Alumni Profiles

Dr Martin Ebert Senior Scholars

Martin is a certified clinical medical physicist undertaking research in Radiation Oncology at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and the University of Western Australia. He is working with Australian national oncology researchers and computer scientists, using medical imaging to gain insights into why cancer progresses, and why it becomes resistant to treatment. By applying advanced analytics methods to high quality clinical trial datasets, he is hoping to identify features and signatures that betray the underlying mechanisms of acquired resistance. For his Fulbright Future Scholarship, Martin will be joining the team of Professor Robert Jeraj in the Medical Physics group at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, to learn techniques associated with image processing and machine learning specific to molecular imaging in oncology, and to work on developing an international network of data sources and analytics expertise to try and gain some insights into what can halt cancer progression. 

Dr Helen Nahrung Senior Scholars

Helen is a Senior Research Fellow at USC’s Forest Research Institute, working in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. She holds an Advance Queensland Fellowship on forest insect invasions, is President of the Entomological Society of Queensland, and Deputy Chair of the national Forest Health and Biosecurity Sub-committee of the Australian Forest Products Association. Her research focuses on understanding insect invasion processes towards their prevention and management: invasive insects cause severe economic and environmental impacts globally, moving accidentally via trade and travel.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Helen will work with leading invasion biologist Dr Andrew Liebhold to examine insect establishments and interceptions between Australia and the United States – an unwanted reciprocal exchange. We hope to use our improved bilateral understanding of insect movement between our respective countries to identify strategies to reduce the likelihood of future damaging invasions.

Andrew Tyndale Professional Scholars

“Around the world and throughout Australia, the infrastructure used to deliver social services (education, aged care, social and affordable housing, disability accommodation and delivery of health services) is in need of significant investment, both to update existing capital items and to meet the new demand of a growing and aging population.”

Mr Andrew Tyndale, Director and Founder of Grace Mutual Limited, has won one of two inaugural Fulbright Professional Scholarships in Non-Profit Leadership, sponsored by the Origin Foundation and supported by the Australian Scholarships Foundation. Andrew will go to The Milken Institute in the U.S. for four months, to further his research in social investment.

“Social Investment is a new field in which commercial investment is directed to investments which generate a good social outcome. They may include employment, community enterprise, environmental or social inclusion,” Andrew said.

His focus is on mechanisms to attract wholesale capital into the infrastructure necessary to deliver social services such as affordable housing, aged care, disability accommodation, education and health. Through his project he will research developments in the US that may be applied in Australia.

“Over the next 5 years in Australia, it is estimated that more than $100 billion is needed for aged care and housing alone. There is a general, global acceptance that governments cannot fund these needs, and there is considerable thought being given to the problem at State and Commonwealth levels. Much is based on work being done in the UK and the US to develop ways to attract commercial funding (primarily pension savings funds) into this sector,” Andrew said.

Andrew’s goal will be to write up a number of initiatives, using his technical finance skills and knowledge of the social sector to assess the compatibility and likelihood of success in Australia. Then he will work with government, investors, financial intermediaries and the social sector to implement them.

Andrew has a Hon, BComm in Business Administration from Queen’s University in Canada. He has been an investment banker for 30 years: 26 years in a competitive commercial environment, and 4 years in a not-for-profit vehicle that he founded. Together with his wife, Philippa, he has also had extensive involvement, over almost three decades, in the charitable sector, both in domestic welfare and international development. His interests include travel, skiing, rugby and trekking.

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 Laura Eadie Postdoctoral Scholars

Laura is a postdoctoral researcher in the Cancer Theme at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in Adelaide. Laura graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Science (Biomed) and first class Honours in 2006 and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Medicine in 2013. Laura’s thesis received a Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence and her PhD studies made significant contributions to understanding the impact of cellular drug transporters on the efficacy of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (eg: imatinib) used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia. Most recently Laura’s research highlighted the clinical significance of overexpression of the efflux transporter ABCB1 in predicting response to imatinib therapy.

For her Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship, Laura will work in the laboratory of Professor Charles Mullighan at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital learning engineered and xenograft mouse models to facilitate translational studies of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). Relapsed ALL is the leading cause of childhood non traumatic death. Genomic analyses identified a new subtype of high-risk ALL (Ph-like) which can be treated with clinically available drugs with known safety profiles. Use of these drugs in other diseases results in improved outcome, but resistance still occurs and in high risk ALL patient outcomes are less robust. Laura’s project will assess drug efficacy and mechanisms of resistance to understand key drivers of response and resistance. Findings will inform clinical practice and therapeutic strategies will be optimised to ensure the best chance of cure for patients with the highest risk forms of childhood ALL.

When Laura is not in the laboratory she enjoys travelling, most recently to South America where she trekked the Inca Trail and explored Machu Picchu. When visiting new places Laura also likes to incorporate her love of eating, trying the local cuisines and partaking in cooking classes. On the weekends she typically spends her time riding her bike or hiking, reading and laughing with friends, usually about the latest unfortunate incident to befall her on the daily commute to work.

Dr Shruti Nirantar Postdoctoral Scholars

Shruti is a postdoctoral research fellow at RMIT University, Australia. Her work focuses on silicon-free nanoelectronics. The primary interest is the nanoscale air channel devices. For her work on metal-air devices, she was named the Most Innovative Engineers of Australia by Engineers Australia and received Young Scientist Award (2nd place) by the Royal Society of Victoria, Australia, and Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for Research Excellence by RMIT University, Australia. She will be visiting two pioneering and leading research group in USA to expand her work on the air channel devices to address the needs of high-performance Space and Future electronics.

