie in application of finite element and risk assessment methodologies in geotechnical engineering. He has co-authored three books that have gone into multiple and foreign language editions, and his numerous research papers include some of the most highly cited in the geotechnical engineering research literature.

Vaughan’s Fulbright Distinguished Chair at The University of Newcastle will include research with Professor Anna Giacomini and colleagues on risk assessment of offshore wind turbine foundations and rock instability on coastal paths exacerbated by climate change.

Professor Janette Boughman, PhD Senior Scholars

11 Janette is a full Professor of Integrative Biology with over 30 years’ experience asking fundamental evolutionary questions about fish, bats, birds and people. She is a leading expert on speciation, the part of biology that seeks to understand how biodiversity is created and maintained, and studies how adaptation to novel environments contributes to speciation.

Janette’s Fulbright research focuses on the evolutionary processes that generate and maintain biodiversity, and how anthropogenic change undermines these processes. If we can protect those processes, we can help protect biodiversity itself.

Professor Michael Breadmore, FTSE, FRACI Senior Scholars

Michael obtained his PhD in Analytical Chemistry in 2001 from the University of Tasmania (UTAS), and was awarded his DSc in 2017. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed papers, supported over the past 18 years at UTAS with over $22M of research funding. He has held three Australian Research Council fellowships, and received numerous prizes and recognition, including the 2019 Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science for Safeguarding Australia. Michael is a co-inventor on a number of patents, with four commercial products at market, and in 2022 was made a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).

Michael’s Fulbright research aims to develop a new dry, solid-state platform with which to measure important molecules for personalised medicine, environmental analysis, forensic science and industry process monitoring and control.

Professor Jeff Burgess, MD, MS, MPH Senior Scholars

Jeff is Director of the Firefighter Health Collaborative Research Program at the University of Arizona. He has worked as an Emergency Medicine physician, Medical Toxicologist and Occupational and Environmental Medicine physician. Jeff has served as Principal Investigator for multiple Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funded research grants with firefighters and is a co-lead of the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS).

Jeff’s Fulbright project is to establish a bush/ wildland/wildland-urban interface (WUI) firefighter health research collaborative between Australia and the U.S. and to identify high-priority research necessary to formulate policies to protect the health of bush, wildland and WUI firefighters.

Dr. Sarah K. Calabrese Senior Scholars

Sarah is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the Department of Prevention and Community Health at George Washington University (GWU). She earned her PhD in psychology from GWU and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at Yale University. Her research focuses on stigma, sexual health, HIV prevention and healthcare inequity.

As a Fulbright Future Scholar, Sarah will explore the perspectives of Australian and U.S. healthcare providers and sexual minority men with HIV regarding stigma and patient-provider communication about new HIV biomedical prevention and treatment options to inform an intervention

Professor Carlos Hiller Hidrovo Chavez Senior Scholars

Carlos is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at Northeastern University. He earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Prior to joining Northeastern University, Carlos held professional appointments at MIT, Stanford University and the University of Texas at Austin. He is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award from the Fluid Dynamics program, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award from the Microsystems Technology Office, and an American Society of Mechanical Engineers Robert T. Knapp Award.

The overarching goal of Carlos’ Fulbright Future Scholarship research is to integrate and implement a surface acoustic wave (SAW) control methodology into pneumatic based gas-liquid droplet microfluidics (GasLiD-μ) generation systems. The premise is that SAW control could lead to enhanced liquid droplet generation in terms of smaller size, higher generation rate and homogeneity.

Professor Daniel Conway Senior Scholars

Daniel is Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Affiliate Professor of Religious Studies and Film Studies, and Courtesy Professor in the School of Law and the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. He has lectured and published widely on topics in post-Kantian European philosophy, aesthetics (especially film and literature), religion, critical theory and genocide studies.

Daniel’s Fulbright research project will involve a study of innovative efforts to repair relations with First Nations peoples and Indigenous communities.

Professor Alicia Dennis Senior Scholars

Alicia is an obstetric anaesthesiologist and the first Director of Anaesthesia Research at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Parkville. As a clinician researcher, and following on from her PhD work using heart ultrasound in the high blood pressure condition of preeclampsia in pregnant people, she leads a unique program of obstetric cardiac research in people with preeclampsia. Alicia has academic appointments at The University of Melbourne and Deakin University, and has held an NHMRC Fellowship in obstetric perioperative medicine. She has been awarded the President’s Medal from the Australian Society of Anaesthetists for extraordinary service to the Society.

Alicia will use her Fulbright Future Scholarship to undertake The Hopeful Hearts Project at The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. This project will create a collaborative platform to advance understanding of the mechanisms of high blood pressure (using heart ultrasound) in people with preeclampsia.

Professor John Dilles Senior Scholars

John is Geology Professor at Oregon State University and has supervised 40 postgraduate studies of mineral deposits in North and South America, Africa and Asia. He obtained degrees at California Institute of Technology and Stanford University, and uses structural geology, geochemistry and petrology to understand formation of metallic mineral deposits. He received the Society of Economic Geologist’s Silver Medal for research on “porphyry deposits” that supply much globally mined copper, molybdenum and gold.

For his Fulbright Future Scholarship, John will collaborate with researchers and use state-of-theart laboratories at Curtin University to investigate sulfur in magmas that supply hydrothermal fluids, metals and sulfur to mineral deposits

Professor Diane Fatkin Senior Scholars

Diane is a molecular cardiologist and leads a research group at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Sydney. She also holds appointments as Professor (conjoint), at St Vincent’s Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, and Honorary Medical Officer in the Cardiology Department at St Vincent’s Hospital. Diane’s research is focused on understanding the genetic underpinnings of inherited heart muscle and rhythm disorders and spans from studies in families to zebrafish models.

Diane will use the Fulbright Scholarship to undertake a sabbatical study visit to the Seidman Laboratory at Harvard Medical School in Boston. She plans to gain experience in cutting-edge techniques for studying heart function at the molecular level. These innovative research tools promise to provide unprecedented insights into causes of genetic heart disease, opening new opportunities for disease treatment and prevention.

Dr. Lekelia Jenkins PhD Senior Scholars

Lekelia (“Kiki”) is a marine sustainability scientist and Associate Professor at Arizona State University. She researches the human dimensions of marine sustainability solutions, including fisheries conservation technologies and marine renewable energy. Her work has led to regulatory changes for more sustainable fisheries, has advised international fisheries diplomacy, and has informed renewable energy policy. An award-winning choreographer, she also studies science dance as a means of science engagement and social change.

Kiki’s Fulbright Scholar Award at the University of the Sunshine Coast will see her researching how science art can improve uptake of fisheries sustainability and safety practices.

