Professor Andrews received his PhD in New Zealand at the University of Otago in 2003 and undertook postdoctoral training at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA (2004-2008). He moved Monash University in Melbourne, Australia in 2009 and established his own laboratory. Professor Andrews is internationally recognised for his work on the neuroendocrine control of energy homeostasis and feeding behaviour. He is the currently Deputy Head of the Metabolism, Diabetes and Obesity Program within the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, the former Editor-in-Chief for Endocrinology (2024-2025), the president of Hypothalamic Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology Australasia (HNNA), and a council member on the International Neuroendocrine Federation. Professor Andrews uses preclinical animal models to study how the brain controls food intake and associated behaviours. This includes the role of homeostatic and hedonic systems, and how they interact to influence both the need and the desire to eat. His lab is particularly interested in why and how the brain promotes the overconsumption of highly palatable energy dense foods and how this contributes to obesity. His group uses modern neuroscience techniques such as in vivo calcium imaging, optogenetics and chemogenetics to probe the physiological and behavioural function of neural circuits responding to hunger and regulating appetite. He has primarily focused on the hormone ghrelin, as a key hormonal signal of hunger, and AgRP neurons, as key hunger-sensing, neurons. His current work focuses on how these hunger-sensing systems control food intake and related behaviours such as reward, motivation, mood, memory and cognition.

Jacqueline Stoeckli obtained her PhD from the University of Basel in Switzerland where she studied intracellular protein trafficking and trafficking signals. She then joined Prof David James' group when he was at the Garvan Institute in Sydney and she initially focused on insulin regulated protein trafficking with a particular interest in GLUT4 and vesicle trafficking proteins, such as Rabs and RabGAPs. In the James Lab she learned about insulin signalling, glucose metabolism, mouse physiology and more recently mouse genetics. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Charles Perkins Centre and the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on the insulin regulation of lipolysis and the genetics of metabolic disease.

Associate Professor Samantha Hocking is an Endocrinologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and a Clinical Academic at the University of Sydney. She is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS) Council and the current president of the National Association of Clinical Obesity Services (NACOS). A/Prof Hocking’s research interests are focused on the metabolic complications of obesity. She is passionate about education to improve the quality of obesity care in Australia. In addition, she treats patients at the Metabolism and Obesity Service, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Professor Garron Dodd is Head of the Metabolic Neuroscience Research Laboratory at The University of Melbourne. His research is dedicated to uncovering how the brain regulates metabolism and contributes to the development of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. He is also the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Gallant Bio and StealthCo, two biotechnology companies pioneering the development of next-generation brain-targeted therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic disorders. Prof Dodd’s work has been published in leading scientific journals, including Nature, Cell, Cell Metabolism, Nature Metabolism, eLife, Cell Reports, Nature Communications, Science Advances, and Diabetes. Several of his publications rank in the top 1% of all articles tracked by Altmetric. His contributions to the field have been recognized with over 20 prestigious awards—including the NHMRC Marshall and Warren Innovation Award, The Littlejohn Medical Reseach Medal, The Dean’s Innovation Award, and the ANZOS Young Investigator Award and over $22 million in competitive research funding from international funding bodies and industry partners.

Mark Sleeman, PhD, has over 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical and academic research. After postdoctoral work at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, he joined Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, leading drug discovery teams focused on diabetes and metabolic diseases. In 2011, he returned to Australia for leadership roles at Monash University, to conduct innovative research into metabolic disease as well as directing research facilities and engaging with industry partnerships. Mark subsequently rejoined Regeneron in 2019 as Vice President of the Obesity, Muscle and Metabolism therapeutic focus area, overseeing global research in obesity and metabolic diseases, including the development of protein, antibody, siRNA, and CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics. He leads a team of over 60 scientists who collaborate with many internal core group such as the Regeneron Genetic Medicine and Genetics Center and is part of the company's senior research leadership team. A recognized leader in metabolic disease research, he has published over 100 papers and contributed to the development of multiple monoclonal antibody therapies, including Praluent® and Evkeeza.

Dr Sahar Keshvari is an emerging leader and NHMRC Investigator Grant recipient driving innovative research on immune‑metabolic pathways. Her work is uncovering new mechanisms and potential treatments for diabetes‑related metabolic dysfunction and liver disease, aiming to transform outcomes for people living with these conditions.