Andrew W.M. Pomeroy Postdoctoral Scholars

Andrew is a Coastal Oceanographer and Engineer, and a Postdoctoral Researcher in coral reef studies at The UWA Oceans Institute.

For his Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship, Andrew will work with researchers at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center of the US Geological Survey in Santa Cruz to understand the dynamics of sediment transport in coral reefs. Elevated sediment volumes are the dominant local stressor to coral reef ecosystems around the globe, which may be affected by anthropogenic activities, differences in coral reef morphology (i.e., shape and size) and the prevalent forcing conditions (i.e., waves and currents). Andrew’s project aims to develop quantitative methods to estimate baseline sediment volumes. Understanding these baselines is fundamental to distinguish the contribution of natural processes to the volume of sediment in reefs, which will inform management decisions, as well as enable targeted interventions to better protect coral reef eco-systems.

Dr Victoria (Tori) Berquist Postgraduate Students

Tori is a doctor and consultant passionate about reducing healthcare inequality in Australia. She has spent her early career exploring Australia’s health system from a range of perspectives, including as a clinician, director of a community health service, advisor to government and as a consultant to public and private hospital systems in Australia.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Tori will study a Master in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School with a specific focus on health policy and funding models. She aims to find and eventually implement ways to incentivise the healthcare system in Australia at a systems level to move towards more equitable, innovative, and connected models of care. Through doing so, Tori aims to help influence and improve health outcomes for all Australians, including our most vulnerable

William Bruffey Postgraduate Students

William is a lawyer at the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. He holds a BA/LLB (Hons 1) from the University of New South Wales, where he was the President of the Student Representative Council. He was a Tipstaff in the Supreme Court of NSW, before working as a criminal defence lawyer at the Aboriginal Legal Service and Legal Aid in Western New South Wales.

As the Fulbright Sir John Carrick NSW Scholar, William will build on his prosecution and defence experience to undertake a Master of Laws, specialising in criminal justice. He will study the causes of and solutions to wrongful convictions and mass-incarceration, and how disadvantaged people can receive a fair trial when charged with serious crimes.

Tobin South Postgraduate Students

Tobin is a data scientist developing computational tools to understand complex systems using big data. Tobin has spent the last several years researching the flow of misinformation in social media news as part of a Master of Philosophy following his graduation as Valediction of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Adelaide. His techniques combine tools from machine learning and applied mathematics to robustly extract information about dynamics from large open data sources for use in real world decision making.

As a Fulbright Future Scholar, Tobin will be undertaking a PhD at MIT where he will develop the next generation of tools to analyse complex systems, applying these techniques to applications as diverse as information warfare, economic analysis and human mobility. Tobin will be championing an ongoing collaboration between the MIT Media Lab and the South Australian Government to add value to the state using local data.

Lance Truong Postgraduate Students

Lance is currently Consul at the Australian Consulate-General in Chengdu. Responsible for Australia’s relations with southwest China (Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan and Guizhou), his work includes political, economic and social analysis; trade and economic diplomacy; and cultural affairs. Lance graduated with First Class Honours in Japanese Studies from Monash University, where he also majored in Journalism and Japanese language, and minored in Mandarin. He is fluent in Mandarin and Japanese.

In the U.S., Lance will study public policy and its application to international relations. His interdisciplinary program will focus on the Indo-Pacific, and analyse the implications for Australia’s foreign policy interests arising from the political, economic and strategic changes currently underway in the region. In particular, he will deepen his knowledge of the region’s major powers, including the U.S., China and Japan.

Katherine Truss Postgraduate Students

“Among teachers, there is a lack of understanding of best practice in addressing and discussing issues such as depression, anxiety and family breakdown. This leads to reactive approaches and it is often only after tragedy that issues like suicide and depression are addressed and then it is often, unfortunately, too late.”

Ms Katherine Truss, the Curriculum Leader for English at Redeemer Lutheran College is the 2012 recipient of the Fulbright Queensland Scholarship, sponsored by the Queensland Government and Universities. Through her Fulbright, Katherine will undertake a one year Master of Education in Human Development and Psychology, focusing on developmental psychology, risk and resilience. She will use this to improve her ability to meet the needs of her students and to allow her to develop programs to enhance skills of Queensland teachers.

“Given the time young people spend at school, and the trusting relationships they develop with their teachers, schools are uniquely positioned to support young people as they deal with developmental, psychological and emotional issues,” Katherine said.

“However, the opportunity is often lost due to a lack of knowledge and practical skills in this area among teachers.”

“I think that it is essential for teachers to receive training in the area of risk and resilience from a developmental psychology perspective. This will allow schools to take a proactive approach to the prevention of negative social and educational outcomes for students, and enable schools to act more effectively in response to tragedy,” Katherine said.

In the U.S. Katherine will take courses in adolescent social, emotional and cognitive development; risk and resilience in social contexts; prevention science; intervention strategies; and basic counselling practices.

Katherine has a BEd and a BA from the University of Queensland, and spent a year at the University of Virginia on a scholarship exchange. She has won awards and prizes including the Dean’s commendation for high achievement for four years, being a school prefect and a UQ Abroad Scholarship. In her spare time she engages in community service through the Lutheran church, she sings in a choir and plays netball and frisbee.