Professor Margaret E. Johnson Senior Scholars

Margaret is a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center on Applied Feminism at The University of Baltimore School of Law. She has published many articles regarding law and menstruation, including Menstrual Justice. She has advocated successfully for laws providing free access to menstrual products and better policies for menstruators. She is a “Menstruation to Menopause” expert for Our Bodies Ourselves Today. Margaret is a graduate of Wisconsin Law School, cum laude and Dartmouth College.

Margaret’s Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Technology Sydney will involve conducting comparative research of menstruation, law and policy between Australia and the United States.

Dr. Valerie K. Jones Senior Scholars

Valerie is curious about what’s next. That curiosity fueled a career at media agencies from Chicago to San Francisco, the creation of her own digital media consultancy, and a move to academia. She is now a Fred and Gladys Seaton Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications, and Director of the Public Insight Lab.

For her Fulbright Future Scholarship, Valerie will be working with the Social Innovation Research Institute at Swinburne University of Technology, exploring how emergent technologies, specifically voice assistants, activate social connection and influence loneliness among ageing adults.

Professor Akhil Kumar Senior Scholars

Akhil is a Professor of Information Systems at the Smeal College of Business, Pennsylvania State University. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include business process management, supply chain and business analytics, blockchain technology and health information technology. Kumar has received funding from the National Science Foundation and many corporations. He is an Associate Editor for the Association for Computing Machinery Transactions on Management Information Systems. His book, Business Process Management, was published by Routledge in 2018.

Akhil’s Fulbright Scholarship at Central Queensland University will be spent working on an anti-money laundering project.

Professor Yan Li Senior Scholars

Driven by an intellectual curiosity for data and emergent information technologies, and a passion for designing and building things, Yan has oriented her career in a direction that integrates research, teaching and practice in the realm of information science. She aspires to conduct impactful scholarship to advance scientific knowledge and make the world a better place.

Yan’s expertise in machine learning and AI, digital inclusion, mobile health and design science research will see her lead a Fulbright project that aims to ensure the digital inclusion of an AI-enabled digital cognitive assessment tool for the early detection of dementia.

Professor Maranda McBride Senior Scholars

Maranda is a Professor of Supply Chain Management and Director of the Center for Advanced Transportation Mobility at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina. Her research focuses on investigating people’s trust in and willingness to utilise shared autonomous shuttles/buses to increase the likelihood of implementation and help decrease traffic fatalities.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Maranda will study factors that impact acceptance and adoption of shared autonomous vehicles particularly by vulnerable road users. Findings will be relevant to road users in the U.S. and Australia where traffic fatalities are one of the leading causes of non-natural/accidental death.

Professor Gretchen E. Minton, PhD Senior Scholars

Gretchen is Professor of English at Montana State University. She has published extensively on Shakespeare and his contemporaries, including several critical editions. She is the co-founder of Montana InSite Theatre, which is dedicated to sitespecific performances that use classical texts to address environmental issues. Gretchen also serves as dramaturg and script adaptor for Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, which participated in the 2021-22 international project called Cymbeline in the Anthropocene.

Gretchen will travel to James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland for her Fulbright project entitled Applied Theatre for Shakespeare and the Environment. She is writing and workshopping an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night that speaks to local environmental concerns in North Queensland.

Susan A. Nolan, PhD Senior Scholars

Susan is a Professor of Psychology at Seton Hall University, New Jersey. She is a past President of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and a former representative from the American Psychological Association to the United Nations, both experiences that contributed to her strong interest in fostering international dialogue about higher education in psychology.

As a Fulbright Scholar in Australia, Susan will research perceptions of psychology higher education and assessment, as well as develop an international collaboration on core outcomes for undergraduate psychology. Susan previously conducted related research as a Fulbright Scholar in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dr Latha Palaniappan, MD, MS Senior Scholars

Latha is an internist and clinical researcher focused on the study of diverse populations, chronic disease and prevention. She piloted the first pharmacogenomics clinic at Stanford University and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Personalized Medicine.

The Fulbright Scholarship builds upon Latha’s previous accomplishments by supporting her interest in the implementation of pharmacogenomics in health systems around the world. In Australia, she will partner with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to explore pharmacogenomic testing in a universal health care system. This effort is crucial to strengthening global health.

Professor Travis Ridout Senior Scholars

Travis is the Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Professor of Government and Public Policy, and Director of the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at Washington State University. He also serves as Co-Director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising. His research on political campaigns, political advertising and campaign finance has appeared in dozens of journal articles, books and book chapters.

Travis’ Fulbright project examines the rise of digital political advertising in Australia, using that lens to understand its consequences for citizens and democratic politics.

Professor Carolyn Ross Senior Scholars

Carolyn is a Professor in the School of Food Science at Washington State University (WSU), Affiliate Professor in the WSU School of Medicine, and Director of the WSU Sensory Science Center. The overall objective of Carolyn’s research is to understand the theoretical basis underpinning the sensory perception of foods and beverages, and to correlate these attributes with quantifiable characteristics. This research has resulted in numerous scientific research articles and scientific presentations.

Building upon her previous research, the focus of Carolyn’s Fulbright project is to explore food texture sensitivities in children, with a focus on children with Down syndrome.

Dr Rita Shah Senior Scholars

Rita is a cultural criminologist who combines textual analysis with qualitative and visual methods to understand the ways in which correctional systems are socially and legally constructed. Her work has been published in the British Journal of Criminology and Contemporary Justice Review and is supported by National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation grants. Her most recent book, The Meaning of Rehabilitation and its Impact on Parole: There and Back Again in California (2017), queries the concept of “rehabilitation” to determine how, on a legislative and policy level, the term is defined as a goal of correctional systems. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications, legal institutions, economics and government from American University and her Master of Arts degree in social ecology, and her PhD in criminology, law and society, from the University of California, Irvine.

Rita’s Fulbright research aims to understand whether the implementation of human rights principles within a prison can lead to change, or if the ideals legitimise existing practices.

Professor Elizabeth A. Stone Senior Scholars

Elizabeth is an atmospheric chemist and Professor in the in the Department of Chemistry, and the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, at the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on understanding the sources, transformations and environmental impacts of particulate matter in the atmosphere through fieldbased and laboratory measurements.

Elizabeth’s Fulbright project will examine the occurrence and size distributions of biological particulate matter in the atmosphere, and the role of pollen and pollen fragments in thunderstorm asthma epidemics that recur in Victoria, Australia.

Associate Professor Neal P. Sullivan Senior Scholars

Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. His research is focused on production of green hydrogen. As Director of the Colorado Fuel Cell Center, Neal seeks to advance new electroceramic materials that harness renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, enabling long-term energy storage. Green hydrogen is a key feedstock in green steel, green ammonia and other large-scale industrial products.

As the 2023 Fulbright Scholar in Resources and Energy, Neal will work with John Curtin Distinguished Professor Zongping Shao of Curtin University, a world expert in electroceramic materials.

