Dr. Taylor heads the Respiratory Health Group at SAHMRI and Flinders University. His research program investigates airway pathophysiology in people with chronic lung diseases, in particular, the contribution of the airway microbiome to disease onset, progression and treatment efficacy.

Dr Rhiannon Werder is a Group Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, spearheading research utilising stem cell models of the lung to transform the discovery of new therapies for respiratory disease. Dr Werder leads a multidisciplinary team in the Lung Disease lab at MCRI, combining expertise in stem cell biology and immunology, to develop new therapies for lung diseases. Her research focuses on investigating respiratory viral infections and chronic lung diseases using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived models of the lung.

Dr Alen Faiz is a molecular biologist and geneticist who is leader of the Respiratory Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology (RBMB) Lab. The labs primary focus is to understanding the biology of respiratory systems at the genetic and epigenetic levels, including under conditions of exposure to cigarette smoke and viral infection. Dr Faiz’s research program has made significant contributions to the understanding of the molecular pathways that underpin the development and progression of COPD and asthma through the development of bioinformatics pipelines and advanced cell culture and genetic editing techniques.

Nic is a translational immunologist and co-leads the Mucosal Immunology Research Group and the Central Facility for Genomics at Griffith University. His research interests are in clinical immunology and the application of spatial profiling technology to study the role of inflammation in human diseases. His research relies on a multidisciplinary approach utilising immunological, molecular and anatomical techniques and he has a wide range of collaborations in clinical research and basic science projects, covering allergic and atopic disease, respiratory disease, obesity and cardiometabolic disease, chronic inflammation and infectious disease.

Thomas Iosifidis is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre and The Kids focusing on novel therapeutic avenues for respiratory diseases, such as wheezing illnesses and asthma. His research interests revolve around understanding the mechanisms involved in tissue injury and repair in health and disease, and the development of therapeutics to enhance mucosal healing.