Professor Naomi Sunderland Senior Scholars

Naomi is a proud descendant of the First Nations People of Australia alongside her family’s diverse European heritage. Naomi works at the interface of arts and health disciplines to develop internationally recognised theories, models and approaches for trauma-informed and arts-based research, teaching and practice. She is an Australian Research Council Fellow investigating First Nations music as a cultural determinant of health.

Naomi’s Fulbright Scholarship at the University of New Mexico aims to examine the potential of collective community music activities in responding to mass experiences of collective trauma in First Nations and other communities.

Xixi Wang, Ph.D., P.E., GPD Senior Scholars

Xixi is currently Professor and Graduate Program Director in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Old Dominion University, Virginia. He has extensive teaching and research experience in hydrology, hydraulics and water resources. His research interests include effects of climate change versus human activity on water resources, water-soil-vegetation nexus and equilibrium, and hydrologic modeling and stormwater management. He has authored/co-authored numerous journal papers, conference presentations, reports, books and book chapters. He has been a registered Professional Engineer in North Dakota since 2003, and in Texas between 2007 and 2011, and has obtained various honors and awards.

Xixi’s Fulbright research aims to validate existing algorithms and also develop new ones that are universally applicable for modelling dryland hydro-ecosystems.

Professor Simon Young Senior Scholars

Simon is a Professor of Law and Justice and Deputy Director of the Centre for Heritage and Culture at the University of Southern Queensland; and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia. Specialising in public law and First Nations law and policy, and having published several books in these fields, provides expert advice to government, non-government and law reform bodies in Australia and Canada, and collaborates widely with First Nations colleagues and communities in the fields of law and legal education.

Simon’s Fulbright research at the University of Wisconsin’s Global Legal Studies Center and Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center will involve a comparative examination of First Nations’ water rights – seeking new insights on how law and policy can best support First Nations’ economic and management participation in this important context. He will be working with leading U.S. scholars, learning and building collaborations for the future in both substantive law and legal education.

Professor Jacqueline Alderson, PhD, FISBS Professional Scholars

Jacqueline is Co-Director of the UWA Minderoo Tech & Policy Lab and Professor of Biomechanics at The University of Western Australia. She has over 200 publications in the fields of biomechanical modelling, wearable technologies, applied machine learning, injury prevention, and pro-public technology development. Her 27 PhD graduates can be found in leading heath, academic and high-performance and professional sport institutions around the world.

For her Fulbright, Jacqueline will be embedded at Stanford University to extend her research stream on the development of ‘digital human twins’, with a specific focus on the urgent need for technology regulation and governance in this domain.

Dr Gayan Benedict Professional Scholars

Gayan is an industry research fellow at the Faculty of Engineering and IT at UTS, and Chief Technology Officer for Salesforce Australia & NZ. Previously, Gayan was the Chief Information Officer for the Reserve Bank of Australia. Gayan is a member of Standard Australia’s and the International Organization for Standardization’s Committees for Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Standards. His research focuses on the governance of blockchain systems.

Gayan’s Fulbright Scholarship will allow him to research solutions that address the regulatory and governance challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI)- enabled decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs). His research will contribute to Australian and U.S. efforts to adapt regulatory and broader governance regimes to accommodate emerging AIenabled blockchain innovations.

Sam Patrick Crosby Professional Scholars

Sam is the Executive Director of the St Vincent de Paul Society where he oversees welfare distribution to tens of thousands of families and individuals each year, including during times of disaster recovery. Previously, Sam was the CEO of McKell Institute, a progressive Australian think tank; and has worked as an advisor to Australian Government ministers, a Treasurer and briefly for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. In 2016 he published The Trust Deficit (Melbourne University Press), a book about how to restore trust in Australian politics.

Sam will use his Fulbright Scholarship to examine recidivism reduction programs in prisons across the United States.

Dr. Courtney J. Fung Professional Scholars

Courtney is Associate Professor in the Department of Security Studies & Criminology, Macquarie University; Associate Fellow at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University; and Associate Fellow at the Lowy Institute. Her research focuses on emerging powers and global security governance. Currently, Courtney studies why emerging powers contribute to peacekeeping and how these states shape the norms and rules governing cyberspace. She is committed to policy-facing scholarship in international relations.

Courtney’s Fulbright research examines how Australia and the United States can best cooperate, as emerging powers reshape the United Nations agenda. Her work contributes to strengthening the Australia-U.S. Alliance, which is underpinned by a commitment to a robust United Nations.

Dr Aria Ahmed-Cox Postdoctoral Scholars

Aria is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Imaging Scientist at Children’s Cancer Institute and Katharina Gaus Light Microscopy Facility at the University of New South Wales. Aria uses fluorescence imaging to study the complex environment surrounding aggressive solid childhood tumours such as brain cancer.

As a Fulbright Future Scholar, Aria will collaborate with research clinician Professor Jan Grimm and his team at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where she will employ an imaging technique called “Cerenkov luminescence” to visualise the uptake of cancer drugs into solid tumours. Her aim is to use this information to design more effective, less toxic treatments that improve the outcomes for children with these deadly diseases.

Dr. Jennifer Baker Postdoctoral Scholars

Jennifer is a medicinal chemist, with her research focusing on the computational design of new molecules that target particular proteins in the body that are associated with different cancers. In 2020 she gained her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Newcastle.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Jennifer will travel to the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California to work with Prof Gabriel Lander, aiming to solve the structure of a protein that is crucial to many different roles within the body and is associated with breast, renal and pancreatic cancer, among others.

Dr. Nicole Bart Postdoctoral Scholars

Nicole is a clinician-scientist. She is Clinical Faculty at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute where she leads the Infiltrative Cardiomyopathy Laboratory. She is also a heart failure and transplant cardiologist looking after some of the sickest patients in Australia.

For her Fulbright Scholarship, Nicole will be travelling to Harvard Medical School to further her skills in cardiac genetics.

Dr. Thomas Boele Postdoctoral Scholars

Thomas is an experimental quantum physicist with a keen interest in building prototype devices, and in the intersection of quantum physics with medical imaging. He received his Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science (Hons I) and PhD from the University of Sydney, where he currently works as a quantum systems engineer. His recent research has focused on developing a quantum magnetometer based on fluorescent defects in diamond.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Thomas will collaborate with researchers at the Martinos Center in Boston to explore how the application of novel quantum sensors in medical imaging can enable new imaging modalities for improved disease diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Alexander Bryson Postdoctoral Scholars

Alex is a neurologist specialising in epilepsy, and a Research Fellow at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. His research focus is on understanding the mechanisms of neurological disorders for the purpose of developing more effective therapies.

Alex will use his Fulbright Scholarship to gain expertise in optogenetic techniques within the laboratory of Professor Rafael Yuste at Columbia University, New York. His project will use two-photon holographic optogenetics to characterise and manipulate epileptic brain networks. It is hoped that insights gained from this approach will lead to novel treatment strategies.

Dr. Rocco Cavaleri Postdoctoral Scholars

Rocco leads the Brain Stimulation and Rehabilitation (BrainStAR) Lab at Western Sydney University. His research is dedicated towards understanding the mechanisms underpinning musculoskeletal and neurological disorders. Rocco uses non-invasive brain stimulation techniques to explore the ways in which the nervous system responds to processes such as pain.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Rocco will work with researchers at the University of Southern California in establishing new methods to predict whether individuals will develop chronic pain following an acute injury. He will also be investigating emerging techniques to prevent the onset of chronic pain.

Dr. Mitchell Gibbs Postdoctoral Scholars

Mitchell is a proud Dunghutti man through kinship, and Lecturer and Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Sydney in the Schools of Geosciences and History, and Philosophy of Science. From Indigenous traditional owners and knowledge holders, he learns about our environments and ways to manage those environments using shellfish-associated practices handed down through oral and lived histories.

Mitchell’s Fulbright project is a collaboration between Australian First Nations and Coast Salish people to share their respective knowledge of shellfish. The aim is to improve understanding of the mechanisms and protocols that have been set in place to initiate and continue cultural revitalisation in association with community-driven habitat restoration.

D. Sara Hungerford Postdoctoral Scholars

Sara is a former professional athlete and now early career cardiologist who specialises in structural heart disease and cardiac imaging. Her postdoctoral research seeks to improve our understanding of cardiac hemodynamics in patients with heart failure who are undergoing interventions. Sara’s research at Tufts seeks to improve understanding of and predict outcomes in sick patients with valvular heart disease who were previously deemed inoperable. It is her mission that more Australians with valvular heart disease can live free of symptoms of heart failure.

Brittany M. St. John, PhD, MPH, OTR/L Postdoctoral Scholars

Brittany is a researcher and pediatric occupational therapist with expertise in feeding challenges. She recently completed her PhD in Kinesiology: Occupational Science and dual Master of Occupational Therapy and Public Health degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As both a researcher and clinician, she is passionate about the health and well-being of families with autistic children, and the efficient translation of research into evidence-based changes in clinical practice.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Brittany will collaborate with leading autism researchers at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre. The goal will be to adapt and deliver the Engaged Eaters Program, a caregiver-mediated intervention for autistic children, for use in Australia.

Dr. Prasanti Kotagiri Postdoctoral Scholars

Santi is a Nephrologist and early career researcher with a strong interest in B cell immunology. On completion of her renal specialist training, she undertook a PhD at Cambridge University in Professor Smith’s laboratory. Her work involved studying the immune cell transcriptome and B cell receptor repertoire in autoimmunity, infection and vaccination. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne.

As a Fulbright Future Scholar, in collaboration with Professor Eoin McKinney from Cambridge and Professor Boyd from Stanford, Santi seeks to understand the changes occurring in the immune system with age rendering it less equipped to contain infection, less responsive to vaccination but also more likely to attack the body itself.

Dr Pooria Lesani Postdoctoral Scholars

“My Fulbright research aims to design and implement a state-of-the-art cancer treatment system and foster transformative collaboration between individuals and institutions in Australia and the United States.”

Pooria graduated with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Sydney in 2022, and currently works there as a postdoctoral researcher. His research focuses on developing the next generation of fluorescent nanoparticles for medicine approaches such as biosensing, bioimaging, and targeted drug delivery. Pooria’s area of research is highly interdisciplinary as it combines materials science & engineering, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering, and cell biology, aiming to develop nanoparticle-based theranostic systems for early and accurate detection and treatment of diseases.

As a Fulbright scholar, Pooria will conduct interdisciplinary research at the California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA, fostering the research alliance between Australia and USA and benefitting both scientific communities. The project will add substantial new knowledge about the development of biocompatible nanoparticle-based targeted drug delivery systems and their application for cancer therapy.

Kalyn McDonough, PhD, MSW Postdoctoral Scholars

Kalyn earned her doctorate from the Joseph R. Biden Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration, is a UNESCO Core International Faculty at Pennsylvania State University, and is a Visiting Scholar at The University of Melbourne. Her research interests focus on sport for development, sport as a social determinant of health, and the role of social policy and practice in achieving health equity among justice-affiliated youth.

In collaboration with colleagues at The University of Melbourne, Kalyn’s Fulbright research project focuses on understanding opportunities and overcoming barriers to sport access among youth who are incarcerated in Australia.

Dr. Lynea Witczak Oldfather Postdoctoral Scholars

Lynea earned her PhD from the University of California, Davis where she studied the neurobiology of social bonds in a monogamous primate.

Lynea’s Fulbright project builds on her PhD research, focusing on one of the world’s few confirmed monogamous reptiles, the Australian sleepy lizard (Tiliqua rugosa). Lynea aims to determine whether neurobiological mechanisms promoting pair bonding may be generalised to other taxa – the evolutionary origins of pair bonding not currently being well understood. She will also teach students behavioral neuroendocrinology methods and engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to understand their experiences and support their further interest in the sciences.

Dr. Jacob Shapiro Postdoctoral Scholars

Monitoring and interpretation of waves as they travel through their environment is essential to a range of fields. For example, seismic waves from earth tremors can be used to image the interior of the Earth, while hospital imaging devices such as Magnetic Image Resonance (MRI) machines use waves in magnetic fields as a basis for medical diagnosis.

During his Postdoctoral Fellowship at The University of Melbourne, Jacob will work with Dr. Jesse Gell- Redman to develop new differential equation models of waves in complex environments. These models will help to improve performance of remote sensing technology.

Dr. Travis Young Postdoctoral Scholars

Travis is an experienced researcher and community planner with a focus on issues of vulnerability, energy and environmental justice, and disaster recovery. He has been recognised as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Fellow. His work focuses on how recovery policies reproduce community vulnerabilities and socioeconomic disparities.

During his Fulbright, Travis will work with researchers at the University of Tasmania to examine the role house and contents insurance plays in community recovery after a hazard event. This work will shed light on household- and community-level factors impacting disaster recovery and place change in Australia and the U.S.

Radhia Abdirahman Postgraduate Students

Radhia graduated from the University of Kansas with dual degrees in Human Biology and Global and International Studies with a minor in African and African Diasporic Languages. Service has been an integral part of her undergraduate experience and has considerably influenced her future career goals. Throughout her undergraduate career, Radhia has served as the Executive Director of the Center for Community Outreach, in various campus-wide leadership positions, and most recently as an intern with the White House Gender Policy Council.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Radhia is looking forward to connecting her education and research experiences to the ways that public health and policy intersect to serve the global community.

Eric Alves Postgraduate Students

Eric is a BioZone PhD candidate at The University of Western Australia (UWA) developing state-of- the-art gene editing technologies for cancer immunotherapy, with a particular focus on breast cancer. Bridging the School of Human Sciences (UWA), Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, and the Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (Murdoch University), Eric’s research uniquely links world-class research teams across Western Australia to tackle cancer in a transdisciplinary approach.

Eric’s Fulbright Future Scholarship will see him travel to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and undertake a project developing new genomic approaches to investigate how cancer cells are able to evade our immune defences. Eric’s time spent at VUMC will allow him to extend his technical laboratory skills and bioinformatics training alongside leading experts in the field, while enhancing existing partnerships and establishing new collaborations between Western Australia and VUMC.

Priyanka Banerjee Postgraduate Students

Priyanka is a lawyer passionate about designing and enforcing frameworks for regulating data to ensure everyone benefits equitably from the exciting opportunities created by technological innovation. She holds a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Economics. Priyanka has worked as a commercial litigation lawyer at Allens and as an Associate at the Federal Court of Australia. She has previously worked in public policy analysis at the Grattan Institute.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Priyanka will undertake a Master of Law degree, focusing on how law and policy can hold corporations and governments accountable for their collection and use of data.

Nina Alexandra Campano Postgraduate Students

Nina has an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has five years of experience in optical systems, including roles as the Chief Engineer for a satellite camera and an Engineering Program Manager for next generation iPhone cameras. She also volunteers for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund as an Advisory Council Member, speaker and mentor.

Nina’s Fulbright research will focus on a low-cost indoor air quality sensor system. She will study under Professor Lidia Morawska, recognised by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2021.

Brandon Curtis Colelough Postgraduate Students

Brandon is a Signals Corps Officer in the Australian Army. He is a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy, the Royal Military College of Duntroon; and of the University of New South Wales (First Class Honours). Brandon is committed to leading the exploration of ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI). He has researched the trustworthiness of AI for the human-machine teaming domain. As a Fulbright Scholar, Brandon will pursue a PhD in Computer Science, specialising in symbolic-driven explainability to generate trust in the human-AI interaction space.

Anthony Coxeter Postgraduate Students

Anthony’s research, born of a decade of collaboration at the University of Sydney and Leiden University, focuses on the tangible and intangible heritage of the history of the Right to Self-Determination, combining scholarship in anthropology, philosophy, literary studies and intellectual histories of international law. He is also the working authorised biographer of Dr. José Ramos-Horta, the incumbent President of East Timor (2022-2027) and co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize.

As the Fulbright Western Australia Scholar, Anthony will be engaged alongside renowned historians and legal scholars in investigating new ‘invisible histories’ of de facto diplomacy at the United Nations Headquarters and the U.S. Congress during the 20th century creation of the ‘corpus juris’ of decolonisation, with key implications for 21st century perspectives on international justice, and diversity in the Right to Self-determination.

Dr. Oliver Cronin Postgraduate Students

Oliver graduated from James Cook University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (Honours). He completed Basic Physician Training at St Vincent’s Hospital before entering the Gastroenterology Advanced Training programme in 2018. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2021. Oliver is currently completing additional subspecialty training in Therapeutic Interventional Endoscopy at Westmead Hospital under the mentorship of Professor Michael Bourke. Oliver has been awarded a postgraduate National Health and Medical Research Council scholarship to undertake a PhD on The Science of Cold Snare Polypectomy through the University of Sydney. He has published extensively, and his manuscripts have been featured in the world’s leading Gastroenterology journals. His other research interests relate to improving the safety, quality and efficacy of endoscopy as well as advanced resection techniques for the treatment of pre-malignant and early gastrointestinal cancers.

With the support of a Fulbright Future Scholarship, Oliver will to continue this research at NYU Langone Health, under the mentorship of Professor Greg Haber.

Madi Day Postgraduate Students

Madi is a career researcher who works across Indigenous studies, trans studies and gender studies. They are completing their PhD by publication in the Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University. Their thesis title is Coloniality, gender and heterosexuality in so-called Australia. Madi is also a co-investigator on a national study funded by the Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, Mapping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led healing programs that respond to family violence, and the Meta-funded international study The impact of racist and violent content and threats towards Indigenous women and LGBTQI+ people on social media: a comparative analysis of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States alongside Professor Bronwyn Carlson. They are lead author on the forthcoming report Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQIASB+ people and mental health and wellbeing in collaboration with Black Rainbow for the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Madi’s Fulbright research will offer a comparative study of coloniality, gender and heterosexuality across Australia and the United States of America as settler colonial nation states. It will also examine how anti-colonial approaches are integrated into gender studies departments in the United States, and whether this could be improved in gender studies in Australia.

Vinuri Dissanayake Postgraduate Students

Vinuri graduated from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Commerce and is currently undertaking postgraduate studies in data analytics. She has spent her career exploring social policy issues from a range of perspectives, including as a lawyer, management consultant at McKinsey & Company, and intern at organisations such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Grameen Foundation. Vinuri is currently working as a Policy Manager at The Smith Family, focusing on improving the educational outcomes of disadvantaged Australian children. Vinuri is interested in the intersection of data-driven decisionmaking and policy.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Vinuri will be studying a Master of Public Policy with a specific focus on exploring the impacts of algorithmic bias on areas such as education and welfare. Vinuri aims to help to design interventions that better protect the rights of minority groups in AI-driven social innovation.

Melody Dobrinin Postgraduate Students

Originally a trained linguist, Melody oversaw the linguistic development of Google Australia’s voice. Later, inspired by her own experiences, she began a project helping people with restrictive diets navigate restaurants and supermarkets. Today, Melody works to alleviate digestive disease directly through her PhD at the Centre for Microbiome Research. Here, she uncovers novel gut bacteria for use as probiotics to treat inflammatory bowel disease. Away from study, Melody makes entertaining science YouTube videos.

Through her Fulbright Future Scholarship, Melody will isolate new bacterium-derived molecules to treat inflammatory bowel disease at the Rockefeller University’s Laboratory of Genetically Encoded Small Molecules, supervised by Professor Sean Brady.

Shane Fernandez Postgraduate Students

Shane is a PhD candidate at the Edith Cowan University Centre for Precision Health, Perth. Holding an Honour’s Degree in Psychology from Curtin University and nearing completion of a Master of Biostatistics degree from the University of Sydney, Shane also has a long professional background in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Shane will visit Professor Andrew Saykin’s world-leading team at Indiana University where he will learn cutting-edge approaches to modelling Alzheimer’s disease trajectories and apply these in the discovery of genetic and epigenetic factors contributing to the significant variability currently seen in the clinical course of Alzheimer’s disease.

2LT William George Frangia Postgraduate Students

William a Bachelor of Science (Engineering Psychology) with Honours, and a minor in Terrorism Studies, from the United States Military Academy at West Point. From 2018 to 2020, he paused his studies to serve as a missionary in Singapore and Malaysia. This experience sparked his interest in security policy in Southeast Asia, an interest he cultivated through internships at the Combating Terrorism Center, the U.S. Army War College, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Through his Fulbright Scholarship, William will complete a Master of Strategic Studies (Advanced) at the Australian National University, exploring the impact of communal factors on radicalisation.

Zoe Gardner Postgraduate Students

Zoe is a PhD researcher at Flinders University who is passionate about how green chemistry techniques can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Zoe will work with her collaborators to research a process for enzymes to break down waste chemicals using a cutting-edge technology, the vortex fluidic device, as well as specific enzymes which have been enhanced and prepared for this purpose. In the future Zoe hopes that her research can contribute to closing the carbon loop in chemical processes and be part of a solution to one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today.

Virginia Gilliland Postgraduate Students

Virginia is a recent graduate of Davidson College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology. As a Hollings Scholar with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), she researched artificial reefs, which contributed to her senior thesis and informed state management decisions. She is passionate about outreach and engaging members in issues relevant to their community.

During her Fulbright Scholarship, Virginia will work with Dr. Jane Williamson at Macquarie University in Sydney. She will use cutting edge technologies, including aerial drones and remote underwater vehicles, to understand the effects of reef degradation on fish in the Great Barrier Reef.

Elizabeth Grist Postgraduate Students

Elizabeth received her double degree in chemistry and classics, minoring in poverty and human capability studies, from Washington and Lee University. Her research focuses on opioid use disorder (OUD). Elizabeth’s initial interest in addiction and the opioid crisis stemmed from her poverty studies minor, having had the opportunity to conduct research with Dr. Caitlin Martin, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Richmond, Virginia, who runs a clinic that predominantly sees pregnant and parenting women with OUD.

Elizabeth will study the stigma and barriers associated with receiving medication for OUD under Dr. Suzanne Nielsen, a leading addiction researcher in Australia.

Daniel Sequoia Hackett Postgraduate Students

Daniel is a twenty-year veteran of the Tasmanian tourism industry, and is known for his Tasmanian and Australian tourism award-winning protected area and wilderness operations. Daniel is currently undertaking a PhD in Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania, investigating theoretical and policy frameworks behind the mapping, designation and management of wild places and soundscapes as wilderness.

Daniel’s Fulbright Scholarship will further his studies with host Pennsylvania State University, and will include new data collection and research relating to the experience of remoteness in wilderness areas featuring air access and overflights.

Lillie Marie Haddock Postgraduate Students

Lillie earned her Bachelor and Master of Science in Biological Engineering from the University of Arkansas College of Engineering. Lillie’s work and research have centred around water quality, environmental science, and water resources engineering. With experience at Argonne National Laboratory, the Joint Global Change Research Institute, and the Arkansas Water Resources Center, Lillie is dedicated to promoting collaboration between industry, academia and government through interdisciplinary research.

For her Fulbright project, Lillie will work with the Managing Climate Variability and Change Lab group at The University of Melbourne to conduct a comparative policy and hydrological modeling analysis of water market management and accessibility between Australia and the United States. Through her research, Lillie aims to improve our understanding of the relationships between water policy and large river basin management as these basins continue to experience reduced water availability due to climate change challenges.

Nozhat Tabassum Hassan Postgraduate Students

Nozhat is an evolutionary biologist at the University of Adelaide where she is currently pursuing her PhD. Nozhat’s research focuses on the evolution and distribution of mobile genetic elements (transposons) across Avian genomes with a particular focus on the underlying principles of adapting transposons into new-generation gene editing tools.

As a Fulbright Future Scholar, Nozhat will be spending some time at UC Berkeley under the supervision of Professor Kathleen Collins where she will be combining bioinformatics with biochemical techniques to investigate the evolutionary history and impact of transposons in both the genome and the cell.

Ella Sophia Hilder Postgraduate Students

Ella is pursuing a career in international and technology law, with a particular focus on policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Ella graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in International Relations) and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Tasmania; and was admitted to practice in the Victorian Supreme Court in 2022. Her passion for technology law was sparked while completing her First-Class Honours thesis which focused on the European Union’s world-leading General Data Protection Regulation.

For her Fulbright Scholarship, Ella plans to undertake a Master’s degree in Technology Law and Policy.

Carter Hissam Postgraduate Students

Carter completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2022. During his time at UMass, Carter developed an interest in molecular genetics and genomics, specifically in their potential to treat and cure many human diseases.

The Fulbright Future Scholarship will enable Carter to pursue a Master’s degree in Genomics, as well as to study the public and private initiatives which are embedding genomics into routine clinical practice in the Australian health care system. Carter hopes to return to the United States as a genomic specialist, being able to advance the ethical applications of genomics

Martyna Judd Postgraduate Students

Martyna is completing a PhD in magnetic resonance spectroscopy at the Australian National University under the supervision of Associate Professor Nick Cox. She uses microwaves and magnets to study the microscopic machinery underpinning human health and disease. Her research focuses on using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy (EPR), a technique similar to MRI, to develop new tools for visualising the sub-nanometre interactions of proteins with candidate drug molecules.

Through her Fulbright Future Scholarship, Martyna will be visiting the lab of Professor Songi Han at Northwestern University to learn and use the cutting-edge technology of Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP), a complementary technique to EPR, to further develop and optimise these novel drug-screening approaches. The design of such tools will harness the unique expertise in high-resolution and ultra-sensitive magnetic resonance technologies across Australia and the U.S., and has important applications in improving the scope and efficiency of early-stage pharmaceutical research.

Cade N. Kane Postgraduate Students

Cade was born and raised in West Lafayette Indiana, where he completed his undergraduate degree in botany from Purdue University in 2018, after which he began his PhD in plant physiology.

For his Fulbright Future Scholarship, Cade’s main research focus is on the drivers of leaf senescence and what causes leaves to die each year in deciduous environments. A major question is: ‘Will deciduous forests be able to capture more carbon annually as climate change extends spring and autumn growing seasons?’ To test this, Cade will travel to Tasmania using the rich ecosystems there as proxies for what his home forests in Indiana may experience in the distant future under climate change.

Tyson Klingner Postgraduate Students

Tyson is an inquisitive scholar obsessed with abstract patterns that permeate the natural world. He completed a Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences (Advanced) degree in 2020, majoring in pure mathematics, then a Master of Philosophy degree in Pure Mathematics at the University of Adelaide. He is researching Higgs bundles, which are rich geometric objects relevant to different areas of mathematics and physics.

As a Fulbright Future Scholar, Tyson will pursue a PhD in the United States, aiming to explore further algebro-geometric aspects of his current work.

Benjamin Lau Postgraduate Students

Benjamin is a PhD candidate at the Image X Institute, University of Sydney under the mentorship of Dr Tess Reynolds. His doctoral research focuses on developing the next generation of 4D imaging systems for radiotherapy. The initial research stage will be targeted to lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death and amongst the most difficult areas to treat. This technology aims to reduce radiation exposure and imaging time whilst improving patient outcomes.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Benjamin will join the Advanced Imaging Algorithms and Instrumentation Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Benjamin will collaborate with leading biomedical researchers to bolster binational research by harmonising Australia’s strong track record in clinical research with U.S. expertise in artificial intelligence.

Owen Austin Lennon Postgraduate Students

Owen completed a Bachelor of Philosophy (Science) with Physics Honours at the Australian National University in 2020 in the Department of Fundamental and Theoretical Physics. He is interested in renewable energy, condensed matter physics and materials science, with the aim of researching next-generation semiconductors for solar cell applications. Owen has volunteered at the climate change think-tank Beyond Zero Emissions, and is passionate about climate action.

As a Fulbright scholar, Owen will begin a PhD in the United States on organic-inorganic halide perovskites for applications in photovoltaic cells.

Jessica Suzanne Livney Postgraduate Students

Jessica earned her Bachelor of Science in Global Health at Georgetown University in 2022. During her time there, she worked at a research laboratory focusing on eating and weight behaviours that addressed the risks and consequences of disordered eating and obesity.

For her Fulbright Scholarship, Jessica will be working with Dr. Sarah Maguire and Professor Nick Martin on the Australian branch of the Eating Disorder Genetic Initiative project to analyse the genetic predispositions that contribute to a person’s risk of developing anorexia nervosa. With this research, she hopes to contribute to the body of science aimed at improving the treatment and prevention of eating disorders.

Neuton Li Postgraduate Students

Neuton is a PhD candidate in the Research School of Physics at the Australian National University (ANU). Upon graduating with a Master of Science (Physics) with Distinction from The University of Melbourne, he commenced his PhD at ANU under the supervision of Professor Andrey Sukhorukov and Professor Dragomir Neshev, who is currently the Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS). The mission of Neuton’s PhD research, as part of TMOS, is to develop and innovate miniaturised optical devices that will translate to technological advances in light generation and sensing.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Neuton will undertake research with renowned groups at the California Institute of Technology. There, he will enhance optical devices already developed at ANU, while exchanging knowledge of the field. He is passionate about bringing a positive impact in polishing this technology for industry back to Australia.

Treves Li Postgraduate Students

Treves is a geotechnical engineer who is excited about using artificial intelligence to solve complex ground engineering problems. His industrial experience in mining has spanned from Interior Alaska to Outback Queensland, where he has been responsible for upholding and raising the standard of safety in challenging underground environments. He received his Bachelor of Mining Engineering from UNSW, and graduated with the University Medal and the prize for Best Thesis for using microseismic data to forecast underground rockbursts. He intends to expand on this work by developing more robust prediction algorithms that could be applied across varied geomechanical contexts.

Through his Fulbright research at University of California, Berkeley, Treves aims to deepen his technical expertise and explore how advances in machine learning can be used to represent, understand and mitigate geotechnical hazards in mining and tunnelling – industries that underpin Australia’s economy and cities.

Tanner Noakes Postgraduate Students

Tanner is a finance professional advising impact investors on social impact and financial modelling. Having experience with not-for-profit funding from an early age, he is deeply passionate about addressing funding challenges for social impact. Tanner graduated from Griffith University in 2020 in Finance/Accounting and achieved 30+ awards. Currently he is based in Singapore and South-East Asia where he has helped raise hundreds-of-millions of dollars for social impact organisations and initiatives.

Tanner’s Fulbright program aims to build upon innovative approaches to fund social outcomes that otherwise would not have been funded. Specifically, to take impact tools learnt from leading philanthropic and international development universities in the U.S. and apply them to the Australian and Asian contexts.

Jo Palazuelos-Krukowski Postgraduate Students

Jo is a Chancellor’s Fellow and PhD candidate in theatre at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she teaches acting and playwriting. She has served as producer for the storytelling nonprofit the Moth, assistant director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and consultant for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Jo’s Fulbright project grew out of her doctoral work, which aims to promote greater international appreciation for the incredible history of mid-century Australian horror radio. Her research explores how we perform ghost stories to better understand ourselves and each other.

Dr Virimchi Pillutla Postgraduate Students

Virimchi is currently a doctor at The Alfred Hospital and has previously worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Company. He is an aspiring cardiologist that is passionate about improving cardiovascular health.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Virimchi will undertake a Master of Public Health to explore how greater access to cardiovascular care and innovation can be achieved in order to address cardiovascular disease at scale.

Alexi Polden Postgraduate Students

Alexi is a Senior Solicitor at the NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office with experience in constitutional law, administrative law, and regulatory prosecutions. He is passionate about understanding and improving how public and criminal law reflect the balance between public power and individual rights. Alexi was previously Associate and Tipstaff to Justice Payne of the NSW Court of Appeal and holds a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours from the University of Sydney.

For his Fulbright Scholarship, Alexi will study a Master of Laws degree with a focus on how American law prevents government officials from resiling from their statements, and explore what this means for faith in government.

Bryce Robinson Postgraduate Students

Bryce is a solicitor at Herbert Smith Freehills, specialising in intellectual property litigation, and has a particular interest in health and pharmaceuticals. He graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons), a Bachelor of Science and a Diploma of Languages (French). Bryce has previously held positions in legal research, science education, and government research policy.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Bryce will undertake a Master of Laws degree to study key intersections between law and public health. He intends to investigate legal barriers to the accessibility and affordability of essential medicines, in areas including patent law and international trade law.

Camille Kilayko Sicangco Postgraduate Students

Camille is an ecologist interested in linking plant form and function to climate change responses. A graduate of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida, with double majors in mathematics and botany, Camille has conducted novel research on mechanical interactions between savanna plants and carbon dynamics following drought and fire.

For her Fulbright research, Camille is hosted at Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment. There she will combine mathematical modelling and empirical data to evaluate leaf-level responses of eucalypt trees to droughts and heatwaves. This work will help to identify drought and heat resilient eucalypt species and educate rehabilitation of vulnerable ecosystems.

Emily Spiller Postgraduate Students

Emily is pursuing her PhD in History at RMIT University. Her research examines transitions in American nuclear policy and strategic thought with an exclusive focus on the President as the ultimate authority on decisions regarding nuclear weapons. Previously, she has completed research on the ratification of arms control agreements during the Obama Administration and spent time as a Research Associate at the Federation of American Scientists, Washington D.C. Emily holds a Bachelor of International Relations, a Bachelor of Journalism and a Master of Public Policy and Management.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Emily will conduct her field research at American Presidential Libraries and Archives, as well as undertake a series of interviews with key policymakers, analysts, academics and nuclear specialists.

David Sweeney Postgraduate Students

David completed a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) degree with First Class Honours in Physics at the University of Sydney. Currently completing his PhD, also in Physics, his research focuses on applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to problems in Astronomy, particularly in the area of gravitational lensing. David is a passionate teacher, both designing and tutoring many units across data science, computer science and physics.

David is taking his interests with him as a Fulbright Scholar to the University of California Irvine where he will be identifying lensed quasars and, hopefully, uncovering some secrets of the cosmos.

Hilary Thurlow Postgraduate Students

Hilary is a PhD candidate in Art History and Theory at Monash University, Naarm/Melbourne. Her research centres on the life and work of the internationally renowned Cuban artist Tania Bruguera. In 2018, Hilary completed her Bachelor of Arts (Art History) degree at the University of Queensland, Meanjin/Brisbane with First Class Honours. In addition to her research, Hilary is actively involved in Melbourne’s art community. She sits on the Editorial Advisory Committee for the arts publication un Magazine; is a board member for the city’s foremost site for art criticism, MeMO Review; and is an Editor of Index Journal, a peer-reviewed journal published in partnership with The University of Melbourne. Hilary is a regular contributor to ArtAsiaPacific magazine, reviewing exhibitions across Australia and internationally.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Hilary will spend six months undertaking research in the Department of Art History at The University of Chicago – a key institution and city for understanding Bruguera’s oeuvre at large – under the guidance of Professor Matthew Jesse Jackson.

Anna Truong Postgraduate Students

Anna gained a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry), and a Bachelor of Arts (Spanish) from Rice University in 2019, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at Duke University. Her dissertation work focuses on investigating the malaria parasite and aims to identify chemical tools that can be used to probe and identify the interaction network of an enzyme that mediates an essential protein modification in the parasite.

Anna’s Fulbright research at The University of Melbourne Bio21 Institute will expand her research interests to the context of malaria drug resistance, which will ultimately reveal fundamental mechanisms underlying this immense global health threat.

Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts Postgraduate Students

Vanessa is a proud Bundjalung Widubul-Wiabul woman who is passionate about human rights and law. She is a survivor of statutory Out of Home Care and continues to drive national discourse in this area. Vanessa’s passion stems from understanding the way the law has disproportionally impacted her community and herself. Vanessa is an advocate for Human Rights, and a storyteller and writer; and has completed a Bachelor of Law degree and a Bachelor of Social Work degree at the University of New South Wales, graduating with First Class Honours. Vanessa won the Australian Human Rights medal in 2019, with her acceptance speech receiving global recognition. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Technology Sydney where her research is centred around decolonising the child protection regime in the lives of First Nations people, and ensuring the rights of children and families are protected and supported. Vanessa is currently writing her first book entitled Long Yarn Short: We Are Still Here, for the children that didn’t get to come home, those yet to come home and the ones who saw neither. Vanessa comes from a long line of activists, and continues this work with all she does.

Vanessa’s Fulbright research aims to develop new, revolutionary ways of changing the child protection system we have here in Australia.

Benjamin Turner Postgraduate Students

Ben is an engineer with experience delivering sustainable infrastructure throughout Australia and is currently pursuing a PhD with the UWA Oceans Graduate School. His research uses a range of field data, laboratory testing and numerical modelling, and has spanned across various fluid-structure interaction problems from subsea pipeline design to open water swimming performance.

Ben’s current research will form a timely connection between Australia and the U.S., with the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management recently awarding the Carolina Long Bay with an offshore wind energy lease, set to become the first offshore wind development constructed in a region with calcareous sediment. The prevalence of calcareous sediments throughout Australia also means that offshore wind development planned in Victoria and Tasmania will likely be installed into these soils too.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Ben will collaborate with the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth on experimental investigations of offshore calcareous sediments collected from the Northwest shelf of Australia and North Carolina. These tests, in conjunction with imaging analyses, will be used to calibrate Ben’s model of calcareous sediment, which aims to reduce design uncertainty and improve reliability of offshore foundation design.

Sydney Vach Postgraduate Students

Sydney hold an A.B. (Artium Baccalaurens) in Astrophysics and Physics (Joint) from Harvard University. Her research thus far has focused on the detection and characterisation of exoplanets as a part of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission. As a part of the first year of her PhD at the University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Astrophysics with Dr. George Zhou, her Fulbright project, titled Exploring the Origins and Evolution of Exoplanets via Transit Observations, will build on this research, now focusing primarily on the detection of young planets in order to understand the processes of evolution within a planet’s youth.

Tiffany Verga Postgraduate Students

Tiffany graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from Curtin University in 2021. Currently she is a Communications Associate at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and previously interned at the United Nations as a Podcast and Multimedia Producer. In 2020, she was selected as a New Colombo Plan Scholar, and a Global Voices United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Scholar, where she was first introduced to environmental policy.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Tiffany plans to commence a Master of Public Administration in Energy and Environment to help her shape the Australian climate dialogue to support effective environmental policy and increase climate literacy.

Thibault De Villenoisy Postgraduate Students

Thibault is a PhD candidate researching the different applications of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF)- derived materials at the University of New South Wales. In 2017, he received the New Colombo Plan Scholarship to research at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. There, he worked on colour changing windows and nanofibers for uranium extraction from seawater. He has since worked on applying MOF-derived materials towards numerous new applications including renewable hydrogen generation and improving battery capacities.

Thibault will use his Fulbright Scholarship to develop MOF-derived materials tailored specifically for microbial fuel cells. The novel application seeks to transform waste management from an expense to a future energy source.

Christina White Postgraduate Students

Christina is a criminal defence lawyer at the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons)/Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Sydney. She has also worked as a Tipstaff at the Supreme Court of New South Wales and as a Senior Solicitor at the Crown Solicitor’s Office in New South Wales.

With her Fulbright Scholarship, Christina will pursue a Master of Laws (LLM) specialising in criminal justice. She will examine the criminalisation of mental health issues and solutions to mass incarceration. Her research will focus on the nexus between mental illness and intoxication in criminal law.

Dr. Nicole Wong Postgraduate Students

Nicole is a consultant paediatrician who also holds a Master of Bioethics and a Diploma in Philosophy. Alongside her clinical work with families, Nicole has conducted research into vaccine delivery and healthcare access equality. She has a passion for addressing issues in healthcare delivery that promote poor health and developmental outcomes in children subject to socioeconomic disadvantage.

Nicole will use her Fulbright Scholarship to undertake a Master of of Public Health degree to gain a deeper understanding of different models of healthcare delivery. She intends to leverage her academic and clinical background to conduct research that will ultimately drive policy change.

Jamin Wu Postgraduate Students

Jamin is a junior doctor in Melbourne interested in researching novel computational techniques for analysing biomedical data. He graduated from Monash University with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) and subsequently worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital as a medical resident. During his medical training, Jamin developed an interest in programming and undertook a broad range of projects to gain experience in data analysis, image processing and machine learning.

Through the Fulbright Scholarship, Jamin hopes to explore the ways in which modern computational research can be applied to multi-omics data to refine our taxonomy of disease and develop new avenues for precision medicine.